US Policy Makers Turn Climate Conversation From Lowering CO2 Emissions To Adapting To Extreme Weather

Analysts are reporting that the policy conversation surrounding climate change is slowly shifting from how we can lower our CO2 emissions, to how we can adapt to the changing weather patterns.

Minnesota Public Radio points towards New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's announcement last week that he was developing a plan to make the city more resilient in the face of the rising sea level. His strategy included flood gates, levees, and other technological solutions for minimizing the damage of coastal storms. In total, the plan could cost the city as much as $20 billion.

"Whether you believe climate change is real or not is beside the point," Bloomberg stated. "The bottom line is: We can't run the risk."

Next week, more than thirty other government officials across the country will introduce their own natural disaster resiliency efforts.

Mayor Kristin Jacobs of Broward County, Florida is supporting Bloomberg in this endeavor, stating that, "we know we have too... we know that we're going to be the first line of defense."

Mayor Kevin Johnson of Sacramento added that, "It's an insurance policy, which is investing in the future. This is public safety. It's the long-term hazards that could impact a community."

University of Michigan professor Rosina Bierbaum and presidential science adviser commented that, "It's quite striking how much is going on at the municipal level."

"Communities have to operate in real time. Everybody is struggling with a climate that is no longer the climate of the past."

Bierbaum headed the adaptation section of the Obama administration's National Climate Assessment report.

A U.N. Foundation scientific report stated that this sort of policy making is "managing the unavoidable," which run contrary to 1992 sentiments from former Vice President Al Gore that adapting to climate change is laziness that will distract us from eliminating the real problems.

However, even Gore has come around to this sort of strategizing. In his 2013 book The Future, Gore wrote that he "was wrong." He goes on to state that coping with the changing climate is just as important as curbing CO2 emissions.

University of Colorado science and disaster policy professor Roger Pielke Jr. likens it to insurance that we know we will need.

"If you keep the discussion focused on impacts ... I think it's pretty easy to get people from all political persuasions... It's insurance. The good news is that we know insurance is going to pay off again."

President Barack Obama's own scientific advisers echo this sentiment. In a list of recommendations on climate change, they state that the number one priority is to "Focus on national preparedness for climate change."

However, Rosina Bierbaum believes that the U.S. still has a lot of catching up to do in this area.  

"Many of the other developed countries have gone way ahead of us in preparing for climate change," she stated. "In many ways, the U.S. may be playing catch-up."

"Each time you get walloped, you stop and scratch your head ... and learn from it and make change," she added. "It helps if you've been walloped once or twice. I think it's easier to take action when everybody sees [the effects]."