A long overdue update
A Sunset Sail in Charleston Harbor
Thanks to everyone that subscribed to this Mean High Water newsletter. When I started this back in November of 2021, I intended on publishing updates on a regular basis. However, it’s now almost six months later, and I’ve only released my initial post. While I’ve had this update in draft for a while, I’ve found time to complete it over some unexpected downtime - COVID quarantine. I had a breakthrough case earlier this week, and it knocked me out for a solid 36 hours. But I fought it off quickly, and I seem to be back to normal. Be careful out there - this thing is no joke!
A Drought with Increased Flooding?
We are currently in a drought here in Charleston, and as a result, there have not been many urban stormwater floods. However, it’s been a different story when it comes to tidal flooding. 2022 is setting records, and I’ve posted a summary on the Mean High Water page.
Imagining our Future with Water
In late March, I presented “Imagining our Future with Water” on the TEDxCharleston Stage. Having the opportunity to work with the coaches and the other speakers for two-and-a-half months was an enriching and rewarding experience. It took a lot of time and effort, many outlines and edits, and a several moments of self-doubt, but I’d do it all over again. I’ve posted a video and recap of the talk here.
Odds and Ends
Ezra Klein has an opinion essay in today’s New York Times outlining the frustrations and delays with implementing NYC’s congestion pricing. A lot of it falls back to the method in which we evaluate environmental impacts, and it highlights a lot of concerns about the speed in which our government can get things done.
Klein notes, “Congestion pricing is a useful case study precisely because it’s a straightforward policy, with the explicit, even fervent, support of all the major decision makers. It raises revenue, rather than costing money. You don’t need to build new tunnels or dam rivers or run a train track through a city. As far as major climate policy goes, this one is easy. And yet, it’s proved to be so, so hard.”
What does all of this mean when you start to consider the policy and infrastructure needed to mitigate the impacts of climate change? It’s scary, and we need to come up with new ways to get things done.
Parris Island wages battles, not war, against climate change
The story behind an Outer Banks house that collapsed into the ocean