NWF volunteers spent the day planting native grasses to help rebuild dunes devastated by Hurricane Sandy

On May 4, 2013, National Wildlife Federation and the National Park Service brought in some people who know something about buildings to help us do some building.  On a sunny Saturday, 15 employee volunteers from Cushman & Wakefield, one of the biggest commercial real estate firms around,  joined us to work on a dunes restoration project. Part of a series of Ranger Rick Restores Days being held throughout the tri-state region, the volunteers spent the day planting shoots of Seaside Golden Rod in rows on the beach to start a new foundation for a 1000 foot long sand dune.

Park Ranger Dan Meharg explained to the group that these plants and the dunes not only provide habitat for local wild birds but for migrating monarch butterflies that are in a state of decline due to habitat loss and the use of commercial pesticides.  These vegetated sand dunes outside NYC give the monarchs a stopover safe haven that can help to build their numbers thousands of miles away.

The restoration work required kneeling in the sand and digging with seashell or one’s hand to create a place for one plant at a time.  Each small plant in the sand was a building action: the foundation for new physical protection for millions of people from future weather, the start of new habitat for local wildlife and for a species moving across the hemisphere, and for each planter kneeling in the sand, the building of a new connection to nature.

As New Jersey was very literally in the eye of the storm, Hurricane Sandy’s impact upon the state was profound. Storm surge transformed many of our barrier islands and coastal marshes; pruning winds reconfigured forest tracts.

We all recognize the tragedy of the human costs of the storm, but some people have wondered how New Jersey’s birds and wildlife have been impacted by Sandy. What species were most affected? What are the long-term effects of coastal erosion or natural food stock reduction?

Black skimmers by Jack Rogers

The good news is that there is little evidence the storm had a serious, direct impact on breeding or wintering bird populations. Late October, when Sandy struck, falls right between that time when summer residents migrate and most winter residents arrive.

Foods, Forests and Finches

But it is almost certain that the flooding tides caused mortality among rodent populations, thus reducing the prey base for wintering birds of prey. New Jersey’s Atlantic and Delaware Bay marshes rank among the planet’s greatest winter raptor strongholds. This year, many rough-legged hawks, northern harriers, and short- and long-eared owls will be forced to move on and find less affected areas to meet their food needs.

Pine siskin by Robert Palmer

As fortune has it, this year is marked by the largest influx of wintering northern finches to New Jersey in decades. Low natural food stocks have sent scores of pine siskins and purple finches—as well as red-breasted nuthatches, blue jays and evening grosbeaks—south in search of food. Homeowners can mitigate shortfalls caused by Sandy by feeding birds in their yards (and gain hours of entertainment in the process).

Coastal Habitat and Beach-Nesting Birds

The storm’s greatest potential concern may be its impact upon beach-nesting birds. In a wholly natural environment, coastal storms are part of the dynamic that creates the habitat needed by endangered, beach-nesting birds like the piping plover, least tern and black skimmer. But coastal habitat modified for human use may upset the balance of nature. As coastal communities rebuild, they and we will have to be mindful of the needs of wildlife.

Fortunately again, most beach-nesting species will not arrive until April, leaving months for planning and restoration. New Jersey Audubon will—as we always have—speak and act on the birds’ behalf. We’ll be monitoring their populations and working with our partners in the conservation community to ensure that Sandy’s legacy includes quality habitat for bird species to breed.

About the Author

Portrait by John Carno

For more on Hurricane Sandy’s impact on fish and wildlife, check out this blog post by Kevin Coyle, NWF’s vice president of education and training.

Protect Birds From Future Superstorms

Scientists are warning that superstorms like Sandy could become more and more frequent as global temperatures continue to increase–and that we must reduce the pollution causing climate change now. Take action today >>

Waves from Hurricane Sandy batter the Brooklyn coast. NASA photo.

It has been refreshing to see our leaders – from President Obama to Governors Cuomo and Christie – connect the dots and acknowledge that climate change is fueling these more frequent and intense storms, but investing in sea walls and storm response plans is  just not enough.

We need to aggressively cut carbon pollution and pursue clean, renewable sources of energy – including offshore wind – in order to protect future generations of people and wildlife from the dangers of climate change.

