It took almost a week for the waters to subside after Ida hit Central New Jersey. Some of the homes destroyed never should have been built in the first place, but besieged by greedy developers, towns permitted building in low lying areas. The DEP’s Blue Acres program expanded after Sandy battered us in 2012, is being redesigned.
Moving from disaster response to climate resilience and preparedness will become the State’s approach. This is not just about losing shoreline; it’s about making sure that we prepare for the storms that have become more severe,
New Jersey municipalities are acting like ostriches sticking their heads in the sand. The real problem is that the sand is now mud because of the wetter future that awaits us and the rest of the Eastern seaboard. It’s time to stop being ostriches.
Prayer for the Day
Now that the floods of the last storm are gone,
We put aside the memories of flooded streets and fields;
Rupturing creation by our overwhelming desire to have more,
We do not consider the future we are creating.
But you, O God, hold us accountable for what we do,
With the next storm a sign of judgment for our inaction
In the name of the One who touched the earth,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We are not wired to make decisions about barely perceptible threats that gradually accelerate over time. We’re not so different from the proverbial frog that boils to death in a pot of slowly warming water.
Jeff Goodell, from The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities
I think that the people who are making choices will not be affected by the choices they are making when it comes to policy…Your access to pollution – how many toxins you are allowed to breathe – is patterned by where you ive, which is patterned by who you are, what race, what gender.
Rhianna Gunn-Wright, political organizer
Listen to me, my people, and give heed to me, my nation;
For a teaching will go out from me, and my justice for a light to the peoples.
I will bring near my deliverance swiftly, my salvation has gone out,
And my arms will rule the peoples.
The coastlands wait for me, and for my arm they hope.
Isaiah 51: 4-5