I want to talk about the term "resiliency" as it pertains to climate chaos. It's being used in a lot of bold proposals lately and I want to be excited I do. But a thread on why I'm not. After Superstorm Sandy, the word resilient was tossed around a lot to describe recovery. 1/
Seven years later over 1,000 families still aren't home. Mine will never get back home. In my family's case it was because MITIGATION and ADAPTATION measures were not put in place. We, the people were resilient. But the policies we actually needed are tied to elevation, green 2/
spaces, the ceasing of development, natural flood barriers, infrastructure that isn't in need of repairs all the time. I LOVE that frontline communities are finally being centered. You don't get much more frontline than Atlantic City. We're working class and poor, we're a 3/
a barrier island, we have something like 80 spoken languages among 40,000 people, we're being gentrified. And even though my family was displaced years ago, I still say we because that will always be my family's home. More families are facing flooding now than did from Sandy. 4/
Resiliency is a very nice word. And I am ecstatic that Climate Chaos is finally being talked about and covered daily. But what our communities need is socially equitable and just mitigation and adaptation and that is going to be a combination of a lot of things including *sob* 5/
managed, community-led retreat. Flooding was a major part of the news cycle because before the first part of the year hit more than 20 states had suffered major flooding. Dams, levees, floodgates- they're not working- at least not for frontline communities. 6/
There was literally a funeral for an ice cap this week. Sea level rise & flooding is only going to get worse and we have millions of people living in flood zones in this country. We don't have time. We don't. The NFIP-RE is a start but it hasn't been enacted yet. We need it to 7/
pass AND we need the Living Shorelines Act to pass AND we still will need more to survive. We're losing out most precious carbon trap. Temperatures will rise beyond IPCC predictions. I'm not a scientist but I believe that's the right conclusion. 8/
So in the future can we hear less "resilient" and more socially equitable and just adaptation and mitigation. 9/
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