The Climate Planner

The Climate Planner is about overcoming the objections to climate change mitigation and adaption that urban planners face at a local level. It shows how to draft climate plans that encounter less resistance because they involve the public, stakeholders, and decisionmakers in a way that builds trust, creates consensus, and leads to implementation. Although focused on the local level, this book discusses climate basics such as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement of 2015, worldwide energy generation forecasts, and other items of global concern in order to familiarize urban planners and citizen planners with key concepts that they will need to know in order to be able to host climate conversations at the local level. The many case studies from around the United States of America show how communities have encountered pushback and bridged the implementation gap, the gap between plan and reality, thanks to a commitment to substantive public engagement. The book is written for urban planners, local activists, journalists, elected or appointed representatives, and the average citizen worried about climate breakdown and interested in working to reshape the built environment.

Jason King, AICP, is an urban planner who has directed multi-disciplinary teams around the U.S. and the world, and has served as the project director and prime author on over 200 plans for cities, towns, neighborhoods, and corridors. From the first plan he worked on for the Tarautao Islands of Thailand, to the multiple plans he authored in Coastal Louisiana, Southeast Florida, and the American Southwest, Jason's work has focused on social, economic, and climate change resilience. He is a Principal at Dover, Kohl & Partners.

Part 1 Why Are We Doing This? Local Planning and the Call 1 Climate Planning Objection 1: "Climate change is a lie. It can't be proven. The climate change myth is a political maneuver." 2 Climate Planning Objection 2: "We don't have the will. We don't have the money." 3 Climate Planning Objection 3: "Climate change is not that bad. It's only a few degrees. It's just an attention-getter. Scientists are using the issue to get their research funded." 4 Climate Planning Objection 4: "All change brings both good and bad. Besides, the climate change cure would probably be worse than the disease." 5 Climate Planning Objection 5: "We have bigger problems than climate change and other priorities." 6 Climate Planning Objection 6: "Retreat is not an option. Everywhere in the world is prone to some kind of natural disaster. We need to take a stand." 7 Climate Planning Objection 7: "It's a lost fight. It's too late." 8 Climate Planning Objection 8: "Someone will fix this. Some new technological invention will save us." 9 Climate Planning Objection 9: "The future can't be predicted. Climate models are unreliable." 10 Climate Planning Objection 10: "I'll be dead when this happens." Part 2 Creating Climate Plans 11 Drafting the Plan: The Main Stages 12 Co-authoring the Plan with the Public 13 Dealing with Setbacks Part 3 Two American Cities in 2050 14 Miami and Southeast Florida 15 El Paso, Texas