Letter to the editor: We must pay far more attention to looming ... - VTDigger

Letter to the editor: We must pay far more attention to looming climate disasters - VTDigger

We are rapidly approaching two years since Vermont’s Climate Action Plan was adopted. That plan did many things well, but it did a few important things badly.

To oversimplify it, that plan did quite a nice job in laying out simple ways that if, individually, everyone pitched in and did their fair share, Vermont, collectively, could in turn do its fair share to cut global greenhouse gas emissions.

Unfortunately, its work on adapting to climate change was relatively weak. Its adaptation analysis made many good points, but the paths forward were relatively vague, and were buried in the middle of the plan. Since then there seems to have been little action.

For evidence of this problem, look no farther than Montpelier’s downtown. After the July flood, flood damage has been repaired quickly with a focus on getting the community functioning again, more or less as it had functioned before.

I suspect that the real work of adapting to future floods is likely ramping up in the background in Montpelier. I have been looking for clear evidence of this and have yet to see it, but I do suspect that now that quick and dirty recovery efforts are moving along and bearing fruit, allowing the city to come back to life, efforts will shift toward real adaptation. I hope so.

It is sad that recovery plans were not in place to allow them to build back (or, better yet, build forward) better, but that is water under the bridge, so to speak. It is pointless to dwell excessively on past mistakes, as long as we learn the essential lessons they have to offer.

One overarching lesson is that we must pay much more attention to the climate disasters that are coming our way. Another is that it is crucial for us to understand that one of the largest challenges we will face is the climate diaspora from around the country and the world, many of whom will soon be heading our way.

Although I am optimistic about humanity’s ability to adapt, I am deeply concerned over our own failures to adapt in Vermont, to say nothing about failures in less prosperous places around the world, and the many places where climate denial is the norm. Although I do see good ways to move forward, I believe that the process, if it succeeds, will be the most complex undertaking the world has ever seen. By far.

The cost of success in climate adaptation will be high, but the price of failure is unimaginable. Let us hope that Montpelier gets it right this time and shows how intelligent people, working together, can find a good way forward through daunting challenges to a better future. And please, let me know how I can help.

Jim Stiles

St. Albans