Staten Island. Photo credit: U.S. Marine Corps

It is critical that our cities begin planning for the inevitable disasters that will result from climate change, according to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. New York was devastated a few weeks ago in Hurricane Sandy, and Gov. Cuomo penned an OpEd about the urgent need to rebuild infrastructure that can defend against disasters. That means building redundancy and resiliency upfront, so that the city can better weather future storms.

In many ways, American cities are unprepared for disasters that are predicted to increase in intensity over time. For starters, the U.S. government subsidizes flood insurance in flood prone areas because private insurance companies shy away from doing so. This has resulted in mounting costs to the taxpayer because after being destroyed, flood prone areas are often rebuilt the same way as before, leaving them vulnerable to subsequent storms. Gov. Cuomo is calling for investments in infrastructure and rebuilding to be done in a smart way to avoid future losses.

When confronting climate change, the debate used to center around whether we should “mitigate” or “adapt.” At this point, due to lag times in the Earth’s climate, over the next 20-30 years the climate will change regardless of what we do moving forward. That is, due to past emissions, climate change is already “baked in the cake.” How quickly we reduce emissions going forward will determine how much the climate changes for the 2^nd half of the century.

This means, the old debate over “mitigation” or “adaptation” is no longer relevant – we need to do both.

This point was reiterated on the recent 24 hour “Dirty Weather Report,” put on by the Climate Reality Project, a group headed by former Vice President Al Gore. The program ran 24 hours of climate change coverage, including panel discussions and short videos.

ASP’s CEO Brigadier General Steve Cheney, USMC (Ret.) participated in several panels on The Climate Reality Project. On the opening hour, Gen. Cheney spoke on a panel with Al Gore on what can be done to transition into a low-carbon future. Gen. Cheney spoke about next-generation energy technologies – including new nuclear power and fusion, along with renewable energy. Mr. Gore also emphasized the need for adaptation measures, which were painfully highlighted by the destruction of Hurricane Sandy.

Much of the investment needed to rebuild after the damage to New York City will need to take place regardless of climate change. However, it represents an opportunity to rebuild a climate-resilient infrastructure system – redundant electric power networks, new building codes, buried power lines, etc.

With little action from the federal government, Gov. Cuomo has promised that New York will lead on this issue.

To check out Gen. Cheney on the Climate Reality Project, click here and here.

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