Climate Resilience
Water & Climate Resilience Committee
Between wildfires, floods, drought, and extreme heat events, the Bay Area has broken virtually every climate-related record over the past decade. The Bay Area Council’s Water & Climate Resilience Committee advocates for innovative policy solutions to make the Bay Area the most climate-resilient coastal region in the world.
California Resilience Challenge
The California Resilience Challenge brings together businesses, utilities, and non-profit organizations to develop a pipeline of early-stage climate adaptation planning projects to strengthen local resilience in under-resourced communities across California against floods, drought, wildfires, and extreme heat. A philanthropic initiative of the Bay Area Council Foundation, the California Resilience Challenge is shaped each year by the Challenge’s Steering and Advisory Committees administered by the Bay Area Council Foundation. Learn more about the California Resilience Challenge here.
Climate Mitigation
Climate Mitigation Task Force
The Climate Change Mitigation Task Force develops pro-growth policy recommendations to cut green tape and speed corporate decarbonization efforts. We help leading Bay Area companies achieve their emissions reductions goals to ensure the Bay Area leads the emerging post-carbon economy.
Energy Committee
California’s energy grid is threatened by climate-driven wildfires and increasing demand due to economic growth and warmer temperatures. The Bay Area Council Energy Committee advances policies to ensure California has a reliable, affordable, and clean energy future to achieve the state’s 2045 clean energy goals.
2023 Goals
- Promote water resilience through sponsoring legislation to speed water recycling and brackish desalination projects; secure state matching funds for regional Measure AA dollars for wetlands and levees
- Directly support innovative climate adaptation planning projects in underserved communities across California through the BAC Foundation’s CA Resilience Challenge
- Build a pro-business climate agenda to speed building electrification projects and assist transition to Sustainable Aviation Fuels
- Promote clean, safe, affordable energy; defend nuclear, support sustainable solar, and expand geothermal opportunities
Get Involved
All our climate-focused committees are open to Bay Area Council members. To find our committee meetings and other events check out our upcoming events calendar. For more information, contact Senior Vice President Adrian Covert (acovert@bayareacouncil.org) or Policy and Regulatory Counsel Kelly Obranowicz (kobranowicz@bayareacouncil.org).
Water & Climate Resilience Committee Chair:
Jim Levine, Managing Partner, Montezuma Wetlands
Climate Mitigation Task Force Co-Chairs:
Joydeep Ganguly, Senior Vice President, Corporate Operations, Gilead Sciences
Diana Birkett Rakow, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Sustainability Alaska Airlines
Energy Committee Co-Chairs:
Carla Peterman, Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer, PG&E
Alex Makler, Senior Vice President, West Region, Calpine
