Politicians plan for sea level rise, by Spanish artist Isaac Cordel
The report concerns a contemporary home built on Miami Beach by Mr. Hani Boutros. Concrete pilings elevated his dream house ten feet high -- not exactly a new concept in South Florida -- with a "retractable" stairway -- which kind of is. But a retractable stairway to pull up and away from sea level rise begs the question: what next?
The Times quotes Perez from a 2017 book by Jeff Goodell, "The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World." Miami, being Exhibit A for cities at risk from climate change.
�In 20 or 30 years, someone is going to find a solution for this.� He (Perez) added, �Besides, by that time, I�ll be dead, so what does it matter?�What does it matter?
I can think of roughly 9 billion reasons, including one grandchild who is sixteen months old, why it matters. But I get it, Jorge.
There is a mind-set at work in the United States that is primitive and powerful. It is about circling the wagons, protecting what is yours, insulating from threats. (For the GOP Ten Commandments on climate change, click here.)
The same way that squirrels hoard in the fall for the winter ahead, powerful corporate interests view climate change -- and impacts like sea-level rise -- as a game they can't influence. Florida Senator Marco Rubio often says so. What he doesn't say, is what comes follows: make as much money as you can, right now this instant, because in twenty or thirty years (basically, one mortgage cycle), it's going to vanish.
Note that Perez is a frequently cited Democratic big ticket donor. The mindset that Perez articulated, also helps to explain how the politics and policies governing growth management in Florida have all but disappeared. It is no coincidence: this game of musical chairs requires speed and the elimination of barriers (ie. regulation) to build as much and as fast as possible.
That is the thinking behind Mayor Carlos Gimenez' determination to open the last remaining farmland and open space in South Florida to more suburban sprawl, through the extension of State Road 836 into the far southwest reaches of Florida's most politically influential county. Unleash more construction and development into the face of sea level rise because we can make billions now, but maybe not so much beyond one mortgage cycle.
All those acorns have to be scoured and collected today, and the price of those musical chairs keeps rising.
For earlier critiques of Perez at Eye On Miami, click here.
