((PKG)) SEA LEVEL RISE
((Banner: Filmed Before the COVID-19 pandemic))
((Banner: The Rising Sea))
((Reporter/Camera: Arturo Martinez))
((Drone Footage: Duncan Sinfield, Mike Kirk –
FlyinCameras))
((Map: Pacifica, California))
((Main character: 1 male))
((Sub-characters: 4 males; 6 females))
((Banner:
In the past 100 years, the ocean in the San Francisco Bay
Area has risen 20 centimeters. By some estimates, by the
end of this century, it could increase by almost three meters
more. Now, the California Coastal Commission is requesting
60 California cities to update their local coastal preparation
programs.))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Pacifica is a small city just south of San Francisco and it's
known for its beautiful beaches, the open hills.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
But Pacifica has a problem related to sea level rise and bluff
erosion.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Climate change will affect how fast sea level rises and the
stronger winter storms that are the major cause of erosion of
the bluffs. That is the big problem. We've actually lost a
couple of apartment buildings a few years ago and we have
more under threat.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
I'm John Keener. I’m a former research biochemist and
former council member and Mayor of Pacifica. This is the
coastal trail over what once were houses and yards and so
on. So, you can see the front door of the houses was almost
even with the edge of the bluff now.
((NATS))
((Courtesy:
Drone footage: Mike Kirk - FlyinCameras))
((Jane Tollini, Citizen of Pacifica))
This was my house, 556 Esplanade. There was a garage
over here. There was also the most fabulous bathroom with
the bathtub right on the ocean. It was for me perfection. I
loved living here. One day, I was just sitting in my living
room which was on this side and I went into my bedroom
and part of the fence was missing. This whole part of the
cliff had fallen down, but it was sand, so it just kind of went
"wooosh". And then a few days later, the neighbor's hot tub
fell in and then the city said, "You know, it looks like they're
going to fall into the ocean, so we're going to demolish
them." And the demolition guy got to my house and you
could see the claw come out, reach for my house and before
it even touched it, the house committed suicide. It just pulled
off of its foundation and fell in like a Monopoly house.
The coasts are just in trouble, big, big trouble.
((NATS: Breaking news))
El Niño storms are speeding up erosion along California's
coast.
Families urged to get out before their homes go over the
edge.
These apartment buildings are teetering on the verge of
disaster.
The apartment cliff dwellers of Pacifica changed status this
morning, from residents to refugees.
Well, I thought we would have to move sooner or later. It
just happened sooner.
Tonight, El Niño's fury ripping apart this chunk of the
California coastline.
Look at the edge. The pavement just crumbled away.
Another 20 feet [6m] used to go out there, all of it falling over
the edge over just the last two weeks.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Right down there, there's only about 30 feet [9m] of bluff left
before these apartments become like those apartments
down there. And so, that's why they're doing all this
construction down on the beach is an attempt to reinforce
the bluff and to stop the erosion. In the long run, it won't
work.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Yeah, good to see you, Charles.
((Dr. Charles Lester, UCSB Marine Science Institute))
How are you?
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Good. How are you?
((Dr. Charles Lester, UCSB Marine Science Institute))
Good. Quite a mess out here.
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Yeah.
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
I know Charles from, he was one of the contractors that
helped us write the sea level part of our local coastal plan.
((Dr. Charles Lester, UCSB Marine Science Institute))
We were sort of, I think, lulled into a false sense of security
in locations like this. We thought they were safe. When this
building was built, the projection was that it would be safe for
75 years at least without a seawall. That was in 1972.
Seawall was built about 40 years earlier than expected. So,
the long-term solution is to pull back gracefully. The idea of
managed retreat, you know, it gets simplified down to this,
"Oh, the state is telling people they have to move out of their
homes tomorrow.” No. Managed retreat is about
anticipating what's going to be happening over decades, you
know, decades of time.
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Do you want to deal with this on an emergency basis which
is the way we've dealt with it so far and it's the most
expensive possible way to deal with it? Or, do you want to
plan for it a little bit and find a cheaper way to deal with it?
