Your City & Climate Change

Saanvi Hitlamani

Aug 6

3 min read

Climate change has had lasting effects on countries, communities, people and every organism that walks the Earth. In California, the effects have been particularly devastating; a coastal state already affected heavily by wildfires, drought and unhoused populations gets deeply impacted by the increased temperatures and rising sea levels. In my home town of San Jose, all of these issues are strongly evident, with several policies being established to protect the people of the city and repair the cost of our hurt climate.

So, in order to respond to all prospective damage, the city of San Jose established Climate Smart San Jose; a city plan that includes goals to have carbon neutrality in 2030 (in another four years), a youth climate action fund to support solutions, while supporting federal rebates for clean energy. The city prioritizes largely green energy, being a major technology hub.

Yet, is this enough for one of the major cities of California? Focusing on the homelessness crisis, and as mentioned, the impact San Jose has as a major tech hub there’s still more for the city to do.

With one search, very limited resources show up regarding the city’s response to unhoused populations during heat crises. People are encouraged to seek shelter in community centers, and volunteers work to pass out water and other resources- but there are evident issues. A lack of access to these community centers, due to location and set times leave a majority of the unhoused population is evident. Furthermore, access to homeless shelters in the city has been a repeated issue with policies being presented to extend the hours of operation & ensuring these shelters are functioning well enough to accept people during times of extreme heat could be the start to the solution. As mentioned, the volunteer system may need to be improved to ensure the resources are consistently reaching vulnerable people and might be better replaced with a consistent booth on streets that hand out the same resources.

Data centers have been examined for their high electricity demand, and increased water consumption; San Jose proudly declares itself a technology epicenter, so how does the city address the evident climate impact that the future of tech presents? This year, Mayor Matt Mahan announced the city would utilize several regulatory checks before building new data centers and created a new series of “Environmental Requirements for Data Center Development in San Jose.” The effort the city is making should be recognized; but like every climate solution more has to be done, and consistently.

All aspects of climate change will reach you eventually; the wildfires from Southern California aren’t any different than the ones that scorch East Bay hills. Habitats and homes are equally affected. San Jose responds by drafting new rules and requirements, making attempts to reach unhoused populations- but there is consistently more to be done. What’s your city doing?