SPR-696: Preliminary Study of Climate Adaptation for the Statewide ...

Communications and the Political EnvironmentADOT has had success in communicating existing weather-related impacts to drivers, but hashad less experience in describing climate impacts or climate change. With the current politicalenvironment in Arizona, discussing climate change can be difficult. However, leveragingscenarios that branch out from current day weather-related impacts can be a useful approach.Focus group participants noted the following: The communications department has been leading a driver awareness campaign over thecourse of 2012. The haboob (giant dust storms) effort, in particular, received much mediaattention (“haboob haiku” advertisements). Snow is the next campaign. Thecommunications team has learned that focusing on the climate impact itself (withoutgetting into the term “climate change”) has been effective. ADOT places focus on drivers. I-40 is one example of a roadway in which driverawareness is critical, as it is often closed for dust and snow. High winds also are animpact about which people should be aware. Arizona is still relatively young in terms ofmanaging politics; it is still a “who do you know” environment. You have to backeverything up with fact. Weather information could be used for public service campaigns. For example, “PullAside, Stay Alive” for dust storms. Currently, the high winds and dust storms areannounced on the message boards. The traffic operations center (TOC) manages theprescribed messages. ADOT does do work in educating drivers in certain conditions. Some press releases doinclude tips about hydration, smart practices, and climate conditions. It might be useful to have a campaign on climate change more specifically, and to look atbest practices around the country on how climate change is communicated in campaigns.The hope for this project is to create dialogue and possibly circumvent the politics.It would be useful to get involvement of partners that are more forward on climatechange issues, such as the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) and the PimaAssociation of Governments (PAG). In addition, the ASU Sustainability Program andArizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) could also be strong partners.Funding and the Need for an Economic DriverThere is always a shortage of funding within state DOTs. However, the purpose of a climateadaptation plan is to examine current planning, design, and operations practices to determinewhat strategies could be employed that are low-cost, high-reward strategies. Focus groupparticipants discussed the following on the topic of funding: Regarding funding, there is a lot more money available for infrastructure costs than formaintenance; there is very little maintenance funding. Climate change is affecting the desert southwest, but it is important to design a programthat will be accepted by ADOT personnel. It is important to overcome “economic inertia”and explore what can be done, even if it costs more money. There is an underlyingpolitical will question on whether a relevant program if designed it will be accepted.Climate change, more generally, is not currently well accepted. Most entities are more responsive to cost-saving initiatives than to environmental or othertypes of initiatives. If people are interested in making any changes, they would have to44