If you’re from the Philadelphia area (or even if you’re not), please read the article in Philly Mag about how a non-coastal city still needs to prepare for the floods.
Philadelphia’s possible responses to climate change are outlined in this article by Clair Sasko and David Murrell in Philadelphia Magazine. I had already known that Philly is slated to get hundreds of thousands of climate refugees, from places like Miami and the coasts, but this article reminds me some will come from New Jersey. It’s an obvious idea, of course. The coasts will flood by the end of the century. We here in Philadelphia are so used to going to the New Jersey shores for vacation or to spend our summers that we forget about the people who live there all year round.
My friend in Pittsburgh says that the city has 191 car charging stations. We have less than 150 and we are a much bigger city. The article has a theory as to why that is. 80% of electric and hybrid owners charge at home, but the city stopped residents from putting up stations in front of their own houses, fearing a haves/havesnot divide over private parking spots on city streets. A bit myopic at best.
I don’t post about environmental things often, for two reasons. 1. I’m not living off-grid. I’m still driving a gas fueled car, we have natural gas in our home, and I don’t always know where my garbage goes (like clothing!) 2. I think the focus on the little guy, like me, is misleading. Huge corporations and literal nations are the overwhelming main contributors. We have to regulate them more. They are killing us all. I don’t know what to do about either one of those things. I do my research but I don’t have control over how my recycling gets processed, or how my donated clothes don’t end up being resold but instead put in a landfill. Don’t get me started on electronics. I use my phones, computers and cars until they are literally dead and cannot be revived. Does this give me some moral superiority over those who upgrade yearly? Probably not. That’s the thing, I don’t even know if I’m doing it right. My instincts tell me to use stuff until it can’t be repaired. Perhaps the right thing is to move it on earlier so more life can be squeezed from its parts. I just don’t know.
Hopefully we can get straight answers on all of this soon. Hopefully we’ll all be taking over the streets demanding them and instituting the changes business and governments need to make to save the planet.