Among a package of environmental bills that Governor John Carney recently signed into law is Senate Bill 237, which mandates that each county and larger municipalities be proactive on climate change.
Emily Knearl, the Delaware Director of Government Relations and External Affairs for the environmental nonprofit Nature Conservancy, says the bill is an important step forward in building community resilience in the First State.
“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” Knearl said. “That’s what this bill is about; is that, every ten years each county is required to do a comprehensive plan, as well as municipalities of over 2,000 are required to update their comprehensive plans regularly. And for the first time in state law, they’re now required to plan for climate change.”
The new law also addresses sea level rise and flooding, one of the biggest issues facing Delaware.
“Delaware is experiencing the highest rate of sea level rise of any state along the Atlantic coast,” Knearl said. “Initially, one of our biggest challenges is water, and one of the things that this bill does, that’s so exciting, is for the very first time, it instructs the counties to channel new housing away from rising sea levels and flooding.”
Knearl adds that the state needs to swiftly implement the new law and find more holistic ways to tackle climate change.
