Does This Look Like “Resilience” To You?
Looks More Like “Vulnerability” and “Inundation” To Me
The photo above is posted on the Murphy DEP’s “Resilient NJ” website.
I went there because DEP issued another over the top press release today that announced a new $20 million “resilience program” TO MODERNIZE STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT IN FACE OF CLIMATE CHANGE THREATS (caps in DEP original).
The money is from federal infrastructure funds, not state appropriated funds, so there was no political leadership or tough budget decision required by the Murphy Administration.
That money also provides another opportunity for DEP to make a partisan electoral plug – another example of the politicization of virtually everything the Murphy DEP does:
The [DEP resilience] program is funded by $20 million from the Biden-Harris Administration’s American Rescue Plan.
Another misguided thing the Murphy DEP seems adept at is throwing money at problems and relying on “incentives’ and failed voluntary programs, instead of enforcing environmental laws and ratcheting down on regulations.
Of course, throwing money around also buys friends, co-opts critics, and generates good press, something Commissioner LaTourette has shown to be well suited for.
In sharp contrast, enforcement and regulation tend to prompt harsh criticism, particularly by the corporate business community. We can’t have any of that now, can we?
But let’s get back to that DEP photo on their “Resilient NJ” webpage.
It sure looks like “Inundated or Underwater NJ” to me – barrier islands and all those houses are soon gone, according to DEP’s own science on sea level rise and coastal storms.
Their own photo makes the case for the need for a policy of “strategic retreat” – which is something they literally bury their heads in the sand and ignore (while they throw tons of public money at failed “solutions”).
The irony (and cluelessness at DEP) are truly remarkable.