Sea Level Rise and More Severe Coastal Storm Surge Wipe Out Both
I am working on something else today, so will keep this note brief.
I just read another Scott Gurian NJ Spotlight story on Sandy recovery, this one emphasizing the relative allocation of Sandy recovery funds between housing versus infrastructure, see:
The story’s focus is misplaced (again) and it manufactures a false conflict between planning, environmental, and housing advocates.
The fundamental flaw that unites the housing and infrastructure programs is the Christie Administration’s failure to plan.
There is no plan – and no vision – for the coast as a whole, especially in light of rising sea levels and more intense coastal storms as a result of climate change.
Shockingly, the NGO’s are not providing that criticism or that vision.
The failure by the Christie Administration to plan and seriously engage climate change risks are far more significant than the relative allocation issue between housing and infrastructure.
Housing and roads and water and sewer and energy infrastructure are equally vulnerable to climate change impacts. And they all must be integrated in a land use plan that works – otherwise we simply rebuild the failed status quo and highly vulnerable development pattern.
Buying vulnerable properties without an overall land use and development plan is a fool’s errand.
In fact, President Obama issued an Executive Order on exactly this issue: adaptation to climate change – and HUD revised their CDBG funding rules along similar lines.
No time to rehash all this right now – readers may be interested in this analysis:
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