Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Academia blames climate on Florida property prices.
Leading in a Burning World: Putting Climate Change First
Gautam Mukunda Contributors Leadership strategy
I Write About Leadership, Innovation And Policy For Entrepreneurs And Implementers.…
If capitalism today assumes a stable climate, what will it mean when that goes away? Suddenly Misleading hidden assumptions is one of the most common causes of crises. How bad will this get, and what will it mean for leaders? Heart out, I talked to Spencer and Rebecca Henderson, one of only 25 University Professors at Harvard (Harvard’s highest honor) and author of Re-imagine capitalism in a burning world.
How will climate change affect the economy? “When I look at the estimate that Florida is going to lose two or three or five or 10 percent of GDP, I laugh and I’m not very happy… No individual in Florida should own their own home as a form of savings,” Spencer said. their meaningful personal savings, for that wealth will be lost”. Florida is a low and flat peninsula made up of porous limestone. This makes its shores very vulnerable to flooding. This will sooner or later make new homebuyers reluctant to make the 30-year commitment as the insurers they depend on could leave at any time. Similarly, banks won’t be willing to make 30-year loans in Florida – setting it apart from everywhere else in the US. The consequence would be a collapse in property prices in a country whose tax base is largely based on property taxes and whose economy depends on a constant influx of property buyers.
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Current rates of sea level rise pose no threat to Florida or anywhere else. But what if I’m wrong? What if the alarmists’ predictions were made and sea levels rose suddenly?
Academics like Spencer never seem to value human ingenuity and problem-solving abilities.
$2.8 Billion Plan to Protect Keys from Flooding Now Includes Elevating Homes, Floodproofing – But Doesn’t Buy
WLRN 91.3 FM | Via Nancy Klinger
Published May 5, 2021 at 6:01 PM EDTAdapting to climate change in the Florida Keys will carry major costs. Monroe County has estimated the county road upgrade bill at $1.8 billion.
But it’s possible the federal government is supporting other aspects of that adaptation: home improvement, flood protection for businesses, and infrastructure like hospitals, utilities and fire stations.
US Army Engineers’ latest proposed plan to help Keys cope with increased flooding caused by climate change.
That plan, now estimated at nearly $3 billion, includes building six sections of the Foreign Highway and upgrading nearly 4,700 homes. This is less than the previous draft – and the latest recommendation does not include acquisitions.
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If elevating thousands of buildings to increase flood resilience seems radical, it is indeed a very old solution. Humans have been elevating buildings for centuries. Much of Chicago was raised a few feet in the 1850s, to improve flood resistance. Seattle, which also has a flood problem, takes a different approach. Instead of raising buildings, they upgraded the streets, but left the buildings intact, giving everyone a new basement, also gives Seattle an impressive network of underground passages.
And of course there are many other solutions. Italy’s Venice, instead of giving up their beautiful city for the sea, they just continued to build upwards, creating a unique water city served by a network of canals. Or The Netherlands, a country that has kept the sea for centuries with its network of dykes.
We may lose the occasional sandbar island, but no one will give up the valuable swaths of land they care about for the rising seas. Whenever flooding becomes unbearable, for whatever reason, the land will simply be filled in and built up until it is resistant to flooding.
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