A glimpse at a greener future

Bears are taking over Yosemite meadows, and coyotes are wandering city streets. Hilltop sunsets never looked more pure and bright. Around the world, smogglazed skies are giving way to blue vistas and fresh air. A deadly pandemic is slowing human activity and boosting wildlife in startling ways.

With oil selling at near giveaway prices and airlines virtually grounded, there are fewer emissions pouring out. More widely, tailpipes from millions of cars and trucks are idled by stayathome orders. NASA space shots show far less pollution in familiar population and industrial centers across the country.

Suddenly, within a month, everyone is getting a glimpse at less human impact. Climate change is getting flattened, ever so slightly, and perhaps, ever so fleetingly.

If history counts, this fairy tale picture won’t last once the viral outbreak fades, whenever that is. When recessions end, there’s a rapid upswing in economic and everyday life. Billions of people around the globe can’t wait to get back behind the wheel and go to work or school. For now, at a huge human price, the planet’s natural environment is catching a break.

That change to a greener world comes at an enormous and painful price. Even more, scientists say that greenhouse gas emissions will need to come down much further and be sustained for decades if the world is to escape a disastrous rise in temperature. A scathing outbreak is no way to achieve that goal.

Given the right leadership and thinking, there’s a chance to learn from the pandemic’s whipsaw harm. As society reknits, there should be thought about what to do differently. We’re getting a look at what clean skies and clean water and clean air feel like, a vision of what could be.

That should be one guiding thought for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 80member economic renewal commission. That group, announced this week, includes business, labor and politicians given the task of restarting a moribund business world.

It should come up with more than tax gimmicks or handout programs. Instead it should offer a broader look at what California can do to rebuild itself in new and lasting ways. While the state scrambles back on its feet, the panel could provide guidance in directing California forward, not simply type up bland recommendations soon forgotten.

Think big, please.

There are lots of options. Renewable energy can be encouraged or required more broadly. More fuelsipping or electric vehicles can make a difference. Sturdier and more reliable power systems are needed and, yes, that’s a thought directed at PG&E. Prior to stayhome mandates, California once again hosted the dirtiest air the nation, led by cities in the Central Valley, Los Angeles basin and the Bay Area. The lungclogging results make it easier for the coronavirus to take hold.

On the local level there are small stabs at noticeable changes. Street closures in Oakland and San Francisco designed to soothe spirits for pedestrians and cyclists may linger as a way to draw people out of cars. New habits, such as ordering food or working from home, may lead to changes that improve the environment. Even as the Bay Area staggers through the pandemic, its public transit is lumping along as a mainstay system that must be preserved. Medical care is being tested in new ways and needs to adjust to populations long overlooked.

Those observations pale next to the larger task of restarting an economy shattered by shutdowns, deaths and a looming second wave of infections. Experts aren’t even sure how many cases are lingering undetected in the population. For now, containing the coronavirus is job one, and California is determined to clamp down on the risky urge to open up too soon.

This state’s leaders, from county health officers to Sacramento lawmakers, have reacted quickly and forcefully. They should so again when it comes to redesigning energy, transportation, water and planning rules. The political adage of never letting a crisis go to waste is proving apt.

The state needs to plan on an eventual comeback and what it will look like. The horrific strength of the coronavirus is creating a sweeping opportunity to safeguard the environment and redirect growth. Otherwise, it’s back to smoggy days, dirty water and crowded freeways.

California, along with the rest of the world, has a chance to rebuild itself. It would be a tragedy to think in old ways.

Mario Tama / Getty Images March data from the Environmental Protection Agency show that Los Angeles had its longest stretch of air quality rated as “good” since 1995.