St. Louis County is looking for ways to protect property and people from extreme weather events caused by climate change.
A consultant will be hired by the county to study how climate change affects the county and make recommendations for how local officials and residents should prepare.
The science-backed Climate Action Plan will be funded by $765,000 of NFL settlement money.
Councilwoman Kelli Dunaway, who introduced the bill to fund the plan, said climate disasters like extreme floods are expensive to clean up. The county needs to find ways to mitigate their effects, even if the upfront costs are high, she said.
“If we can invest today in preventing them or building up the resiliency, so they have less of an economic and like life effect on us and our neighbors, that, to me, is worth the investment,” said Dunaway, D-2nd District.
At a bill signing ceremony Thursday, County Executive Sam Page said the biggest county in Missouri should lead in climate preparedness.
“How goes St. Louis County goes the state,” Page said. “So we need to be in front of this, we need to be thinking about development and protecting us from the hazards of climate change.”
The county’s department of planning will hire a consulting team in 2025 and expects to produce the action plan in about two years.
Residents and local officials will be invited to give input during the plan’s creation, said Jacob Trimble, the department’s director.
“We are going to be leaders in showing how other regions can effectively work to mitigate the issues around climate change in a way that creates sustained and vibrant communities,” Trimble said
The council will consider and implement some of the recommendations over about 25 years in line with the county’s long-term STLCO 2050 plan, Trimble said.
The county will use $15,000 of the appropriated NFL settlement money to pay the salary and benefits for one planning manager position in fiscal 2024. The manager will work in the department of planning and will be primarily responsible for leading the Climate Action Plan process.
County officials decided to pursue the plan in part because the county's Youth Advisory Council suggested it. The group of high school students advises the council on issues that matter to young residents.
Climate change was always top of mind, said Akilesh Rajan, a member of the Youth Advisory Council and a student at Lafayette High School.
“We had several major topics that we brought up [in the meetings], but time and time again, the environment was one that was brought up consistently,” Rajan said.