Offshore Wind Energy in Germany = Jobs, & Not Just Along the Coast

I recently had the pleasure of spending a few days with Senator Joachim Lohse from Germany, a global leader in renewable energy. Thanks to the Heinrich Boll Foundation, which fosters transatlantic dialogue on critical issues, Senator Lohse came to America to share the amazing success story of offshore wind energy development in his state of Bremen. National Wildlife Federation was honored to join the Blue-Green Alliance for a US tour with the Senator, bringing Germany’s story of offshore wind job creation to key leaders, government agencies, stakeholders, and the media in Washington DC, Maryland, and New York.

Headed into the White House Council on Environmental Quality. (L to R: Andreas Marcotty, BGA; Catherine Bowes, NWF; Senator Joachim Lohse, Bremen, Germany; Rebecca Bertram, Heinrich Boll Foundation, Mike Williams, BGA) Photo: BGA

In Senator Lohse’s state of Bremen, Germany, new jobs in the offshore wind industry more than doubled over the last two years (See Lohse presentation).  There are currently just under 3,000 jobs in the offshore wind industry in Bremerhaven (Bremen’s port city), a number which is expected to reach 14,000 by 2020. Across Europe, over 300,000 jobs have been projected to result from pursuing the region’s aggressive offshore wind energy goal of 40 GW by 2020.

And these are not just coastal jobs - over 60% of the economic development benefits from offshore wind energy in Germany have rippled across the country for project development and supply chain manufacturing industries.

Jealous!

Everyone we met with over the course of the tour used the same word in response to hearing Senator Lohse describe Germany’s commitment to clean energy, where renewables currently make up 25% of the country’s energy mix:  Jealous!

The photos he showed of the buzzing port activity in Germany – including massive steel and concrete construction opportunities – left us all wishing we had the leadership here in America necessary to move us forward in harnessing our own offshore wind energy resource.

Offshore wind energy foundations ready for construction at the booming port of Bremerhaven, Germany. Photo: Joachim Lohse

At a time when the twin imperatives of advancing clean energy and revitalizing our economy could not be more clear, we simply can no longer afford to ignore the massive job-creating energy source sitting right off our shores.  A recent poll found that Americans prefer clean energy to investing in more fossil fuels by a 4 to 1 margin, yet renewable energy only makes up 4% of our energy mix. It is time to get serious about clean energy sources like offshore wind.

Take Action: Critical tax credits for wind energy expire at the end of this year. Click here voice your support for offshore wind energy!

Symons identified October’s Superstorm Sandy as a “turning point” in how people are registering climate change in the national political dialogue, and referenced a Zogby poll of voters, taken November 7th, in which it is reported that 65% of voters believe elected officials should take action to mitigate climate change for future generations. But it’s not just voters advocating for legislation and calling attention to climate change and its effects. Symons referenced a new World Bank report, Turn Down the Heat:  Why a 4°C Warmer World Must Be Avoided–a call to immediate action to reduce carbon emissions from an institution that has not, historically, “been a leader of environmental consciousness.”

Audience at Symons’s University of Mary Washington presentation earlier this month. Photo credit Julian Keniry, NWF.

So, what can students do, and what role do colleges and universities play in this transition? Symons cited the strong turnout of young voters on November 6th as an important step, and encouraged that bloc to continue to let their legislators know that clean energy is an important issue to them. He discussed student activism around the Keystone XL pipeline, as well as the value in students gaining hands-on sustainability skills in the classroom, and carrying those skills through to the workforce. Symons lauded the leadership of the higher education sector, as campuses, more often than not, are models of sustainability inside and out–prime examples of efficient, low-impact and low-cost operations.

Jeremy Symons’s inspiring presentation was follwed by comments from Scott Sleisinger of the Natural Resources Defense Council, who reinforced the fact that this past election, the power of the people proved stronger than corporate polluter dollars (10 of the “Dirty Dozen” were defeated, and all 18 of the NWF Action Fund-endorsed candidates won their races), a trend Sleisinger says shows the waning power, politically and otherwise, of the fossil fuel industry. However, Sleisinger pointed out that we need to continue to pressure Congress to vote for clean energy, especially about the Production Tax Credit for Renewable Energy.

