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September 24, 2018
Hurricane Florence continued to bring flooding and damage to North Carolina, as emergency and military personnel worked to help evacuate residents. Image courtesy of U.S. Department of Defense.
Personnel and materials from across the United States landed in Puerto Rico in an effort to rebuild the island's battered electric grid following Hurricane Maria. However, given the dire need to restore power to the U.S. territory's 3.3 million residents and the massive scope of the power outages, there was little time to consider improvements to the existing infrastructure. The result is $3.2 billion spent to repair a grid that still lacks meaningful resilience measures to prevent such widespread damage during the next major storm. José F. Ortiz, chief executive of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) admitted as much, stating the grid is "weaker today than before." Carlos D. Torres, a retired vice president at Consolidated Edison, said a lack of design time and materials, combined with federal funding restrictions embedded in the Stafford Act, played a role in hindering a resilient grid rebuild. PREPA was also vastly unprepared to deal with a severe storm like Hurricane Maria, part of a steady decline in the public utility's effectiveness over the past few decades. A series of scandals, mismanagement, and supply shortages ultimately plagued PREPA's storm response, made worse by an overstretched (and some would argue, indifferent) federal government.
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Miami Herald
For the past several years, Delaware and Maryland have asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address smog in their states that originates from coal-burning power plants in other states. The petitions submitted by Delaware and Maryland say that EPA has the authority to regulate plants in neighboring states like Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania under a provision of the Clean Air Act (CAA). This CAA provision concerns the pollutants that form a primary component of smog, which poses health risks, especially to those with pre-existing respiratory conditions. According to Graham McCahan of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), "EPA's irresponsible decision to deny these petitions will cause unnecessary risk to the health of millions of Americans." EDF supported Maryland’s petition. EPA’s response to the petitions stated that there is insufficient evidence that these plants are raising smog levels and reducing air quality in the region, and therefore cannot be regulated under the cited provision of the CAA. This decision is in line with other Trump administration EPA policies intended to weaken pollution regulations.
InsideClimate News
Hurricane Florence left a trail of destruction in North Carolina that included major damages to transportation, electrical, municipal water, agricultural, and industrial infrastructure. As of September 18, 1,100 roads remained closed and 340,000 people were without power. At least 600,000 residents were advised to boil their water as the storm rendered several treatment plants inoperable. North Carolina is home to a large hog industry, and waste lagoons built to hold excrement and urine overflowed at two dozen sites. Although the lagoons are designed to hold at least 19 inches of rain at any given time, some areas of the state saw nearly 24 inches of rainfall, causing hog waste to spill into surrounding areas. In addition, several million chickens, turkeys, and hogs died in the storm and subsequent flooding, while many farms remain inaccessible due to poor road conditions. At a site owned by Duke Energy, containment systems failed, releasing at least 2,000 cubic yards of water mixed with toxic coal ash, a byproduct of coal combustion. Environmentalists have criticized the company’s waste management practices in the past.
Washington Post
From September 12-14, states, territories, cities, businesses, non-profit organizations, and individuals gathered in San Francisco, CA to prove their dedication to climate action by pledging to lower global emissions by 2020. The Global Climate Action Summit hosted a number of important climate players from around the world. Despite limited U.S. federal support, the event boasted state governors, mayors, nonprofit organizations, and business officials, all gathered with the same intention of bringing about climate action on a more local scale. In addition to California Gov. Jerry Brown’s multitude of legislative enactments on energy, cities across the world promised to slash emissions and invest in clean energy technology. Businesses such as Walmart and Starbucks promised to reduce their corporate footprint by promoting forest protection and reducing consumption of single-use plastics, while mayors promised to divest municipal pension funds from fossil fuels. The states of California, New York, Maryland, and Connecticut also pledged to issue new regulations to limit the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gases that the Trump administration has refused to commit to phasing-out.
New York Times
Damage from Typhoon Mangkhut, the world’s strongest storm so far this year, has raised concerns about Hong Kong’s ability to withstand damage from extreme weather in the future. Academics and researchers have highlighted the need for more resilient infrastructure and forward-thinking planning, especially as rising sea levels and a warming climate threaten to increase the severity of storms. The addition of a sixth category to the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale (indicating a storm with wind speeds topping 200 MPH) has been proposed in anticipation of potential future “mega storms” enabled by climate change. Municipal regulations will play a critical role in ensuring the safety of Hong Kong’s citizens, but with an expected price tag of “hundreds of millions of dollars,” Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) architecture professor Edward Ng warns that implementing necessary changes must still overcome a significant cost barrier, noting, “Coastal defenses are very expensive.” There is still reason for hope however, as CUHK geography professor Gabriel Lau acknowledged, “The typhoon did some damage but…[Hong Kong’s] response was better than before.”
