A conversation with Dr. Erik Porse (Sacramento State University & CCSC/UCLA Institute of the Environment) about urban water resources, energy, conservation, and engineering economics in California.
Stephanie Pincetl, a professor and director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA, agreed and said the state needed to take more steps to adapt. “California has always burned,” she said. “But we live in a hysteria about fire because we put people in the wrong place.”
Though environmental conditions exacerbate risks, a key problem lies with people, according to Pincetl. “There is nothing wild about these fires. These are human-created conditions that induce higher risk,” she said. “We need to acknowledge that these are our problems that we created, and if we are going to deal with it we have to start where the problem begins.”
“We have 100 years of legacy in this state and we have a lot of federal land over which the state does not have a lot of power. So it has to be a coupled effort between the feds and the state to address the accumulated brush and understory growth,” said Stephanie Pincetl, director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA.
The plan also sets aside $25m to grant food to low-income homeowners to fund the updates and renovations needed to fireproof their homes. “Of course, it’s good – but the question is how far will this money go?” said Stephanie Pincetl, a professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability who specializes in the intersection of urban planning and environmental policy.
Women in leadership, such as Stephanie Pincetl, are creating inclusive communities that promote equality, respect and care for all individuals. Pincetl focuses on equitable strategies to reduce human impacts on the planet.