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      Lessons from Hurricane Harvey, for a Still-Flooded Houston

      Lessons from Hurricane Harvey, for a Still-Flooded Houston

      As Imelda’s floodwaters drain from my hometown, I observe a discourse around Harvey’s two- year anniversary constrained by a presumed opposition between the needs of humanity and the forces of nature—as though the two were in mortal combat.

      Anis Shivani
      Oct 04, 2019

      After Hurricane Harvey damaged or destroyed nearly 135,000 homes, killed eighty-eight people, and led to the deliberate flooding of west Houston as two main reservoirs threatened to fail, what did the city of Houston do? It did the least possible it could get away with, and then casually moved on with business as usual.

      As floodwaters from September's Tropical Storm Imelda still drain from the streets of my hometown , I observe a discourse on Harvey's two-year anniversary constrained by a presumed opposition between the needs of humanity and the forces of nature, as though the two were in mortal combat. In a city well-known for its antipathy to responsible planning, discussions of urban resilience and "making space" for water, as well as the benefits of green versus gray infrastructure, are just now bubbling to the surface, but remain well outside the scope of broad public awareness.

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      Opinion
      Green New Deal Too Expensive? New GAO Report Details Hundreds of Billions in Climate-Related Damage

      Green New Deal Too Expensive? New GAO Report Details Hundreds of Billions in Climate-Related Damage

      "The federal government must invest ahead of time to help communities prepare instead of just picking up the pieces after disasters strike."

      Julia Conley
      Mar 05, 2019

      While many lawmakers and pundits continue to complain that the cost of an ambitious Green New Deal would be "too expensive," a new nonpartisan government agency report on Wednesday details the billions upon billions of dollars the U.S. is spending each year as the climate crisis continues to intensify.

      The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its bienniel "High Risk" report Wednesday and presented its findings to the House and Senate. The study details waste, mismanagement, abuse, and fraud in government agencies and programs, and found that federal inaction regarding climate change is costing U.S. taxpayers tens of billions of dollars annually.

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      'Part of a Disturbing Trend of Willful Ignorance,' Say Scientists, After Investigation Shows EPA, Texas Rejected Air Quality Data Post-Hurricane Harvey

      'Part of a Disturbing Trend of Willful Ignorance,' Say Scientists, After Investigation Shows EPA, Texas Rejected Air Quality Data Post-Hurricane Harvey

      New reporting in Los Angeles Times reveals Trump administration's disregard for data, science, public health, environment following 2017 catastrophic storm

      Andrea Germanos
      Mar 05, 2019

      President Donald Trump's Environmental Protection Agency and Texas state officials rejected an offer from NASA scientists in 2017 to use their state-of-the-art flying laboratory to evaluate air quality in Houston after Hurricane Harvey, new reporting by the Los Angeles Times reveals.

      "This is disturbing," said Lina Hidalgo, judge for Texas's Harris County.

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