Year-end Review: One Story Dominates All

At this time of year, publications run their year-end reviews ad nauseum. I use that word advisedly because what news writers and editors do is regurgitate the highlights and lowlights of the previous year. They do it primarily because it’s easy; trust me. I know because when I was an editor, I did it too.

And yet the stories that are chosen may not be the most important ones for our lives and those who follow us. I have only one story I’d like to highlight: our deteriorating climate and what we are or are not doing about it. While the local media may not cover it, the story is happening much faster than scientists thought it would and it’s happening right here. Right now.

Let’s start locally. I recorded over twice as much rain in Marathon as we have received in previous years. So far we have been soaked with more than 71 inches of rain versus the “normal” of 35. On June 1, 4.48 inches fell; on June 3, 5.8 inches. June is not normally a rainy month. On July 19, we got over 5 inches of rain. Still not the “rainy” season. That led to flooding, especially in Key West, and mosquitos.

As the climate warms, the atmosphere holds more water. Consequently, we get torrential rains and, in some places, very heavy snow. Conversely, some locations are suffering terrible drought. For the first time, drought made the top five-billion dollar disaster list. According to Weather Underground, the ongoing United States’ drought, which has been in progress all year, has caused $ 2.5 billion in damage.

On a global scale, warming and its consequent climate change has again set records.

Quoting Weather Underground’s Jeff Masters,

“November 2013 was the globe’s warmest November since records began in 1880, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) and NASA. The year-to-date period of January – November has been the 4th warmest such period on record. November 2013 global land temperatures were the 2nd warmest on record, and global ocean temperatures were the 3rd warmest on record. November 2013 was the 345th consecutive month with global temperatures warmer than the 20th century average.”

Our mild hurricane season might make local year-end reviews but across the globe thousands died as a result of Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. The storm also caused an estimated $ 5.8 billion in damage, leading the list of billion-dollar disasters.

While the climate is one of my top stories of the year, the other one is what, if anything, are we in the Keys doing to reduce a threat that concerns us very directly?

The Monroe County Climate Change Advisory Committee has been given the task of addressing what government and citizens should be doing. The group, originally called the Green Initiative Task Force has developed a 62-page report that calls for “concerted action in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and anticipating and adapting to local impacts of a changing climate. The recommendations presented [in their report] attempt to accomplish those goals while also serving to protect Monroe County’s unique quality of life and economy [emphasis added], guide future investments, and foster livable, sustainable and resilient communities.”

While it’s admirable that the county has finally realized that it must take action locally because we in the Keys are as vulnerable as any of the low-lying islands in areas such as the Maldives, the report disappoints in the action category. In fact, the group will take another year to create a specific action plan.

Given that worldwide CO2 concentrations have already exceeded 400 parts per million when people such as former head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies James Hansen and climate activist Bill McKibben have urged staying below 350 parts per million, another year of planning is just more time frittered away. We should all be buying fiddles so we can play like Nero while our environment burns.

There are 72 action itemsdetailed in the planto be accomplished over the next 5 years,[emphasis added]with annual reports to mark progress.

The group highlights six of its recommendations as the top ones. Most of them boil down to this advice: get ready, the water is coming and it’s too late to do much about it. They consist of mitigation and adaptation ideas – raising roads, building structures higher, preparing sewage systems for salt water inundation – but don’t give priority to reducing emissions right now.

The committee might be right about one thing: it’s probably too late to stop the climate freight train.

And some of the recommendations don’t go over well with the county’s current staff who could impede implementation. For example, the report recommends that the county, “Evaluate and support protections and restoration programs in potential climate change affected natural habitats.”

The county staff priorities, however, include reduction of evacuation times, endangered species habitat protection, and reduction of takings claims. In other words property rights supersede any climate considerations.

Some recommendations have already been countermanded by county staff. Take this one, for example:

“Food and yard waste are around 40-45% of our County’s waste stream. Monroe County should determine best composting and/or fuel production methods for managing organic waste and evaluate programs for adoption in Monroe County. Conduct a feasibility study that results in recommendations regarding the design of a rebuilt Transfer Station and material recovery facility as well as recommendations regarding what types of waste processing equipment and material recovery systems to incorporate.”

Oops. The county’s sustainability coordinator and the county commission have already tilted toward burning yard waste because composting is too expensive.

Some recommendations seem bizarre. Take this one.

Work with FKAA to plan for the eventual expansion of the reverse osmosis plant in Florida City to increase the capacity to treat water from the Floridan Aquifer. As salt water intrusion into the Biscayne Aquifer continues with sea level rise, the need for reverse osmosis treated water from the Floridan Aquifer will increase and expansion of the existing facility may be the most cost-effective means of maintaining the water supply for Monroe County in the mid-range time frame.

Yes, the report recommends harvesting rainwater, but the plan to greatly increase desalination flies directly in the face of reducing greenhouse gases. The desalination plant burns a huge amount of diesel fuel to accomplish its task and takes the county in the wrong direction.

If anything in the Keys is sustainable – and there isn’t much – it’s water. Even in a normal year the islands get a substantial amount of rain. The county should mandate – mandate – cisterns in all new construction, residential commercial and governmental. Key West is littered with old and unused cisterns which could possibly be rehabilitated. All the septic tanks that will be decommissioned as sewers are installed should be converted to cisterns. I have done it and it works. The Aqueduct Authority should provide grants for retrofitting current homes with cisterns.

When saltwater begins to infiltrate our water supply because of over-consumption and sea level rise it will be too late. When a strong hurricane damages the water and power lines it will be too late. And when that happens the resulting chaos will make top ten news story lists. Right now we’ll have to settle for murder-for-hire suspects and homeless shelters.