The solution will involve a multifaceted approach with significant investment from all levels of government (federal, state, local). In general it involves work

The solution will involve a multifaceted approach with significant investment from all levels of government (federal, state, local). In general it involves working towards sustainability. We keep coming up with “solutions” that solve or partially solve one part of the equation. In the article it mentions in order to prevent another incident of Hurricane Sandy, the city decided to build a massive flood mitigation project. But has anybody stopped to think that maybe our best protections against nature is nature itself? Trees are a good start and definitely help brighten up a concrete jungle, absorb and store CO2. But this is only one aspect. For decades, cities around the country have been destroying natural ecosystems in favor of single family developments (ie, suburbs) and highways. These concrete structures and monoculture ecosystems that replaced once diverse green spaces are terrible at absorbing and mitigating the effects of nature. Man made drains get clogged or overwhelmed. Mitigation techniques fail quickly over time if one or more designs were built poorly. The build up of water slowly erodes the soil beneath the concrete and thus leads to formation of sinkholes. I think it’s expected that man made infrastructure will only last 25-30 years before needing a full replacement. On the other hand, those once diverse ecosystems were great/amazing at absorbing the effects of Mother Nature. Trees, woodlands great and thrive here without any intervention from human beings. They also used to support living organisms — insects such as bees, and animals. Some intervention needed in case of fire prevention (ie, “controlled burns”). But it’s otherwise self sustaining. I think federal protection is needed on all green spaces. Not just national parks. Freeze and stop future development of the suburbs. Divest from car centric transportation and infrastructure (highways, roads, parking lots, parking garages, street parking). Destruction of highways. Return the land to the people to build places where we can live, play, eat, and work. Scale up. Do not scale horizontally. End implied and direct subsidies given to SFH developments. End all subsidies on O&G (a multi trillion dollar industry by the way). Regulate O&G and use fines to pay for a greener future. This needs to be tackled at all fronts.