A closing message from the webinar emphasized setting our sights high–on eliminating carbon pollution for a healthier planet, building and supporting that infrastructure now, for the long-term, rather than continuing to support industries that are only profitable in the short term.

In reference to the title question of this blog, it may be more telling to draw the connection a different way, instead asking, “What effect does campus sustainability have on elections?” Students, faculty, staff and administrators are greening campuses more than ever before, and will continue to demand the same sustainability initiatives and standards in the workforce and in government.

Read about Jeremy Symons’s visit to University of Mary Washington earlier this month, where he helped students connect the dots among Superstorm Sandy, energy and the future.

Like Campus Ecology on facebook, and follow @CampusEcology, @YouthForClimate and @Greenforce on twitter.

Photo: Elvert Barnes

Only, last I checked, that hasn’t happened yet. We will hear the White House’s decision in a few short months, and here are five reasons why the country should expect a much different outcome:

1. The industry and its supporters have been wrong before

Pundits have long assumed that this pipeline was a done deal, but conventional wisdom isn’t the same as insight. Around this time last year, National Journal magazine polled “energy insiders” to see whether they thought KXL would get rubber stamped. More than 70% of these experts (I use the term loosely) said it would be approved before 2012, characterized by this sentiment:

“They’ve delayed it for a year to appease Big Green, but they will issue the permit in 2011.”

A month later, right before the massive, 12,000 person anti-KXL rally at the White House, the drumbeat was the same:

For the Obama administration, having an answer to high [gas] prices will be much more important in 2012 than it is today,” Kevin Book. managing director at the research firm ClearView Energy Partners, told CNN Money. ”We think it will get approved.”

We’re pretty close to throwing out those 2012 calendars and the pipeline still hasn’t been approved. Just sayin’.

2. Keystone XL has become a political liability

Opposition to tar sands is strong—and getting stronger (Photo: Lauri Gorham)

Asked to pick the highest priority to help solve America’s energy challenges, twice as many voters select renewable energy like wind and solar power (38 percent) than any other choice. Independents favor wind and solar over fossil fuels by a 4-to-1 margin – 48 percent pick renewable energy while just 12 percent select the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and only 11 percent prioritize more oil and gas drilling on America’s public lands.

A lot of this is due to Hurricane Sandy, which was a real wake-up call to a nation that had put climate change on the back burner for a couple of years. In an article for Forbes after the release of the poll, John Zogby noted the widespread and growing concern about extreme weather:

These results show the dramatic impact 2012′s extreme weather has had across party lines, with half of Republicans, 73 percent of independents and 82 percent of Democrats saying they’re worried about the growing cost and risks of extreme weather disasters fueled by climate change.

Corporate polluters have been shouting for a while that “Americans want this project!” and so the NWF/Zogby poll may sound like a big shift in public opinion,but it’s important to recognize what these studies measure and what they don’t. The NWF/Zogby poll took into account the basic fact that we can’t have a healthy planet and more tar sands; we need to choose one or the other. Previous polls only asked “should Obama approve KXL?” and didn’t put it in the context of a choice, or weigh how strongly people felt about the issue.

Although plenty of members of Congress still plug up their ears when you talk about about global warming, the Hurricane Sandy and this summer’s drought have helped create a a new political landscape—one where extremely polluting projects like KXL are unpopular and politically risky.

3. Big Oil bet big and lost

During the election, the fossil fuel industry and its allies spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to defeat pro-environment incumbents and replace them with politicians who would maintain the pro-polluter status quo. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that firing Obama was their top priority, given the progress his administration made on things like stronger mileage standards for cars and trucks. They might as well have lit that money on fire, for all the good it did them: Mitt Romney (“I’ll approve Keystone on Day One”) lost and, as my colleague Joe Mendelson describes, Big Oil’s hand-picked Senate candidates lost nearly every race despite shattering fundraising marks.

Obama and moderates in Congress owe the oil industry no favors.

4. We don’t need Keystone XL—and we can’t afford it.

If you read my last article, you learned that the United States is already a net exporter of refined oil products like gasoline, and pipelines like KXL are intended to send oil overseas, too. Tar sands companies aren’t interested in lowering your gas bill (quite the opposite, actually) but they are interested in getting more oil out of the ground and keeping their profits rolling in. Meanwhile, the rest of us pay a steep price.