CNN
Recovery efforts are underway in North Carolina as inland flood waters continue to rise, but experts and observers wonder how affected communities can best rebuild and prepare for future storms. Two major hurricanes within two years—Matthew (2016) and Florence—are raising concerns that the frequency of such severe weather will increase, prompting calls for homes to be rebuilt further away from bodies of water. According to Duke University earth and ocean studies professor Orrin Pilkey, “We have two choices: move back now in a planned fashion or move back later catastrophically.” Fayetteville resident Preston Harris, however, is already resigned to the repetitive cycle of rebuilding and said, “It’s just something to deal with when you’re living on the river.” Expected damage from Hurricane Florence is approaching $20 billion, which is especially problematic for the homeowners without flood insurance. North Carolina’s Department of Emergency Management is utilizing an online Flood Inundation Map and Alert Network to more efficiently identify severely flooded areas and respond accordingly.
NPR
Unprecedented flooding from Hurricane Florence is expected to cause severe damage along North Carolina’s coast, where for years some homeowners have repeatedly received federal payouts from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). To the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which manages NFIP, these particular homes are known as “severe repetitive loss” structures. Critics suggest that the current program enables development that would otherwise be deemed too risky (a likely contributing factor to NFIP's $20 billion of debt), but that raising premiums would make flood insurance unaffordable for low-income residents. A senior policy analyst at the National Resources Defense Council, Rob Moore, emphasized the impact that climate change will have on NFIP and homeowners, particularly in North Carolina: “[These homes are] perfect examples of what we’ll see as sea levels continue to rise.” Moore has advocated for federally-funded property buyouts, an alternative he hopes would be best for low-income homeowners. North Carolina's response to chronic flood risks has been stymied by the state government, which passed a law in 2012 banning the use of sea level rise projections in policymaking. Instead, public officials were ordered to use historical data to plan for future disasters.
ProPublica
Days before Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina, Navy ships, Air Force helicopters, and thousands of Army caravans were sent out under mandatory evacuation orders. Although most military bases in the area were spared when the storm took a turn south, Pentagon representatives claim this storm was a huge wake-up call. Military officials have recognized climate change as a significant threat to operations, but even as hurricanes continue to batter essential coastal bases, the Pentagon has struggled to receive funding for improved climate resilience. With no other options, the military has taken some measures into their own hands by considering the vulnerability of areas designated for new construction. Sherri Goodman, the former Defense undersecretary for environmental security, poses the difficult question, “Given the extent of sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and storm surge that’s occurring along the mid-Atlantic coast, should we continue to have such a heavy concentration of military facilities in that area?” As waters continue to rise dramatically, the Defense Department’s Office of Economic Adjustment is now helping to produce a guide for building resilient infrastructure in disaster prone regions.
Bloomberg
On September 18, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced its revisions to the 2016 Methane and Waste Prevention Rule, established under the Obama administration. This rule was designed to reduce the amount of methane that is released into the atmosphere from natural gas and oil wells on public lands that has either leaked or has been intentionally vented or flared off. Instead of being captured for profitable resale, the methane released would collect in the atmosphere, acting as a potent greenhouse gas pollutant. BLM estimated that allowing companies to emit the methane rather than selling it could result in at least $28.3 million in lost royalty payments for taxpayers. California and New Mexico refuted the rollback and immediately filed a lawsuit against BLM. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra stated, "With this attempt to axe the Waste Prevention Rule, the Trump administration risks the air our children breathe and at taxpayers' expense." Some industry officials openly welcomed the rollback as another way to cut regulation costs, while companies such as Royal Dutch Shell announced plans to monitor for methane leaks themselves.
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E&E News
On September 18, the White House released the National Biodefense Strategy, a document detailing policies concerning threats from biological disease outbreaks. While the document addresses many sources of disease, including antibiotic resistance and biological terrorist attacks, it does not include a discussion of climate change’s potential to create new threats. Although climate change is just one of many factors influencing infectious disease trends, scientists consider it significant enough to warrant serious consideration. Research suggests that a warming climate may allow mosquitoes to expand into new areas, carrying with them pathogens like Zika and dengue fever. A 2018 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that diseases borne by mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks had tripled in the United States over the past 15 years. Other tropical pathogens and parasites, historically limited to Central and South America, may already be creeping northward. According to the CDC, more frequent flooding also raises concerns for waterborne bacterial diseases.
Scientific American
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