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The THRIVE Resolution "will help communities impacted by natural disasters and climate change rebuild with millions of green, sustainable jobs to replace our dependence on fossil fuels," writes Tidwell. (Photo: Linh Do/flickr/cc)
We Need More Than Disaster Recovery--We Need Green Jobs
Across the South, many workers rely on industries whose pollution causes devastating storms. Let’s rebuild with sustainable jobs.
Sep 02, 2020
As I watched Hurricane Laura churn towards the Gulf Coast, I felt a familiar knot in my stomach.
As a longtime first responder to natural disasters, I felt the same way before Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle in 2018, and before tornado outbreaks here in Alabama in 2011 and 2019.
It's one thing to know terrible events are about to happen and that people are going to be injured and die. It's quite another to know that we could prevent a good deal of this destruction and loss of life, but we don't.
Climate change fuels more frequent and more damaging hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. Even before Katrina, scientists warned this would happen and urged us to take action. We didn't. So now, our only choice is to act boldly.
Natural disasters expose systemic failures in the United States: in poverty, health care, infrastructure, sustainability, and opportunity. We say we are a society that cares. But time and again, storms like these reveal how far we fall short.
"It's a sad irony that many communities in the paths of deadly storms, especially along the Gulf Coast and in the rural South, depend on extractive industries like coal, oil, and industrial agriculture."
When massive hurricanes fueled by climate change slam our coast, they destroy communities and ravage cities and towns far inland, causing billions in damage year after year. Afterward, people in poverty get trapped in a cycle of intractable disaster and insufficient recovery, especially in rural communities. They simply do not have time to rebuild from one disaster before another occurs.
Mental health crises are worsened over the multi-year, long-term recovery that communities and individuals have to endure after these catastrophic storms. Our lack of a functional health care system is revealed time and again, too.
Add to that the COVID-19 pandemic, and we simply do not have the ability to respond to disasters at scale.
It's a sad irony that many communities in the paths of deadly storms, especially along the Gulf Coast and in the rural South, depend on extractive industries like coal, oil, and industrial agriculture.
That causes more storms. Storms that also cause chemical fires, toxic spills, and polluted waterways. Storms that exacerbate the environmental damage these businesses already create.
Every time, it is the poor residents of these communities who suffer the worst consequences.
Emergency Management agencies at all levels are not equipped to deal with the increasing number of Category 4 and 5 storms, so reform and greater resources for these are needed. But that's just scratching the surface. We need to do more.
That's why I support the THRIVE Agenda. This landmark legislation will help communities impacted by natural disasters and climate change rebuild with millions of green, sustainable jobs to replace our dependence on fossil fuels. I've asked my representatives in Congress to support this bill, and I hope you will, too.
So as we remember all of the lives lost to Hurricanes Katrina, Michael, Laura, and those who will be harmed by storms to come, let's think about what we can do right now to protect against future disasters. Let's create a future in which every one of us can live.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
Warren Alan Tidwell
Warren Alan Tidwell has worked on disaster relief efforts in the South for over 20 years. He's the Statewide Lead Organizer for Hometown Action, part of the People's Action network.
As I watched Hurricane Laura churn towards the Gulf Coast, I felt a familiar knot in my stomach.
As a longtime first responder to natural disasters, I felt the same way before Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle in 2018, and before tornado outbreaks here in Alabama in 2011 and 2019.
It's one thing to know terrible events are about to happen and that people are going to be injured and die. It's quite another to know that we could prevent a good deal of this destruction and loss of life, but we don't.
Climate change fuels more frequent and more damaging hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. Even before Katrina, scientists warned this would happen and urged us to take action. We didn't. So now, our only choice is to act boldly.
Natural disasters expose systemic failures in the United States: in poverty, health care, infrastructure, sustainability, and opportunity. We say we are a society that cares. But time and again, storms like these reveal how far we fall short.
"It's a sad irony that many communities in the paths of deadly storms, especially along the Gulf Coast and in the rural South, depend on extractive industries like coal, oil, and industrial agriculture."
