Opinion: The flood, utilities, debt and big money politics
Last Friday, after we checked for flood damage, I emailed pictures of the flood to my brother, who was at a National Academy of Science workshop in Maryland. The scientists there were discussing the effects of the loss of arctic sea ice on the exact type of weather patterns that we were experiencing. In brief, the loss of ice cover has allowed more heat to be absorbed, reducing the temperature differential between the arctic and temperate latitudes. This has led to “blocking” of the jet stream, creating stalled weather patterns like the week of rain we experienced. And we can expect more extended periods of rain, drought, etc. in the future. In the vein of not letting a crisis go to waste, and as I suggested to the city manager last week, Boulder should hold neighborhood and area meetings to do a retrospective on Boulder’s flood preparations. When I was on the council, we put in place an extensive program to improve the carrying capacity of our floodways and remove a number of at-r