by admin | Sep 5, 2017 | Activism, Climate, Disaster, Disaster policy, Floodplain management, Floodplain management, Government, Infrastructure, Natural Hazards, Public policy, Public safety, Urban Planning
Justifiably, people and the news media have celebrated the heroes of emergency response in Texas during the week-long nightmare of Hurricane Harvey. Disasters often bring out the best in many people, a selfless commitment that inspires those capable to rescue...
by admin | Aug 30, 2017 | Climate, Disaster, Disaster policy, Government, Infrastructure, Natural Hazards, Political philosophy, Public health, Public policy, Public safety, Resilience, Social Science, Urban Planning
A few days ago, in my last post, I wrote that Hurricane Harvey would last a few days, but the recovery would last years. However agonizingly long Harvey appears to be taking to inflict its misery on the Texas Gulf Coast, and now parts of southern Louisiana, it will go...
by admin | Aug 28, 2017 | Climate, Disaster, Natural Hazards, Public safety, Urban Planning, Water
For the people of the Texas Gulf Coast, the rain and winds of Hurricane Harvey are just the beginning of a long journey. The storm will last a few days. The recovery will last years. I am not there, so I can only surmise, based on the news coverage I have seen, the...
by admin | Jul 8, 2017 | Activism, Books, Business, Climate, Disaster, Economic development, Economics, Environment, Government, Natural Hazards, Public health, Public policy, Renewable Energy, Resilience, Urban Planning
For some time, it has been my intent to address the question of how we communicate about and discuss climate change, with a focus on books that have tackled the issue of how to explain the issue. Several of these have crossed my desk in the last few years, and I have...
by admin | Jun 18, 2017 | Books, Climate, Disaster, Environment, Geography, History, Natural Hazards, Resilience, Science, Urban Planning, Water
I was never a New York native, but I did not feel entirely alien, either, when I returned for the first of four visits to the area in January 2013, following Superstorm Sandy. My father lived in Queens most of his life and left only when my mother, who was from...
by admin | Jun 4, 2017 | Blogging, Careers, Climate, Disaster, Economics, Government, Natural Hazards, Urban Planning
This is a story both personal and political. On May 31, the American Planning Association hosted a wonderful retirement party for my last day on the job as Manager of the Hazards Planning Center. I have spent much of the past quarter-century helping to make natural...