When massive hurricanes fueled by climate change slam our coast, they destroy communities and ravage cities and towns far inland, causing billions in damage year after year. Afterward, people in poverty get trapped in a cycle of intractable disaster and insufficient recovery, especially in rural communities. They simply do not have time to rebuild from one disaster before another occurs.
Mental health crises are worsened over the multi-year, long-term recovery that communities and individuals have to endure after these catastrophic storms. Our lack of a functional health care system is revealed time and again, too.
Add to that the COVID-19 pandemic, and we simply do not have the ability to respond to disasters at scale.
It's a sad irony that many communities in the paths of deadly storms, especially along the Gulf Coast and in the rural South, depend on extractive industries like coal, oil, and industrial agriculture.
That causes more storms. Storms that also cause chemical fires, toxic spills, and polluted waterways. Storms that exacerbate the environmental damage these businesses already create.
Every time, it is the poor residents of these communities who suffer the worst consequences.
Emergency Management agencies at all levels are not equipped to deal with the increasing number of Category 4 and 5 storms, so reform and greater resources for these are needed. But that's just scratching the surface. We need to do more.
That's why I support the THRIVE Agenda. This landmark legislation will help communities impacted by natural disasters and climate change rebuild with millions of green, sustainable jobs to replace our dependence on fossil fuels. I've asked my representatives in Congress to support this bill, and I hope you will, too.
So as we remember all of the lives lost to Hurricanes Katrina, Michael, Laura, and those who will be harmed by storms to come, let's think about what we can do right now to protect against future disasters. Let's create a future in which every one of us can live.
Warren Alan Tidwell
Warren Alan Tidwell has worked on disaster relief efforts in the South for over 20 years. He's the Statewide Lead Organizer for Hometown Action, part of the People's Action network.
As I watched Hurricane Laura churn towards the Gulf Coast, I felt a familiar knot in my stomach.
As a longtime first responder to natural disasters, I felt the same way before Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle in 2018, and before tornado outbreaks here in Alabama in 2011 and 2019.
It's one thing to know terrible events are about to happen and that people are going to be injured and die. It's quite another to know that we could prevent a good deal of this destruction and loss of life, but we don't.
Climate change fuels more frequent and more damaging hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. Even before Katrina, scientists warned this would happen and urged us to take action. We didn't. So now, our only choice is to act boldly.
Natural disasters expose systemic failures in the United States: in poverty, health care, infrastructure, sustainability, and opportunity. We say we are a society that cares. But time and again, storms like these reveal how far we fall short.
"It's a sad irony that many communities in the paths of deadly storms, especially along the Gulf Coast and in the rural South, depend on extractive industries like coal, oil, and industrial agriculture."
When massive hurricanes fueled by climate change slam our coast, they destroy communities and ravage cities and towns far inland, causing billions in damage year after year. Afterward, people in poverty get trapped in a cycle of intractable disaster and insufficient recovery, especially in rural communities. They simply do not have time to rebuild from one disaster before another occurs.
Mental health crises are worsened over the multi-year, long-term recovery that communities and individuals have to endure after these catastrophic storms. Our lack of a functional health care system is revealed time and again, too.
Add to that the COVID-19 pandemic, and we simply do not have the ability to respond to disasters at scale.
It's a sad irony that many communities in the paths of deadly storms, especially along the Gulf Coast and in the rural South, depend on extractive industries like coal, oil, and industrial agriculture.
That causes more storms. Storms that also cause chemical fires, toxic spills, and polluted waterways. Storms that exacerbate the environmental damage these businesses already create.
Every time, it is the poor residents of these communities who suffer the worst consequences.
Emergency Management agencies at all levels are not equipped to deal with the increasing number of Category 4 and 5 storms, so reform and greater resources for these are needed. But that's just scratching the surface. We need to do more.
That's why I support the THRIVE Agenda. This landmark legislation will help communities impacted by natural disasters and climate change rebuild with millions of green, sustainable jobs to replace our dependence on fossil fuels. I've asked my representatives in Congress to support this bill, and I hope you will, too.
So as we remember all of the lives lost to Hurricanes Katrina, Michael, Laura, and those who will be harmed by storms to come, let's think about what we can do right now to protect against future disasters. Let's create a future in which every one of us can live.
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