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Date
In an opinion piece from today's Boston Globe, Richard Murray and Daniel Schrag write about rising sea levels in "The Coming Storm".
We know that the climate change mantra can sound like doom gloom. I mean, that title...."The Coming Storm". Cue the Rimsky-Korsakov music. Indeed, and to the authors' credit, there is hardly a way to avoid sounding gloomy when the data seems to point to all kinds of problems we'll face together as 'the third rock from the sun' comes to terms with significant impacts from a clearly changing environment.
The article, however, despite its grey photo and dreary title, actually speaks of ways in which 'new thinnking', and 'chances of success' - can come into play. These are optimistic concepts for sure.
Focusing on the community of Billingsgate Isalnd, a typical New England coastal settlement 100 years ago - which is now gone, the article does move into thoughtful ways, all of which will require projects and project managers, to react positiely to the changes we face.
Let me stop here and acknowledge that some of you are thinking, maybe even saying out loud, or even yelling, "these are all just natural occurances...this is normal shifting of tides and normal erosion...who says humans have anything to do with this...". Okay. We know. However, the very fact that this article is publshised, and the very fact that a google search on the word sustainability yields nearly 100 million results, this should tell you that it doesn't matter. Regardless of the origin, the science, and the politics, the fact of the matter is that there is an increased consciousness about climate change and that this increased consiousness will create projects and change the way we think about projects. That is an indisputable fact. We need to at least deal with that. Can we agree? Thanks.
Now back to the post...
Here's a sample of the article's 'hidden optimism':
The best chance of success in minimizing the effects of sea level rise and increasing storm frequency and intensity will collectively involve industry, government, and individual citizens making challenging decisions that are likely to deviate from historical practices and assumptions. If such measures are not taken, then what happened to Billingsgate will not be an isolated story.
One strategy, complementary to constructing expensive sea walls, is to invest in resilience. This means acknowledging that flooding will occur, but making sure that after the storm recedes, our buildings can be pumped dry, and that we can recover with only minimal damage. This will require new building codes and some significant costs, although not the massive public investment required for large infrastructure.
Another option is a coordinated plan for managed retreat. After the Blizzard of ’78, nearly 10 homes on Peggotty Beach were purchased through a federal program and the land turned over to the Town of Scituate to be kept as open space. Such programs, teamed with enhancing environmental regulations to preserve open space and marshland buffers, can play a role toward managing the growing vulnerability of coastal communities. Insurance companies can also contribute to the solution, as many current policies encourage people to live in harm’s way.
Our point at EarthPM - our blog and our book -is that we need to be ready to tackle new projects like the ones to be triggered by climate change. We can focus on making our own projects more sustainable even if they don't seem to have a pure focus on - say - renewable energy. We can get ourselves more well-informed about climate change and the reactions government and industry are having to it (we'll blog more about this shortly). We don't have to hang our heads or panic. Urgent action - sure. Panic and depression....not for us. We're project managers!
Posted
by
Richard Maltzman
on: February 15, 2013 10:50 AM |
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