((NATS/MUSIC))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
The community is not dealing with this very well. Some of
the community are up in arms against managed retreat. I
lost an election because of it.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jim Steele, Former Director, SFSU Sierra Nevada Field
Campus))
Some of this climate change fear mongering is distracting us
from the real solutions to make a more resilient environment.
There's definitely been climate change. I think the issue is,
how much are we affecting it, how much is natural? Here on
the West Coast, we are affected by El Niños and La Niñas.
You’ll have this erosion happen during an El Niño. This
place is going to always keep eroding. So, people shouldn't
have built here because it was the wrong place to build
because the very fragile cliffs. But now, we have a legacy of
all this infrastructure, almost all the businesses of Pacifica
are here on the coast. Do you just give up on them? I think
we have a legacy problem where, let's build a seawall and
protect it.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Another environmental problem that Pacifica is facing is sea
level rise for low lying areas that could be flooded.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
During the winter and king tide events, if we get a big storm,
that is real bad for the seawall and the community and us.
We're getting wet.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
So, the folks against managed retreat, so called, are
homeowners and the realtors. They don't want to lose the
value of their homes.
((NATS))
((Suzanne Drake, Resident of Pacifica))
I was and continue to be a vocal critic of former mayor, Mr.
Keener. Anticipated sea level rise could be 50 or 100 years
from now and by all means, chances are, we're all going to
be dead by then. Sure, we can have a conversation about it
but why doom all of these properties with a stamp, a label
that makes it difficult to gain equity, to take out equity in your
property, to sell your property?
((NATS))
((Chris Redfield, Resident of Pacifica))
Pacificans are naturally resilient. If they live here, they're
going to be resilient. Anything here that you're looking at is,
you know, that's 2 or 3 million dollars, that's a million dollars,
that's a million dollars. And everything that's here has been
because we have fought Mother Nature. That's what man
does. So, the goals are to protect what we have. That's
what we're looking for, is help with funding, which is millions
of dollars for seawalls, but without state or even national
funding, it's almost impossible, especially for a town that
basically has a very non-diverse tax base.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Seawalls can last 30, 40, 50 years and a seawall will
eventually cause the beach to disappear by erosion.
((NATS))
((Cindy Abbott, Resident of Pacifica))
I recognize that my property may not be here in the future
and that it may go back to nature. In the year 2100, right
around here is where the new coastline will be. I don't think
that I'm going to be around at the time that that happens but
what's important to me is seeing that problems aren't pushed
off for future generations. We can try to think that we can
contain this, but it's widely known and so, insurance
companies are aware of this. There are already
conversations going on about if bank loans are going to
continue with 30-year mortgages. But if we choose not to
talk about it, we won't be able to get beyond our fears.
((NATS))
((Alan Greenberg, Resident of Pacifica))
We essentially moved here to get closer to nature and we
kind of made an agreement between my wife and I and our
kids that we're not going to leave this house to them in our
will. We didn't want them to have to deal with what might be
down the road 50 years or whatever. Well, our life isn't
permanent. We're just borrowing where we live and that was
a huge lesson into understanding the impermanence of man
and people think, "Well, the house is a permanent place",
but it's not and this is actually part of that lesson.
((NATS))
((Alan Greenberg, Resident of Pacifica))
You know, climate change or not, there could be some huge
storm that could damage your house. So, the whole debate
about managed retreat that is going on in Pacifica is a little
strange, because some people who don't want it basically
say, the city should guarantee that we have protection
against the ocean, which is rather strange because here I
am, a well-to-do person and if they had their way, I might get
city money to protect my house. So, the question is, is it fair
for a private person to get benefit from taxpayers’ dollars
which in my book is totally wrong. This is the shutters we
use when we are expecting big storms. We had to actually
pay for some of the seawall here also.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Cindy Abbott, Resident of Pacifica))
There used to be houses on this beach.
((Margaret Gardel, Naturalist))
Right, south of here, between here and the creek. Taking
the homes, the two houses, beach houses, away from the
beach here, is a really good example of successful managed
retreat. We've created a new beach, new public areas and
people use this a lot.
