Today is the one-year anniversary of Super Storm Sandy. We are headed to Palo Alto to join 350.org, Organizing For Action and Citizens Climate Lobby to honor those whose lives have been affected by extreme weather. By candlelight we'll send the message that climate change is our reality; that we need to change how we think, live and act to address its effects. I'm ready to make these changes but I need a clean energy infrastructure and policies that keep carbon in the ground, beginning with the denial of the Keystone Pipeline, a symbol of Climate Change which has been sitting before the president for two years awaiting his decision.
Bill McKibben:
X-Ray of a Flagging Presidency
As the battle over the Keystone XL pipeline has worn on — and it’s now well over two years old — it’s illuminated the Obama presidency like no other issue. It offers the president not just a choice of policies, but a choice of friends, worldviews, styles. It’s become an X-ray for a flagging presidency. The stakes are sky-high, and not just for Obama.
Let us stipulate at the start that whether or not to build the pipeline is a decision with profound physical consequences. If he approves its construction, far more of the dirtiest oil on Earth will flow out of the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, and reach the US Gulf Coast. Not just right away or for a brief period, but far into the future, since the Keystone XL guarantees a steady flow of profits to oil barons who have their hearts set on tripling production in the far north.
In June, President Obama said that the building of the full pipeline — on which he alone has the ultimate thumbs up or thumbs down — would be approved only if “it doesn’t significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.” By that standard, it’s as close to a no-brainer as you can get.
Extreme weather, another symbol of climate change.
Hurricane Sandy, or Superstorm Sandy, was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of last year. It first developed from a tropical wave in the Caribbean Sea on October 22 and continued to intensify over the next seven days before it moved ashore at Brigantine, New Jersey as a post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds.
Coming Clean: The blog of Executive Director, Michael Brune, Sierra Club
Unhappy Anniversary
A year has passed since Sandy, the second-costliest storm in U.S. history, slammed into the Eastern Seaboard, causing $65 billion in damage. On the day of this unhappy anniversary, though, we can't really say the disaster is behind us. Thousands of families are still unable to return to their homes. Some people have lost everything, including the hope of getting it back.
What's going on? These terrible events are consistent with what climate scientists have told us to expect from a warmer climate: wetter (and therefore more powerful) storms in some places; hotter, prolonged droughts in others. Our planet is a complicated and surprisingly sensitive system. Radically altering inputs such as the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is like letting a toddler randomly start flipping switches in the cockpit of an in-flight 747. How many switches do you think can be safely flipped? I'd hate to find out.
Although nothing could justify the devastation and heartbreak caused by Sandy in the East or by the fires and floods in the West, there has been one positive result. We've reached a tipping point in public concern about climate disruption. No longer does this issue seem like something that will happen in a distant future and to someone else. Even if we haven't experienced extreme weather firsthand, we know someone who has.
Red Cross: One-Year Study Report Available
“Donations to the Red Cross have helped countless families start over in a new place to live, clean out the mold from their water-logged homes, or get much-needed financial and emotional support to rebuild their homes and lives,” said Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the Red Cross.
INSIDE THE REPORT The One-Year Superstorm Sandy Report details the extraordinary measures taken by the Red Cross to respond to Sandy, from volunteer deployment and relief efforts to temporary and permanent housing assistance to key partnerships with government and non-government entities, as well as the strong outpouring of support from donors..
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One-Year Superstorm Sandy Report is here.
EcoNews
One Year After Superstorm Sandy: Taxpayer Burden Grows from Climate Inaction
On the eve of the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, a new report released from Ceres outlines the rising costs to American taxpayers for federal programs that provide flood insurance, crop insurance, wildfire protection and disaster relief. The report documents government losses from extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change, and provides instruction on combating future costs.
The report, Inaction on Climate Change: The Cost to Taxpayers, warns that these losses and the taxpayer price tag that accompanies them will become more pronounced unless government programs are reformed to encourage more resilient, protected practices in the face of a changing climate.
"Taxpayer costs from climate change are getting bigger and bigger,” said Ceres President Mindy Lubber. “Last year’s extreme weather events alone cost every American more than $300 apiece, or $100 billion altogether—most of it to pay for federal crop, flood, wildfire and disaster relief.”
Yet, our public disaster relief and recovery programs have been slow to recognize that worsening climate impacts will drive up future losses to unsustainable levels. Instead of encouraging behavior that reduces risks from extreme weather events, these programs are encouraging behavior that increases these risks—such as agricultural practices that increase vulnerability to drought and new development in hurricane- and wildfire-prone areas.”
The
Ceres Report is here (registration required).
Politico: Hurricane Sandy survivors to light up shore one year later
NEW YORK — Candles and flashlights will light up the shore along the East Coast as survivors of Superstorm Sandy pay their respects to what was lost when the storm roared ashore one year ago.
On Staten Island, residents will light candles by the stretch of waterfront closest to their homes at 7:45 p.m. in a "Light the Shore" vigil. Along the Jersey Shore, people plan to shine flashlights in a symbolic triumph over the darkness that Sandy brought.
This evening at 7PM Pacific, in
Palo Alto, CA, we'll be holding candles to commemorate those whose lives were affected by Super Storm Sandy and to remind people that extreme weather associated with climate change is a reality that we must all fight together. Now.
We haven't forgotten and we won't forget.
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate.
Finally, readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.