A glimpse of the future? Hurricane Sandy caused massive coastal flooding on Long Island and elsewhere. (Photo: DVIDSHUB)

Consider this: the giant international insurance company Munich Re says that climate change is “one of the greatest risks facing mankind” and estimates that extreme weather events like Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina cost North Americans over a trillion dollars since 1980. We know that climate change worsens these events, and we know that burning tar sands (or any fossil fuel) worsens climate change, so essentially when we use tar sands oil we’re raising our own taxes and insurance premiums, even if it’s not reflected in your gas bill.

Why should we pick up the tab for oil companies?

5. The next generation needs him (and us) to protect their future

Photo: David Katz/Obama For America

The President, like most fathers, cares more about the two people in the middle of this photo than he does about anything else—and that’s the most important reason he’ll reject the Keystone XL pipeline. He knows that, at its core, this is a choice about what kind of world we want to leave to our children and grandchildren, and one that has a right answer and a wrong one.

Make your voice count! Tell the White House to say “NO!” to Keystone XL and other tar sands pipelines.

Let’s take a look at these new results:

Climate Had a Role in Superstorm Sandy

Q: Do you think climate change is adding to the severity of recent extreme weather such as Superstorm Sandy and the summer droughts?

57.2% Yes             27.9% No       14.8% Not Sure

Deeper Dive: Superstorm Sandy impacted the public across the country not just in the Northeast. At least 54% responded “Yes” in each region of the country (East, South, Central/Great Lakes & West). According to veteran pollster John Zogby:

These results show the dramatic impact 2012′s extreme weather has had across party lines, with half of Republicans, 73 percent of independents and 82 percent of Democrats saying they’re worried about the growing cost and risks of extreme weather disasters fueled by climate change. It’s a major change from our December 2009 poll, which showed two-thirds of Republicans and nearly half of political independents saying they were ‘not at all concerned’ about global climate change and global warming. The political climate has shifted and members of Congress need to catch up with their constituents.

69% Concerned Over Costs & Risks of Climate Change

Aerial views of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy to the New Jersey coast (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen).

• 22.3%  I am worried a great deal
• 46.7% I am somewhat worried
• 15.9% I am not very worried
• 11.3% I am not worried at all
• 3.8%  Not sure

Deeper Dive:  Concern over climate fueled extreme weather spans the political spectrum. 58% of those sympathetic to the Tea Party are greatly or somewhat concerned about climate change.  82% of those sympathetic to Occupy Wall Street are concerned.

More Than 65% Want Elected Officials to Act Now to Address Climate Change

Q: Do you believe elected officials should take steps now to reduce the impact of climate change on future generations, or wait until there is more evidence?

• 65.3%   Take steps now
• 27.3%  Wait until there is more evidence
• 7.3%   Not sure

Deeper Dive:  The call for action from elected officials spans across all generations. 74% of those in the age group 18-29 say take steps now; 68% in the age group 30-39 want action; 64% of those between 50-64 years old want action; and 52% of 65+ say take steps now.

Don’t Roll Back the Clean Air Act

Q: Which of the following proposals offered by candidates do you think should be the highest priority to help solve America’s energy challenges?

A:  When given a number of choices, only 3.5% wanted to “relax clean air standards to promote more electricity from coal.”

Deeper Dive: In comparison, 38% want political leaders to do more to encourage the development of renewable forms of energy like wind and solar power.  This choice had more than double the support of any other choice.

Voters Are Tired of Polluters Trying to Influence Elections

courtesy oliveventures.com

• 41.7%  Very concerned
• 35.1% Somewhat concerned
• 14.2% Not very concerned
• 4.6%   Not at all concerned
• 4.5%   Not sure

Deeper Dive: The concern over polluter contributions spans the political spectrum.  81% of Democrats, 70% of Republicans and 77% of independents are very/somewhat concerned about the role of polluter money in campaigns.

Ignoring the Call for Climate Leadership

The polling results as a whole continue to show that a failure to lead or take action on climate will put political leaders at odds with the public. And while this is true across the political spectrum, after the election some political leaders are not getting the message.

