Mike Bloomberg: Riding Bareback into the Storm

Roger Pielke is one of the country's premier climate scientists and he has a trenchant critique of the city's-and the mayor's-lack of preparedness for the devastation wrought by Sandy. What he dramatizes is that the city's own "Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan made it clear that the dangers brought by Sandy should have benn anticipated by the mayor since it was all well documented in the mitigation plan:

"Whatever the motivations behind Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision to cite Sandy and climate change as a reason for his endorsement of President Obama, it has the effect of relocating responsibility for Sandy's devastation from NYC City Hall to Washington, DC.
As New Yorkers (and others) affected by Sandy's wrath pick themselves back up and recover, attention will soon focus on the broader reasons for the disaster. While some will continue to link Sandy with energy policy decisions, important questions will have to be asked about why NYC was not better prepared, and what can be done in the months and years ahead to fix that, before the next storm barrels up the coast."

This is buck passing and irresponsibility that is reminiscent of Bermuda Mike's handling of the blizzard of 2010.  Instead of posturng about climate change-and living a lifestyle that mocks his faux concerns with global warming-the mayor should have been rolling up his sleeve and getting New Yorkers prepared-as the Mitigation Plan warned:

"It would be fair to ask NY politicians why the city was not better prepared for a disaster that it saw coming. The report is clear on the general characteristics that make the region susceptible to large storm surges:

'Coastal storms, including nor'easters, tropical storms, and hurricanes, can and do affect New York City. New York’s densely populated and highly developed coastline makes the City among the most vulnerable to hurricane-related damage. . . 

New York City is particularly vulnerable to storm surge because of a geographic characteristic called the New York Bight. A bight is a curve in the shoreline of an open coast that funnels and increases the speed and intensity of storm surge. The New York Bight is located at the point where New York and New Jersey meet, creating a right angle in the coastline.'"

So essentially the city was unprepared to deal with this devastation while it was being led by one of the biggest champions of climate change, "Do what I say, Not what I do," Michael Bloomberg. We'll give Pielke the last word:

"Yet, Mayor Bloomberg is also an elected leader. What is he going to do about the fact that his city was less prepared than it should have been for a disaster that was expected and one of a sort will certainly recur, climate change or not?
If the media devotes 10% of the energy to this topic that it is devoting to the climate change connection, New Yorkers will be well served."