((NATS))
((Margaret Gardel, Naturalist))
John, you always have paid attention to the facts and the
science.
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
I am a scientist, so.
((Margaret Gardel, Naturalist))
And you got lots and lots of good environmental work done
during that two-year period.
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Yeah, we did.
((Margaret Gardel, Naturalist))
A very, very dirty campaign was run with an enormous
amount of money that went into negative campaigning.
((Cindy Abbott, resident of Pacifica))
Right. It was from national associations and state
associations interested in development and with less
concerns about understanding the environmental concerns.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Ah, yes, here we go. This was the first one. Me barbecuing
the money. Paid for by California Association of Realtors.
Major funding from the National Association of Realtors.
This was from another organization and it says, "Managed
retreat ‘draconian’ ". It's a headline from the Pacifica
Tribune. Another headline says, "Ready to retreat?".
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
After I was not elected, the next mayor was Sue Vaterlaus.
((NATS))
((Sue Vaterlaus, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
They didn't want him elected because he was in favor of
managed retreat and realtors are in favor of personal
property rights. It's just inborn in us to protect properties and
if there's a red line around your house where you live, are
people willing to give you insurance or mortgage? What
about the values of their homes? And then, the values of the
homes affect the city because our city income is based on
property taxes and therefore, the city won't have as much
money. To me, the beach is great. Everyone loves the
beach. We all lived here because of the beach but people
are more important.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
I've always been an environmentalist. One of the good
things about losing that second race for city council was that
I get to focus on issues that really matter to me instead of
having to deal with everyday matters of city. I do this about
once a month on Friday and it's inspired by Greta Thunberg.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Holding up my sign for protesting climate change. Dwayne,
how are you?
((NATS/MUSIC))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Politicians are in a tough situation with respect to climate
change. We've never had an issue like this. There are real
consequences to doing nothing, which is what we're doing
right now. The extreme position, I think, is “no managed
retreat”. Eventually, the ocean is going to win.
((NATS))
((Banner: Filmed Before the COVID-19 pandemic))
((Banner: The Rising Sea))
((Reporter/Camera: Arturo Martinez))
((Drone Footage: Duncan Sinfield, Mike Kirk –
FlyinCameras))
((Map: Pacifica, California))
((Main character: 1 male))
((Sub-characters: 4 males; 6 females))
((Banner:
In the past 100 years, the ocean in the San Francisco Bay
Area has risen 20 centimeters. By some estimates, by the
end of this century, it could increase by almost three meters
more. Now, the California Coastal Commission is requesting
60 California cities to update their local coastal preparation
programs.))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Pacifica is a small city just south of San Francisco and it's
known for its beautiful beaches, the open hills.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
But Pacifica has a problem related to sea level rise and bluff
erosion.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Climate change will affect how fast sea level rises and the
stronger winter storms that are the major cause of erosion of
the bluffs. That is the big problem. We've actually lost a
couple of apartment buildings a few years ago and we have
more under threat.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
I'm John Keener. I’m a former research biochemist and
former council member and Mayor of Pacifica. This is the
coastal trail over what once were houses and yards and so
on. So, you can see the front door of the houses was almost
even with the edge of the bluff now.
((NATS))
((Courtesy:
Drone footage: Mike Kirk - FlyinCameras))
((Jane Tollini, Citizen of Pacifica))
This was my house, 556 Esplanade. There was a garage
over here. There was also the most fabulous bathroom with
the bathtub right on the ocean. It was for me perfection. I
loved living here. One day, I was just sitting in my living
room which was on this side and I went into my bedroom
and part of the fence was missing. This whole part of the
cliff had fallen down, but it was sand, so it just kind of went
"wooosh". And then a few days later, the neighbor's hot tub
fell in and then the city said, "You know, it looks like they're
going to fall into the ocean, so we're going to demolish
them." And the demolition guy got to my house and you
could see the claw come out, reach for my house and before
it even touched it, the house committed suicide. It just pulled
off of its foundation and fell in like a Monopoly house.