House Majority Leader John Boehner has once again decided to hide behind the phony debate over climate science. Responding to question about climate he said:

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that we’ve had climate change over the last 100 years. What has initiated it, though, has sparked a debate that’s gone on now for the last 10 years. I don’t think we’re any closer to the answer than we were 10 years ago.”

Similarly, House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton was asked whether he would consider a carbon tax as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations and responded, “I don’t like the idea.” Let’s remember that Congressman Upton has also opposed the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade legislation and last Congress led legislative efforts in the House to strip the EPA of its authority under the Clean Air Act to deal with carbon pollution. All of which means that the Congressman is running out of options to support that will actually tackle the climate problem.

This lack of leadership on climate is woefully out of alignment with where voters are after Superstorm Sandy and the recent election. It is past time for of our elected officials of all strips to look to the future: whether for the sake of addressing the growing impacts of climate change or even if it is for their own political future.

Help protect crucial habitat from worsening superstorms—take action to support limits on carbon pollution from coal-burning power plants.

1. Climate Change Impacts are Costing the Federal Government Too Much Money

Rockaway, New York on Nov. 1, 2012. Photo by Walt Jennings/FEMA.gov

Hurricane Sandy, however, is only one piece of the climate impact puzzle. This year the country has also experienced record drought, widespread wildfires, and the worst West Nile virus outbreak ever. Munich Re put the cost of the first six months of 2012’s extreme weather events at over $14.5 billion. All of these impacts have required a federal government response. Lawmakers sought $800 million in additional funds this year to deal with wildfires and new legislation for over $300 million in drought assistance to livestock producers hit by the drought is expected soon.

But wait there is more.  Sandy has shown that the country needs a crash course in preparing for and adapting to the changes and impacts that will occur in the future (read NWF’s prescription here). This is not cheap.  For example, Norfolk, VA—home of Naval Station Norfolk and on the frontline of climate impacts—has a comprehensive adaptation plan that will cost about $1 billion. This is roughly twice the city’s entire annual budget and cannot be undertaken without federal dollars.

So, if we are serious about addressing the federal budget crisis, lawmakers need to look at the exploding costs of climate change impacts and how much it will take to better prepare for such events.

The choice Congress will face is who picks up the tab.

The past failure to put price on carbon pollution means that the costs of dealing with these “externalities” (read: impacts) have never been borne by the polluters. Instead, the federal government and taxpayers like you and me foot the bill. The looming fiscal crisis and the costs of climate change demand this equation be changed.

We want our children to live in an America that isn’t burdened by debt, that isn’t weakened by inequality, that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet. President Obama, 2012 victory speech

2. Big Oil and King Coal’s Money Play Was A Costly Failure

Early last year the political punditry predicted a significant loss in the Senate for a number of Senators that voted to support using the Clean Air Act to limit the carbon pollution causing climate change.  Big polluters sought to make this a reality with enormous campaign expenditures through independent entities like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and American Crossroads. Together, just these two organizations funneled over $31 million into the Senate races against candidates that hold key votes in preserving the Clean Air Act during the next Congress. Guess what?  The polluter attempt to buy the election failed miserably.

Let’s take a deeper dive. A key moment in the last Congress was a vote on a Senate amendment to a small business bill that would have rolled back the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to fight climate using the Clean Air Act. The amendment failed.  Cross referencing some of the key votes that fought to defeat the climate rollback amendment with the new election results reveals that the millions of polluter dollars did not alter the political equation. This holds true across the whole map of the recent Senate elections. Tuesday night’s results actually weakened the polluters’ political hand on climate and the Clean Air Act. The results mean politicians don’t have to be afraid of Big Oil and King Coal and it’s time to move forward.

