by admin | Jan 31, 2018 | Careers, Education, Floodplain management, Government, Natural Hazards, Political philosophy, Politics, Public policy, Public safety, Urban Planning
Claiming to protect the public’s purse is always great politics, at least in some quarters. Actually doing so requires considerable thought and homework, but grandstanding is cheap and makes for great sound bites in an election season. And thus, it is often silly...
by admin | Oct 14, 2017 | Disaster, Disaster policy, Floodplain management, Government, Housing, Natural Hazards, Resilience, Urban Planning
Amid the whirlwind of disasters this fall—three major hurricanes hitting the U.S., earthquakes and another hurricane hitting Mexico, wildfires in northern California—it is easy to forget that people hit by other disasters as recently as a year ago are still laboring...
by admin | Sep 6, 2017 | Activism, Climate, Disaster, Disaster policy, Environment, Floodplain management, Public policy, Resilience, Urban forest, Urban Planning, Water
For those who have been reading the posts I have recently done since Hurricane Harvey made landfall, I thought it might be of interest to see this video clip of an interview I did with Canadian Broadcasting Corp. two days ago: https://youtu.be/UFslrKPd04s Jim...
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 | May 11, 2017 | Disaster, Disaster policy, Floodplain management, Floodplain management, Government, Natural Hazards, Resilience, Urban Planning
Earlier this year, the American Planning Association’s Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Planning Division, in cooperation with Texas A&M University, sponsored a student paper contest for students in urban planning programs across the country. The papers...
by admin | Apr 18, 2017 | Climate, Drought, Floodplain management, Infrastructure, Natural Hazards, Parks, Science, Urban Planning, Water
For those who think only in terms of the politics of red and blue states, the conference I attended March 30-31 in Lincoln, Nebraska, may seem like a paradox, if not an oxymoron. It is neither. It is a matter of looking beyond labels to facts and common sense, and...