Jan Ellen Spiegel’s April 29 reporting on the impact of climate change on Tweed Airport exposes the tip of the climate iceberg that our infrastructure will be facing in coming years. NOAA flood maps suggest that the Long Wharf area, including portions of the railroad yard, will also be impacted by storm surge and sea-level rise.
Our efforts would be better spent on a concerted approach to the root cause of climate change than a piecemeal approach such as raising the Tweed runway. National proposals such as H.R.763 (Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act) contain a carbon fee and dividend strategy endorsed by many eminent economists as the most effective way to move towards clean energy.
This approach has been projected to significantly slow climate change (if it is adopted soon) and will result in massive savings to our infrastructure and budget.
While local mitigation efforts may be necessary in some circumstances, prudence calls for a concerted national approach to carbon that will have a widespread positive effect on our homes, climate, and government coffers.
Daniel Rabin of Branford is a member of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
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Climate change issues aside, one would expect our “leaders” to take serious notice of what Katrina did to New Orleans, and what Sandy did to NJ, NY, and SW CT.
I never would have advocated rebuilding in the areas affected by these 2 storms. Why would one want to expend taxpayer $$ on a facility as vulnerable as Tweed is? The future cost to flood-proof will be well beyond our capacity to pay for it.