Florida is drowning. Condos are still being built. Can’t humans see the writing on the wall?

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Florida is drowning. Condos are still being built. Can’t humans see the writing on the wall?

"Studies show that humans don’t respond well to abstract projections. We overvalue short-term benefits, such as driving SUVs, burning coal and building waterfront real estate. We choose these extravagances even though they impede beneficial long-term outcomes, such as saving threatened species, or reducing the intensity of climate change."

"Humans tend to respond to immediate threats and financial consequences – and coastal real estate, especially in Florida, may be on the cusp of delivering that harsh wake-up call. The peninsula has outsized exposure: nearly 2 million people live in coastal cities. On the list of the 20 urban areas in America that will suffer the most from rising seas, Florida has five: St Petersburg, Tampa, Miami, Miami Beach and Panama City. In 2016, Zillow predicted that one out of eight homes in Florida would be underwater by 2100, a loss of $413bn in property."

Donald Trump an Update on My Thoughts About the Man

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I have a lot of liberal friends that are very dismayed with Donald Trump. I tend to disagree with their dismal view of the president — they pay too much attention to what he says, not what he does. Two and a half years into President Trump’s presidency, I am actually fairly happy with the job he’s doing.

Not that I like his AM-radio style commentary on his conservative ideas he espouses on Twitter and television, or his views more generally, but because he seems like he has been a fairly competent administrator, even if he has a rather strange fetish over a wall that lead him to a rather pointless shutdown the federal government in January. There really was no excuse for that behavior by the president.

Morever, I don’t honestly understand the big deal over the wall — or the opposition to the relatively small appropriation to built it. In the grand scheme of things that wall is pretty inconsequential. It’s not like the wall is particularly expensive or unaffordable, or that it’s construction puts many Americans in grave risk. Construction accidents occur, but it’s not a war. It’s a an appropriation of a few billion a year, which really doesn’t add up to much when you think about a 20 plus trillion dollar economy.

While I would rather see more environmental reviews before constructing the wall, I am not sure it will be as devastating as critics say it will be. It might actually help ecologically sensitive areas by turning them into no-mans land where wilderness can thrive. And it’s a sure lot less devastating that war, which is a refreshing change from the war-mongers of both parties seem to elect.

Is Trump a good president? Well, he’s not done a bad job when it comes to growing the economy or keeping us out of war, even if he’s obnoxious. Could the Democrats offer somebody better? Maybe. I don’t really get involved in politics on a personal level anymore, but I will say that I will vote, although I may cast a protest vote for a third-party candidate in 2020, much like in 2016 with Jill Stein.

I think in many ways, the power of the presidency over our own lives is much overstated. How much more would Hillary have done on Climate Change compared to Trump? What I think matters more then whose elected, is that we continue to have competitive elections, with people having a serious discussion of the issues. Certainly, I would like to see more action on ensuring healthcare is affordable, and more action on climate change, but I’ll take my time to decide how I want to vote once the candidates are better known.