Bob Marshall: We'll never reduce emissions if we won't even talk about it
Author: Bob Marshall
Teams of world-class scientists and engineers from Louisiana and across the world have produced what is arguably the most advanced science-based coastal resilience strategy in this age of climate change. It is filled with projects such as new levees, floodwalls and wetlands restoration to reduce the growing risks of higher storm surge reaching further inland from ever-growing hurricanes. It lays out plans for removing willing residents outside those protections and helping others to “flood-proof” their homes and businesses. It has interactive online programs that can tell residents what risks they face, what roads might be flooded and how much damage their individual communities could suffer. It estimates the billions in savings these projects offer from what is expected to be more billions in annual losses going forward every year. Well, the fact that we now need an announced $50 billion effort ($92 billion when inflation is added) to make the landscape we live on “sustainable” is itself a pretty clear warning. The CPRA has chosen not to mention the main determining factor for the efficacy of its projects and any sustainable future here: The need for the nation and world to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 to 20 years.