“While conceding that no program could protect the city against all climate-related disasters…”
“New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for a $20 billion system of flood barriers to protect low-lying areas from storms almost eight months after Hurricane Sandy devastated the region.”
Excellent idea Bill. I think I shall write my elected officials to encourage that returning large areas of NYC to their previous pre-civilized state should be contigent upon receipt of said monies.
As do elections evidenced by the election of Gloomberg mayor of NYC.
Good point.
When Katrina hit New Orleans, the project to upgrade the levees was 27 years past due.
Boston’s Big Dig took 25 years.
Bloomberg could see an opportunity for a multi-decadal boondoggle. And Republicans will be afraid to vote against those poor Superstorm Sandy vicitms, especially when the Dems point out that Republicans voted against climate measures that would have prevented Sandy.
If he is truly an environmentalist he should understand that much of NYC is built on fill that was dumped to get rid of swamps, now called wetlands. To truly protect NYC these areas should be returned to their natural state, the same way that environmentalists want to remove dams. Of course this would result in massive re-locations of people but they should be understanding since many of these are true believers in protecting the environment. The lost revenue should be no problem for the coffers of NYC since they can always raise taxes on everyone else.
Bloomberg just wants $20 billion; any old excuse will do.
Climate doesn’t have disasters. Weather does.