Commit to the Comprehensive Restoration Plan

Sandy: A Wake Up Call to the People

Scientists warned us. Climate change was worsening; seas rising. Hurricane Sandy was coming. But our leaders – federal, state and local officials dodged the issue. They called for studies; they got reports, all of which didn’t repel one inch of Sandy’s storm surge.

Meanwhile, politicians and regulators continue making backroom deals with developers to fill in wetlands, build condos in floodplains, and construct high-rises right down to the waterline. When Hurricane Irene came last year, nothing got done. It was “Business As Usual”: lip service, incompetence.

In the decades wasted, climate change grew teeth: The atmosphere gained water vapor, the Atlantic Ocean rose and got hotter, spawning more powerful storms. The Arctic melted, altered the jet stream, and blocked normal weather patterns, causing Sandy to come ashore rather than turning out to sea – all part of “The New Normal.” And it will get worse. The next Sandy will be bigger, more deadly as seas continue warming and rising.

Sandy’s costs could top $60 billion. But that’s nothing compared to the deaths; the suffering of 8 million without power; tens of thousands homeless; seniors, the sick and children forced into evacuation centers. Compare that price tag with the modest $10-15 billion to construct wetlands and oyster reefs, enforce flood hazard building restrictions, plan for a retreat from flood-prone areas, and appropriately place the sea gates needed to protect New York City’s vulnerable infrastructure. Other major cities around the world have implemented these protections but not here. And don’t expect Congress to protect us. They won’t voteto mitigate climate change or harden our infrastructure against an unimaginable future we know is coming. So much for “National Security.”

Our island Metropolis, our undefended coasts, the economic and environmental wealth of the entire New York City Bioregion is at risk – that’s a vast area covering parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. But as Sandy showed, we’re all in this together. If we are to survive and thrive, we the people must act. We can’t rely on government – especially in Washington – to lead.

“Business as usual” will not suffice to rebuild. That way takes us down a road to certain peril, pain and impoverishment. Now the people must lead, traveling down a more visionary path to a Bright Green Future for the New York City Bioregion. It will be a challenging path, because it is a road we must build as we walk it.

Engaged and informed citizens need to take charge of rebuilding after Sandy. We must advocate for and insist that developers step back from the rising ocean, that nature (with our help) be allowed to reestablish dunes, oyster reefs, and wetlands, protecting us from storms. And we need to support elected officials who will support our plans.

But this is only a start. If our bioregion is to avoid the trifecta of climate, economic, and energy cataclysms to come, we must abandon shortsighted corporate / government goals of “unlimited growth” and “profit at any cost”, supplanting them with resilient economic prosperity, social justice, and human and ecological health. We must exchange a stumbling global economy for a sure-footed local economy and a local food system to support and feed us in this time of transition. We must live into a new world where we trust not in Congress, banks, or corporations, but in each other.

It is long past time we gather the brightest most committed people from the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut/and Pennsylvania bioregion for a charrette – a dialogue and analysis to discuss the most pragmatic routes to the best future for our communities. Together, we can design a practical blueprint, a comprehensive plan – A Bright Green Future for the New York City Bioregion – a vibrant, sustainable, slow money, small business, Main Street economy, focused on local energy and local food.

Our Bright Green Future will assure self-sufficiency for the New York City Bioregion, with mutually supportive connections to the surrounding New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut farms, fisheries, communities, and the bounty of preserved wetlands, forests, mountains, bays, and the sea.

As the NY/NJ Baykeeper, I learned to see the New York City Bioregion not as a collection of states or towns, competing industries or interests, but as a unified place. When seen from space our bioregion is beautiful and without seams. It is one abode – one people. I invite you – in this time of crisis – to rediscover the great power of bioregional unity. Your strength, energy, and vision are needed now more than ever.

Andrew Willner is spearheading an effort to create A Bright Green Future for the New York City Bioregion. Email: andrew.willner@gmail.com, www.andrewwillneer.com, 732 758 4848,