The coasts are just in trouble, big, big trouble.
((NATS: Breaking news))
El Niño storms are speeding up erosion along California's
coast.
Families urged to get out before their homes go over the
edge.
These apartment buildings are teetering on the verge of
disaster.
The apartment cliff dwellers of Pacifica changed status this
morning, from residents to refugees.
Well, I thought we would have to move sooner or later. It
just happened sooner.
Tonight, El Niño's fury ripping apart this chunk of the
California coastline.
Look at the edge. The pavement just crumbled away.
Another 20 feet [6m] used to go out there, all of it falling over
the edge over just the last two weeks.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Right down there, there's only about 30 feet [9m] of bluff left
before these apartments become like those apartments
down there. And so, that's why they're doing all this
construction down on the beach is an attempt to reinforce
the bluff and to stop the erosion. In the long run, it won't
work.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Yeah, good to see you, Charles.
((Dr. Charles Lester, UCSB Marine Science Institute))
How are you?
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Good. How are you?
((Dr. Charles Lester, UCSB Marine Science Institute))
Good. Quite a mess out here.
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Yeah.
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
I know Charles from, he was one of the contractors that
helped us write the sea level part of our local coastal plan.
((Dr. Charles Lester, UCSB Marine Science Institute))
We were sort of, I think, lulled into a false sense of security
in locations like this. We thought they were safe. When this
building was built, the projection was that it would be safe for
75 years at least without a seawall. That was in 1972.
Seawall was built about 40 years earlier than expected. So,
the long-term solution is to pull back gracefully. The idea of
managed retreat, you know, it gets simplified down to this,
"Oh, the state is telling people they have to move out of their
homes tomorrow.” No. Managed retreat is about
anticipating what's going to be happening over decades, you
know, decades of time.
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Do you want to deal with this on an emergency basis which
is the way we've dealt with it so far and it's the most
expensive possible way to deal with it? Or, do you want to
plan for it a little bit and find a cheaper way to deal with it?
((NATS/MUSIC))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
The community is not dealing with this very well. Some of
the community are up in arms against managed retreat. I
lost an election because of it.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jim Steele, Former Director, SFSU Sierra Nevada Field
Campus))
Some of this climate change fear mongering is distracting us
from the real solutions to make a more resilient environment.
There's definitely been climate change. I think the issue is,
how much are we affecting it, how much is natural? Here on
the West Coast, we are affected by El Niños and La Niñas.
You’ll have this erosion happen during an El Niño. This
place is going to always keep eroding. So, people shouldn't
have built here because it was the wrong place to build
because the very fragile cliffs. But now, we have a legacy of
all this infrastructure, almost all the businesses of Pacifica
are here on the coast. Do you just give up on them? I think
we have a legacy problem where, let's build a seawall and
protect it.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Another environmental problem that Pacifica is facing is sea
level rise for low lying areas that could be flooded.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
During the winter and king tide events, if we get a big storm,
that is real bad for the seawall and the community and us.
We're getting wet.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
So, the folks against managed retreat, so called, are
homeowners and the realtors. They don't want to lose the
value of their homes.
((NATS))
((Suzanne Drake, Resident of Pacifica))
I was and continue to be a vocal critic of former mayor, Mr.
Keener. Anticipated sea level rise could be 50 or 100 years
from now and by all means, chances are, we're all going to
be dead by then. Sure, we can have a conversation about it
but why doom all of these properties with a stamp, a label
that makes it difficult to gain equity, to take out equity in your
property, to sell your property?
((NATS))
((Chris Redfield, Resident of Pacifica))
Pacificans are naturally resilient. If they live here, they're
going to be resilient. Anything here that you're looking at is,
you know, that's 2 or 3 million dollars, that's a million dollars,
that's a million dollars. And everything that's here has been
because we have fought Mother Nature. That's what man
does. So, the goals are to protect what we have. That's
what we're looking for, is help with funding, which is millions
of dollars for seawalls, but without state or even national
funding, it's almost impossible, especially for a town that
basically has a very non-diverse tax base.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Seawalls can last 30, 40, 50 years and a seawall will
eventually cause the beach to disappear by erosion.
