As the Climate Worsens, Wealth Inequality Will, Too
Hurricanes are hitting our nation’s ‘have-nots‘ harder than anyone else
By David M. Lodge
Disasters often bring out the best in Americans — cooperation, kindness and dogged perseverance supersede political and provincial ideologies. One need only look back to the warm greeting between President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie two days after Superstorm Sandy devastated the Garden State in 2012.
But these disasters also serve to separate Americans, widening the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” and increasing wealth disparities. Fortunately, environmental policy changes can help close that gap.
As Hurricane Michael departs the ravaged Southeast, I have just returned from a trip to Morehead City, North Carolina, to clean up after last month’s Hurricane Florence. Five years ago, in preparation for our eventual retirement, my wife and I bought a modest mid-century house there. As an environmental scientist, I knew something like Florence would come sooner rather than later, as tropical storms have become more powerful with climate change. So we purchased our retirement property atop a 25-foot-high bluff, one of the highest points in the area. Our house was undamaged despite many large limbs…
