This commentary appeared in the print edition of the Jan. 6, 2020, Journal of Commerce Annual Review and Outlook.
The flooding in the US Southeast and Midwest, the fires in the western US, and the November “cold snap” on the East Coast (all in 2019) give us a clue as to what one of our biggest challenges will be in 2020: adapting to global warming and climate change. One would argue that a bad climate in and of itself is a disruption that all of our businesses face. Under normal circumstances I would agree — but this incredibly difficult situation gets magnified 1,000 percent when we consider our aging infrastructure.
Over 50 bridges, some in key transportation thoroughfares, are in need of a replacement. Other major transportation corridors are being shut down for days or weeks because roads and bridges are washed out, feeder roadways are underwater, rail routes are interrupted, etc. One may ask why the source behind this change of more frequent and harsher storms and weather changes, including prolonged dry spells in some areas (exacerbating fires the likes of which we have not seen in the past), isn’t being addressed. But given that the cause isn’t being addressed by our governing parties and their leadership, the real question is what are we doing to counter these disruptions? If nothing, which our withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords seems to indicate, then the question becomes what must we do to protect our industry and manner of doing business as we know it?
Given what we’re seeing, we as a country must respond with a long-term infrastructure plan that upgrades or replaces our existing bridges, raises our roads in those areas most likely to feel the impact of future sea-level rises, and upgrades electrical grid wiring, perhaps putting it underground. This response should include a robust infrastructure bill now, because any such bill will take years to translate into positive results.