((NATS))
((Cindy Abbott, Resident of Pacifica))
I recognize that my property may not be here in the future
and that it may go back to nature. In the year 2100, right
around here is where the new coastline will be. I don't think
that I'm going to be around at the time that that happens but
what's important to me is seeing that problems aren't pushed
off for future generations. We can try to think that we can
contain this, but it's widely known and so, insurance
companies are aware of this. There are already
conversations going on about if bank loans are going to
continue with 30-year mortgages. But if we choose not to
talk about it, we won't be able to get beyond our fears.
((NATS))
((Alan Greenberg, Resident of Pacifica))
We essentially moved here to get closer to nature and we
kind of made an agreement between my wife and I and our
kids that we're not going to leave this house to them in our
will. We didn't want them to have to deal with what might be
down the road 50 years or whatever. Well, our life isn't
permanent. We're just borrowing where we live and that was
a huge lesson into understanding the impermanence of man
and people think, "Well, the house is a permanent place",
but it's not and this is actually part of that lesson.
((NATS))
((Alan Greenberg, Resident of Pacifica))
You know, climate change or not, there could be some huge
storm that could damage your house. So, the whole debate
about managed retreat that is going on in Pacifica is a little
strange, because some people who don't want it basically
say, the city should guarantee that we have protection
against the ocean, which is rather strange because here I
am, a well-to-do person and if they had their way, I might get
city money to protect my house. So, the question is, is it fair
for a private person to get benefit from taxpayers’ dollars
which in my book is totally wrong. This is the shutters we
use when we are expecting big storms. We had to actually
pay for some of the seawall here also.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Cindy Abbott, Resident of Pacifica))
There used to be houses on this beach.
((Margaret Gardel, Naturalist))
Right, south of here, between here and the creek. Taking
the homes, the two houses, beach houses, away from the
beach here, is a really good example of successful managed
retreat. We've created a new beach, new public areas and
people use this a lot.
((NATS))
((Margaret Gardel, Naturalist))
John, you always have paid attention to the facts and the
science.
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
I am a scientist, so.
((Margaret Gardel, Naturalist))
And you got lots and lots of good environmental work done
during that two-year period.
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Yeah, we did.
((Margaret Gardel, Naturalist))
A very, very dirty campaign was run with an enormous
amount of money that went into negative campaigning.
((Cindy Abbott, resident of Pacifica))
Right. It was from national associations and state
associations interested in development and with less
concerns about understanding the environmental concerns.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Ah, yes, here we go. This was the first one. Me barbecuing
the money. Paid for by California Association of Realtors.
Major funding from the National Association of Realtors.
This was from another organization and it says, "Managed
retreat ‘draconian’ ". It's a headline from the Pacifica
Tribune. Another headline says, "Ready to retreat?".
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
After I was not elected, the next mayor was Sue Vaterlaus.
((NATS))
((Sue Vaterlaus, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
They didn't want him elected because he was in favor of
managed retreat and realtors are in favor of personal
property rights. It's just inborn in us to protect properties and
if there's a red line around your house where you live, are
people willing to give you insurance or mortgage? What
about the values of their homes? And then, the values of the
homes affect the city because our city income is based on
property taxes and therefore, the city won't have as much
money. To me, the beach is great. Everyone loves the
beach. We all lived here because of the beach but people
are more important.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
I've always been an environmentalist. One of the good
things about losing that second race for city council was that
I get to focus on issues that really matter to me instead of
having to deal with everyday matters of city. I do this about
once a month on Friday and it's inspired by Greta Thunberg.
((NATS))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Holding up my sign for protesting climate change. Dwayne,
how are you?
((NATS/MUSIC))
((John Keener, Former Mayor of Pacifica))
Politicians are in a tough situation with respect to climate
change. We've never had an issue like this. There are real
consequences to doing nothing, which is what we're doing
right now. The extreme position, I think, is “no managed
retreat”. Eventually, the ocean is going to win.
((NATS))