*Sen. Casey’s opponent, a coal company executive, self-financed his campaign with over $17M. All figures from OpenSecrets.org

3. Poll After Poll Shows the Public Increasingly Wants Action on Climate Change

Additionally, the future for politicians that have spent their time on the fossil fuel dole and opposing action to address climate change does not look so, pardon the pun, hot. Polling undertaken before Hurricane Sandy has shown that the public attitude toward taking action on climate on the significant upswing.  Three recent examples:

• Yale’s September poll finding that 70% of Americans see global warming as a reality that is occurring. This number is up 13% since January 2010 and those who do not see climate change as occurring declining to a low of 12%.
• NWF’s September poll of sportsmen finding 66% in agreement with the statement that “We have a moral responsibility to confront global warming to protect our children’s future.”
• Kaiser Foundation Foundation/Washington Post poll in August finding that 74% support government action to “regulate” the climate changing air pollution that is emitted from power plants, cars and factories. The support was bi-partisan with 87% of Democrats, 73% of Independents and 61% of Republicans in support. 

It’s safe to say after witnessing the suffering of millions from the aftermath of Sandy these numbers will only continue to rise.

The Bottom Line

All of these factors lead to the cumulative conclusion that members of the next Congress must address the climate crisis soon or risk their political well-being. Simply put:

• The nation can no longer afford to bail out polluters and foot the bill. Putting a price on carbon pollution will help the fiscal state of the country, drive adoption of clean energy technologies, and place the responsibility of paying for climate change damages on those that cause the problem;
• Counting on Big Polluter campaign money to win you an election will not succeed and it will not overcome the public’s desire to vote for those that will protect our families, homes, and communities from the ravages of climate change; and
• Politicians that step forward to provide leadership in addressing climate change and its impacts will be meeting the expectations of the electorate and rewarded in 2014.

Help protect crucial habitat from worsening superstorms—take action to support limits on carbon pollution from coal-burning power plants.

Hurricane Sandy 2012. NOAA image.

The Importance of Teachable Moments

As educators, we have looked to teachable moments throughout our time in the classroom to effectively communicate our content in real time and help students make connections to their own lives. Examples include, the attacks on the World Trade Center, the declassification of Pluto as a planet, the Gulf oil spill, the election of the first African American president of the United States, the spread of the Influenza A virus H1N1, and the 2012 presidential election.

Waves from Hurricane Sandy batter the Brooklyn coast. NASA photo.

Superstorm Sandy provides teachers the unique opportunity to calm students’ overwhelming fears, concerns, and sadness related to the events that have so greatly impacted the East Coast’s landscape, communities and wildlife.

Teaching students about weather patterns and how changes in our climate system are impacting these natural events will lead to better understanding of our Earth system; and with understanding emotions can be soothed.

Solutions to mitigate impacts

Climate change is and will continue to impact our nation and the world in which we live, therefore, it is important to arm students with actions they can take to feel empowered.

What Can I Do?

• Protect wetlands: they are coastal communities’ first line of defense against extreme weather events.
• Don’t just recycle: work on reducing and reusing too!
• Don’t let energy vampires drive up carbon emissions.
• Drive less, walk and bike more, carpool and commit to drive 10 miles less a week

Educational Resources

Eco-Schools USA is proud to offer educators and their students with a wealth of free resources that include ways to help students cope with catastrophic events, curricular connections, and ways to take real action.

• Eco-Schools USA – Hurricane Sandy
• Generation On
• My Planet, My Part
• NWF – Cool It! Tips for Going Green

Aerial views of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy to the New Jersey coast taken during a search and rescue mission by New Jersey Army National Guard, Oct. 30, 2012. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen)

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the first priorities for federal, state, and local governments are to prevent additional loss of life, assist those in need with all resources possible, and begin the difficult recovery process.  But once the recovery process begins my family and friends, along with countless others up and down the eastern seaboard, will begin to consider how to repair, rebuild and strengthen their homes and business properties.

As we move towards the repair and recovery phase, NWF has identified a 10 ways to better prepare for extreme hurricanes: five national policy changes that can be made right now to make all us safer, and five activities that must be stopped to avoid and minimize future storm-related catastrophes.  These recommendations all have one thing in common – they promote protection and restoration of natural defenses that are critical for safe, affordable, and sustainable protection from storms and floods.

Five Actions to Protect People, Property and Wildlife from Storm and Flood Damages

High water in the wetlands of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Flickr photo courtesy U.S. FWS.

