Proposition 4 defies easy categorization. Is it a water bond? A climate resilience bond? A Christmas tree with environmental gifts to private and public interests across the state?
The answer is yes. The $10-billion state bond is all of those things. The disparate expenditures in this proposition’s 15,000 words of text are a reflection of the all-encompassing nature of climate change, but also the political deal making in the state Legislature needed to get this measure on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Despite some misgivings about the process, we think voters should vote yes on Proposition 4. It will save the state and Californians in the long run to invest now to gird against the growing and inevitable impacts of climate change.