by admin | Dec 2, 2019 | Climate, Disaster, Disaster policy, Economics, Environment, Floodplain management, Natural Hazards, Parks, Politics, Public policy, Public safety, Resilience, Water, Wildfire
Warning to readers: This is not my usual single-focus essay. It is a collage of news from two coastal states with an assortment of serious natural hazards challenges—Florida and California. In recent years, their politics has tended to diverge widely, but perhaps we...
by admin | Sep 2, 2019 | Chicago, Environment, Floodplain management, Infrastructure, Parks, Uncategorized, Urban Planning
It is possible to live in a city as large as Chicago and be blissfully unaware of some wonderful things. Chicago, after all, includes 2.7 million people spread over 227 square miles. My wife and I have lived here since 1986, but we do not spend much of our time...
by admin | Apr 9, 2019 | Activism, Books, Chicago, Climate, Drought, Environment, Floodplain management, Infrastructure, Natural Hazards, Public policy, Resilience, Science, Water
I grew up near the shores of Lake Erie, in suburban Cleveland. After a seven-year stint in Iowa and Nebraska, I ended up in Chicago, where I have lived since 1985. The Great Lakes have been part of my ecological and geographic consciousness for essentially 90 percent...
by admin | Mar 26, 2019 | Art, Environment, Geography, Parks, Recreation, Uncategorized, Water, Weather
Two weeks ago, I spun a narrative about hazard mitigation in Hillsborough County, Florida, based on both prior knowledge and a personal tour conducted by long-time colleague Eugene Henry. Today, a full month or more after that visit, I add notes about touring the...
by admin | Nov 24, 2018 | Books, Careers, Climate, Disaster, Emergency Management, Environment, Natural Hazards, Public health, Public safety, Urban Planning
Just nine days ago, on November 15, I stood in front of two successive audiences of long-term health care practitioners to present workshops at a conference in Wisconsin Dells discussing, of all things, “Fundamentals of Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery.” Where,...
by admin | Jun 3, 2018 | Activism, Business, Climate, Economics, Environment, Government, Politics, Renewable Energy
Last Friday, June 1, marked one full year since President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from participation in the Paris climate accords that President Barack Obama had signed just two years ago. As too often is the case in this administration, one wonders...