1. Promote Climate Readiness. Many federal, state, and municipal agencies have taken steps to develop climate-adaptation plans, which chart a path toward preparing for and coping with extreme weather events and other climate impacts. Most of these plans have yet to be implemented, though, and will require political will and adequate funding to truly create more climate-resilient communities. And Readiness is the key word here—the best time to protect against and plan for natural catastrophe is long before it happens. We can start by implementing the recommendations of the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force.
2. Make Flood Insurance Reform Real. Hurricane Sandy destroyed countless properties across the Northeast, including many that belonged to people who had no idea their property was located within a floodplain and therefore did not have flood insurance. Thankfully, the just passed Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act made great strides towards updating how we map flood zones by taking into account increased storm frequency and intensity. By updating our maps and requiring more people to purchase flood insurance we’ll protect more properties, and also send a market signal that there are smarter, safer and better places to develop than in the middle of a floodplain. We can do this if we fully fund and implement the Flood Insurance Reform Act. 
3. Protect Our Natural Defenses. Natural features like wetlands reduce storm intensity and protect nearby properties from flooding. In fact, a single acre of wetland can store 1–1.5 million gallons of flood water. We must capitalize on these benefits and ensure that government helps protect these beneficial and cost-effective flood control features. The Obama Administration took several new steps to meet this goal. It has created new guidance and intends to pursue rulemaking to reinstate crucial Clean Water Act protections for wetlands and streams, and is also poised to release new water resources planning guidelines.
   
4. Encourage Better Stormwater Management. During major rain events, like Hurricane Sandy, stormwater and sewer systems are often inundated.  New storm water rules and guidance allow us to address these serious storm water concerns for communities across the country—especially those with aging infrastructure. We must update stormwater regulations to require that major sewer system upgrades in urban areas account for projected increases in rainfall and provide adequate holding basins to protect towns and communities from flooding, while protecting water quality at the same time.
5. Reduce Carbon Pollution. To avoid increased damage from super storms and other severe weather events, Americans must begin taking steps to reduce carbon pollution. The administration must follow through on its efforts to use the Clean Air Act to limit carbon pollution from power plants and other sources. And it must accelerate development and deployment of innovative clean energy solutions. Until we solve the problem at this level, we’ll be playing catch up after every storm. See my colleague Joe’s Mendelson’s recent piece for more details.

Five Actions that put People, Property and Wildlife at Risk from Storm and Flood Damages

The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in Rodanthe, North Carolina. Flickr photo by North Carolina Dept. of Transportation

1. Government Subsidization of Development in High Risk Areas. Earlier this year, the Congress passed and the President signed the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 which made significant steps towards ensuring that property owners pay actuarial- or market-based rates for flood insurance. This is important as it helps people understand their risk and lessens floodplain development via the free market. But the bill didn’t go far enough. There are still countless properties that receive federal subsidies for flood insurance, including home owners living behind decertified and failing levees. Until we ensure everybody pays according to risk, we should continue to expect dangerous coastal development.
2. Failure to Prioritize & Harmonize Civil Works Projects. While some improvements have been made to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers planning process, the Corps continues to plan and operate projects that increase flood risks and destroy natural features that protect communities from flooding. Moving forward, Congress must consider the flooding impacts of all projects regardless of their primary purpose. For instance, we must consider the flooding impacts of navigation projects and have the political courage to veto them if these projects put people and property at risk.
3. Destruction of wetlands and streams.  Actions by the Supreme Court, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Environmental Protection Agency over the last decade undermine the Clean Water Act’s ability to prevent destruction of many wetlands and small streams by developers and others. Similarly, lax enforcement of the Farm Bill’s Swampbuster restrictions has exacerbated wetlands loss.  Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, and Missouri have each lost 85-90 percent of their wetlands and countless headwater streams. Between 1998 and 2004, coastal watersheds in the eastern United States lost almost 1 percent of their freshwater wetlands. Just a 1–percent loss of a watershed’s wetlands can increase total flood volume by almost 7 percent.
4. Backstop State and Federal Insurance Programs: Subsidized government insurance—like the National Flood Insurance Program of Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp—mask risk and encourage unsafe development. And still legislators across the country continue to call for an expansion of these subsidies by creating federal backstops or bailouts for these poorly run programs. We must not move towards this type of dangerous policy.
5. Build with Concrete instead of Mud and Grass: The WRDA 2007 national water policy proposed to “protect the environment” by “protecting and restoring the functions of natural systems and mitigating any unavoidable damage to natural systems,” and by “seeking to avoid the unwise use of floodplains.” The Corps is ignoring these requirements by continuing to promote environmentally destructive and costly structural projects even where less costly and environmentally protective nonstructural and restoration measures would provide better solutions. We need a major change of course to stop building structures that protect those directly behind them and exacerbate downstream flooding and instead use natural, open floodplains to allow rivers room to expand and cover their banks without impacting property.

