FinancialAdaptation.org
Purpose of this Site
Stated simply, this web presentation is for those who already know about sea level rise and its physical and economic threat to coastal communities in the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific regions.
The fabric of these communities is already being put to the test as proactive planners work to fashion what our cities, towns and villages will look like by mid to end of this century and beyond, when moderate (and changing) projections state that at least 3 to 6 feet of sea level rise will alter what we accept today as dry ground.
We simply cannot wait until non-engaged business and political leaders decide to act. From the grass roots of Main Street all the way to Wall Street, we need to carefully consider what peer-reviewed science is telling us, and while working with those that craft our urban and rural landscapes, also move into the complexities and urgencies of financial adaptation.
This site is not designed to provide the basics of why sea level rise exists. It is not to argue whether SLR is human induced or natural. We leave that debate for others. America does not have time to waste on a non-productive discourse. Sea level rise is happening, it is now, and it will affect the monetary and personal financial interests of all Americans, directly or indirectly.
FinancialAdaptation.org is designed as a wake-up call...that we must prepare, with all deliberate speed, not only for macro-economic effects of sea level rise, but also for the micro fiscal consequences.
Financial laws, rules and regulations take years to pass through the halls of Congress. Once signed into law, they are sometimes tested by protracted and costly litigation. Constantly expanding oceans do not wait for legislation or Court decisions. What we fail to do to properly prepare ourselves and our economy in 2015 will have just as many adverse consequences as permanently flooded properties lost to the sea. Time, and physics, will not be patient in this challenge.
If we are going to provide the responsible and constructive tools to adapt to what is already happening in Miami Beach, Tampa, New York, Boston, Hampton Roads and hundreds of communities beyond, we simply have to work as hard on our near-future financial landscape as we are on trying to figure out our evolving built environment and efforts to fight climate change.
The Editor
Mitchell Chester is a sea level rise activist in Southeastern Florida.
A Florida trial attorney, Mr. Chester has been working on sea level rise and climate issues for several years, and publishes:
SLRAmerica.org (law, finance and SLR);
SeaLevelRise Radio.com (sea level adaptation advocacy); and
RaisingFields.org (how agriculture in Southeastern Florida can adapt to intruding oceans and heat to remain viable).
MySeaLevelRise.org (a portal to sea level rise sites authored by Mr. Chester).
He is a member of the Board of Directors of the CLEO Institute, which educates government leaders and students about sea level rise and climate issues. Mr. Chester is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Fort Lauderdale Chapter and is an AV Rated attorney.
He has presented sea level rise issues in Southeastern Florida including events at the University of Miami, Florida Atlantic University, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for the Everglades, the Enviromental Coalition for Miami and the Beaches, the Coral Gables Museum, and Miami Dade College, along with other venues.