[Note: With power out and limited connectivity, I’ve gotten behind on re-posting blogs that I’ve written elsewhere like HBR …I’ll put a few in a row up over the next few business days.]
This is just a quick blog to recognize that the devastation from Hurricane Sandy has had one important silver lining — many mainstream voices, especially in the business community, seem to be waking up to the connection between extreme weather and climate change. (My take on this is on my Harvard Business Review Blog here, and I’ll post it here next week.)
Two news items have given me real hope.
1) Businessweek blares on its cover, “It’s Global Warming, Stupid“
After the required caveat that no single storm is “caused” by something as long-term as climate change, the business magazine declares, “Clarity, however, is not beyond reach” and explores how scientists are increasingly willing to draw the connection. Bravo Businessweek.
2) Mayor Bloomberg’s titles his endorsement of President Obama, “A Vote for a President to Lead on Climate Change.”
In his own words, “The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and much of the Northeast — in lost lives, lost homes and lost business — brought the stakes of Tuesday’s presidential election into sharp relief…Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it might be — given this week’s devastation — should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action.”
Bloomberg then cites Obama’s work on fuel-efficiency and increased controls on mercury emissions which restricts coal burning…and highlights how Romney has reversed himself on climate change since his days as Governor.
This is clearly noteworthy that a well-respected moderate has made climate change the deciding factor in his vote for President, especially since the topic did not come up in the debates for the first time since 1984.
The media, the business world, politicians…all are waking up to the deep connections that today’s events have to longer-term trends and the actions we all take. I have hope that we will mobilize fast enough now.
(Sign up for Andrew Winston’s blog, via RSS feed, or by email. Follow Andrew on Twitter @GreenAdvantage)
