Good news for gondoliers

The Gallup poll showing increasing public skepticism about the climate change threat, which Holly blogs about below, does not bode well for Venice, California–unless you’re a gondolier.   A report was released yesterday, sponsored by several California agencies, giving more detail than ever before about the threats to California’s coast from rising sea levels.  Margot Roosevelt of the LA Times has a nice story about it here.

The visuals showing flooding of southern California’s Venice canals and associated neighborhoods are striking.  But I have confidence we’ll engineer a way to protect those tony homes.   Less clear–especially given that recent polling–is whether we’ll recognize the more significant threats to public health and public infrastructure in time to lessen harm in areas farther from the spotlight, including in low income communities.   Very un-sexy tasks, like figuring out how to protect or move the state’s many coastal sewage treatment plants and power plants, need to start winning attention.

Why does it seem the public is increasingly (and creepily) calm on this issue just as those most in the know are beginning to shout about the dual tracks we need to take to reduce emissions and prepare for the changes to come?  Is the skeptical public not hearing from the right messengers (move over Al Gore, make room for some PSAs from the firefighters and John McCain)?

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Reader Comments

2 Replies to “Good news for gondoliers”

  1. Raivo Pommer
    [email protected]

    Die Bank von England krise

    Die Bank von England hat in dieser Woche als erste große Notenbank mit einer Politik der direkten Ausweitung der Geldmenge (quantitative Lockerung) begonnen. Ihre erste Auktion, in der sie für 2 Milliarden Pfund britische Anleihen (Gilts) von Investoren kaufte, wurde am Markt als voller Erfolg gewertet. So wurden der Bank von England Gilts im Wert von 10,5 Milliarden Pfund offeriert, also weit mehr, als die Notenbank kaufen wollte.

    Gleichzeitig sind die Anleiherenditen britischer Staatspapiere seit Ankündigung der Politik der Mengenlockerung um mehr als einen halben Prozentpunkt gefallen – genau diesen Effekt wollte die Bank von England mit ihren Maßnahmen erreichen. Nach der Auktion lag die Rendite zehnjähriger Gilts mit 3,08 Prozent gleichauf mit der Rendite entsprechender Bundesanleihen (3,07 Prozent).

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About Cara

Cara Horowitz is the co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law. The Emmett Institute was founded as the f…

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About Cara

Cara Horowitz is the co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law. The Emmett Institute was founded as the f…

READ more

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