Some Answers for Sandy

My concern is that we will not learn from Sandy’s crude instruction. The spirit of rebuilding is welcome, but where, and how, so that when Sandy’s threatening brothers and sisters do come they will find us differently arrayed and better prepared to defend ourselves? As we have argued here too often before, we can no longer protect ourselves from the cause-and-effect of climate change through indifference, contrived ignorance, and lack of action.  That response is irresponsible to the victims, the coastal communities, and to the rest of the nation who are being asked to finance the reparation this time and next.

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Superstorm Sandy posed wave after wave of rude questions to those who deny the implications of sea level rise and other factors associated with changing climate.  She did not hold back, and the good people of northern New Jersey, New York City, and the Long Island shore remain too shocked to respond.  I cannot blame them. Two weeks after the storm, followed by a nor’easter with heavy wind and rain as a not so gentle reminder, they have still the shambles of inundated landscape, devastated homes, dark and cold nights as the electricity remains unrestored, and lives that may never return to normal. The cost of the storm damages continues to escalate into many billions.  Sympathy and concern for these individuals and their families cannot be diluted by the passage of time or another distracting headline. They did not deserve this disaster, nor should they receive an inadequate, unexamined response.

My additional concern is that we will not learn from Sandy’s crude instruction. The spirit of rebuilding is welcome, but where, and how, so that when Sandy’s threatening brothers and sisters do come they will find us differently arrayed and better prepared to defend ourselves. As we have argued here too often before, we can no longer protect ourselves from the cause and effect of climate change through indifference, contrived ignorance, and lack of action.  That response is irresponsible to the victims, the coastal communities, and to the rest of the nation who are being asked to finance the reparation this time and next.

The coincidence of Sandy with the American presidential election, and the absolute and necessary requirement of political opponents – the Governor of New Jersey and the Incumbent President – to work immediately and successfully together, applying their individual energy and will to apply the energy and will of state and federal agencies – all this has amplified the two events into an emerging realization by many that we must change our ways – physically, politically, and financially -- to avoid this happening again.

Dare I say it? That the power of Sandy, combined with the obvious and unassailable misery inflicted, might have generated another, growing force among citizens and our leaders, a perfect storm that this time may result in the critical thinking and courageous planning, design and implementation of physical, financial, and societal structures that will be the inventive, revolutionary shift in thinking and acting that is required to truly answer Sandy’s outrageous questions?

One such response was made last week by Bill Keller, former editor and continuing contributor to the NY Times, in an op-ed piece entitled “A New Manhattan Project,” referring of course to the coming together of multiple experts to solve a most difficult problem, in the historical instance, the building of the atomic bomb. Keller points to the focus and energy of applied knowledge and experience, in this instance to the goals and objectives required to mitigate future sea level damage thereby to avoid future costs that will certainly be caused by future storms should we fail to act.

The New York specifics can be found in Keller’s article that I encourage you to read. But I want to emphasize here the sub-headings of the piece that describe new premises on which to base our decisions and actions.  They are as follows:

< Come together.
< Think big, and small, long and short.
< Think green…enough.
< Don’t just rebuild; rethink.
< Stop subsidizing stupidity.
< Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy.
< New thinking about budgets.

If you consider each of these, you will find that they represent the unifying elements of imagination, sustainability, invention, independence, consistency, and responsibility. Apply those values to the challenge, and we just might pull it off.

Read them again:

< Come together: Work as a community, not a collection of recalcitrant individuals.
< Think big, and small, long and short: Work nationally, and locally, take the long view,     act now. 
< Think green…enough: Live sustainably, within considered limits of growth.
< Don’t just rebuild; rethink: Abandon the conventional; construct not what is or was, but what will be.
< Stop subsidizing stupidity: Don’t let the vested interests take what belongs to you.
< Redundancy, redundancy, redundancy: live these verities day after day.
< New thinking about budgets: Invest everything in the future.

Sandy posed hard questions. There are some answers.

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Peter Neill, Director of the W2O and host of World Ocean Radio, provides coverage of a broad spectrum of ocean issues from science and education to advocacy and exemplary projects.