How You Can Help

By going to the polls this Tuesday, we can show Big Polluters their money is no match for millions of Americans who have the power to elect leaders that will stand up to protect wildlife and fight climate change. Get ready to vote by locating your polling place today, deciding now what time you will vote and making sure that your friends and family have rides to the polls. Let’s Pack the Polls for Wildlife.

Areas of Long Island, NY shown during an overflight following Hurricane Sandy. Photo: Flickr/DVIDSHUB

Sandy’s Mandate: When Political Reality Meets Climate Reality

November 1 - Whatever happens on November 6^th, the tragic scenes unfolding across the 19 states impacted by Superstorm Sandy have realigned American politics when it comes to climate change.The road to Election Day has gone from sarcastic remarks in Tampa, to two debate moderators apologizing for not asking the climate change question, to Republican standard bearer Gov. Chris Christie touring his devastated home state with President Obama, to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg penning an op-ed declaring that action on climate change is the central electoral issue.

How Arctic Sea Ice Loss Can Set the Stage for Superstorms

November 1 - As the east coast begins efforts to recover from Hurricane Sandy, the devastating effects of climate change are impossible to miss. Bigger, more powerful storms. More rainfall and higher storm surge. These are exactly the sorts of impacts that climate scientists have been worried about for years. Global warming is putting hurricanes on steroids and we’re beginning to see the effects.

To make matters worse, record-low sea ice in the Arctic likely contributed to the weather conditions that transformed Hurricane Sandy into a “superstorm”, when she collided with a winter storm system.

Hurricane Sandy’s Impact on Fish and Wildlife

October 30 - Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the East Coast this week and due to its unusual West-turning track, it came ashore midway in the eastern “Megalopolis” with its 65 million people.  Virginia and Maryland were drenched and pummeled and New York and New Jersey were flooded and smashed.  Human impact is the main concern for so many but, what  happens to fish and wildlife during such major storms? After Hurricane Irene devastated the east coast in August of 2011, we wrote a synopsis of the ways species are affected by major storms coming ashore and some things you can do to help them. Here is an updated “Sandy” version of that blog post.

Sandy: Send the Bill to ExxonMobil

October 30 - The heroic efforts of people coming together to assist each other in the face of Hurricane Sandy give me great hope for how we work together to overcome adversity.  If we look at this storm and all the increasing toll of “unusual” weather disasters as random, however, we will miss an opportuity to secure a better future for our families and forwildlife.  Those who have stood in harm’s way deserve better accountability for the actions that have made Sandy such a destructive storm, just as the farmers out West deserve better for the droughts they have suffered through, and others for the wildfires that have swept through parts of our nation.

East Coast Faces Monstrous Halloween Hurricane: How is Climate Change Fueling Sandy?

October 26 – As Hurricane Sandy barrels up the East Coast, forecasters are giving it nicknames that sound like the title of a disaster movie: Frankenstorm. The Perfect Storm II. All point to the grave danger of a monster storm fueled by the historic convergence of rare weather conditions and climate impacts.

Meteorologists did not pick the name Frankenstorm only because of the Halloween timing. The name also reflects the highly unusual nature of this storm.

Here are highlights from NWF in the news:

• The Washington Post: Flood risk will rise with climate change, experts say
• The Los Angeles Times: Hurricane Sandy as ‘super storm’: Is climate change a factor?
• Greenwire: Bloomberg nod proves climate an issue, say greens (subscription required)
•  Care2: How Do Wild Animals Survive Hurricanes?

Urge President Obama and Governor Romney to voice their plans to address climate change, now.