Sandy’s Greatest Hits

Tales Gone Down The Memory Hole

A (True) Homage To Sandy

King Canute holds back the sea! (and without a sea wall!)

Since the NJ media is doing Sandy nostalgia and revanchism and all the important climate science, land use planning, DEP regulation, and public policy issues are either being ignored or shoved down Orwell’s Memory Hole, we thought we’d reprise “Sandy’s Greatest Hits” (TM) (not the crap you’re reading in NJ media):.

We begin with a post I wrote as Sandy was making landfall to remind people that we’ve been here before:

• A Dirge To McHarg and Mumford – Who Are Rolling Over in Their Graves: “Ignorance is compounded with anarchy and greed to make the raddled face of the Jersey shore.”

(Update: wow, I just realized that 3 days BEFORE Sandy made landfall, I wrote this:

• “Frankenstorm” Another Example of Global Warming Extreme Weather –  
• NJ’s Longstanding High Vulnerability to Major Storms Ignored  
• Climate Change Adaptation Planing Neglected – Shore Poorly Prepared

From there, we wrote about NJ DEP lack of preparation despite decades of warnings, lack of land use planning and lax regulations that compounded the disaster, lack of legislative oversight, and Gov. Christie’ “Rebuild Madness”:

• The Deafness Before the Storm

• Memo to Gov. Christie: Sea Walls and Engineering Don’t Work

I cheated – this shot is from Massachusetts.

I posed the essential – and existential – question (and exposed Gov. Christie’s “Rebuild Madness”):

• “Strategic Adjustment” – Or Rebuild Madness?

But Christie was not alone in ignoring scientific warnings and making the problems worse:

• Catastrophic Failures and Catastrophic Fools

We suggested humorous ways out:

• If Gov. Christie Had A Sense of Humor, Humility, or History

King Canute rebukes his Courtiers (coastal planners!)

We held Gov. Christie accountable when the NJ media was promoting and making Christie a hero:

• Christie Killed Corzine Shore Protection Initiatives

And, when few people were talking about the climate science of extreme weather, in another policy debate still alive and relevant, we exposed the King with no clothes:

• Gov. Christie’s Post Sandy Hazard Mitigation Plan Pays Lip Service To Climate Change and Sea Level Rise

There was absolutely no media coverage of this taboo – despite the introduction and movement of Legislation in Trenton:

• Proposed Legislation Would Restrict “Right- to-Rebuild” Storm Damaged Property Along the Coast

Ah, it hurt when we outed that Achilles heel of the Rebuild Madness resilience crowd:

• Back Bay Flooding – In The Face of Climate Change – Highlights Imperative of Strategic Retreat

We were the primary source in a killer national story by Huffington Post: (followed by a TV discussion)

• Jersey Shore Development Failures Exposed By Hurricane Sandy

“[Christie has] done the exact opposite of what’s needed to be done,” said Bill Wolfe, a former Department of Environmental Protection planner and policy analyst who now leads the watchdog group New Jersey Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “He has been affirmatively promoting regulatory relief and taking away any development, land use planning and infrastructure expertise at the department.”

And we were an expert source in an award winning documentary – (interview by NY Times journals Mark Bittman)

• Years Of Living Dangerously – Episode 5

Still crazy, after all these years – and Still Lurching From Drought To Flood. Happy Halloween!