Category Archives: Hurricane Sandy

Crowdfunding for PACE in New Jersey

JCloudStorerSmThe challenges we face in New Jersey as a result of climate change are significant, and so therefore are the opportunities. The experience of Superstorm Sandy showed us just how ill-prepared we are for the more frequent recurrence of extreme weather; and how important it is that we set an example for taking action to mitigate our own greenhouse gas emissions, as other states are doing around us. And there’s also no doubt about the urgency of it — as you can see from this remarkable video:
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PACE Amending Legislation Passes in New Jersey

Trenton, N.J., Monday, January 13, 2014: At the very last moment, the NJ State Senate took up and passed Assembly Bill 3898 (an identical version of S2632, introduced by Senator Bob Smith at the beginning of 2013). In an associated statement, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee notes that “this bill provides a mechanism for the financing, by municipalities, of water conservation, storm shelter construction, and flood and hurricane resistance projects, and expands the “clean energy special assessment,” established in current law pursuant to P.L.2011, c.187 (N.J.S.A.40:56-1.4 et al.), into the “clean energy and storm resistance special assessment.”

The bill now heads to the Governor’s office for approval.

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Rebuilding NJ Shore Communities

This article was originally published in the Dead River Journal on February 12, 2013 – see http://deadriverjournal.org/regenerating-nj-shore-communities):

115-IMG_8878smThrough our new nonprofit, the Center for Regenerative Community Solutions (CRCS), we have begun the work of rebuilding NJ’s shore communities in a more sustainable way. As part of the basis for this work, we’ve published the following article, originally posted January 12, 2013, and most recently revised February 11, 2012: RegeneratingNewJerseyShoreCommunitiesJan2013r

We’ve also been sharing the following message with a number of Shore-based and statewide nonprofits:

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Seeking Sustainable Growth in the Wake of Sandy

This article was originally published on December 30, 2012 in the Dead River Journal (Seeking Sustainable Growth in the Wake of Sandy)

vzelin2010-150The Center for Regenerative Community Solutions and Regenerative Community Ventures, Inc. have recently circulated a position paper on “Laying a Foundation for Sustainable Growth in New Jersey in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy” with policy makers and community leaders in the state. Here is a final version, and several excerpts. The authors are co-founders of the Center for Leadership in Sustainability, the Sustainable Leadership Forum, and Acumen Technology Group, LLC. Jonathan Cloud is Senior Fellow, Institute for Sustainable Enterprise, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Managing Partner, Acumen Technology Group, LLC. Victoria Zelin is Principal, Regenerative Community Ventures, Inc., a licensee of Unified Field Corporation.

Superstorm Sandy has dramatically altered NJ’s economy as well as its geography for years to come. While there may be a short-­?term “bounce” from the money spent on reconstruction, the thinking about how that rebuilding should be carried out is already moving very quickly toward the view that it needs to be substantially more hurricane-­? proof and disaster-­?resistant, more resilient, and — in a word — more sustainable.

This paper sets out some considerations and recommendations for creating a foundation for sustainable growth in New Jersey, describes some of the initiatives we are taking through our new nonprofit organization, the Center for Regenerative Community Solutions, and makes specific suggestions for policies and programs for state and local government to support these and similar initiatives from other organizations.

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It Will Not Be the Same

From: Erickson, Mitchell <mitchell.erickson@hq.dhs.gov>
Date: Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 7:34 PM
Subject: Jersey shore video–Sandy+3months

3 months ago, Sandy rocked our lives.

This essay is a  moving reflection on the character of the Jersey shore and the prospects for restoration.  People who are committed, or not…  A recognition that it will not be the same.  A hope that it will not become “anyplace USA”.
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Critical Shore Recovery Info & Resources

Amongst many other sources:

http://chrissmith.house.gov/hurricane/
Links & Info Regarding Recovering from Hurricane Sandy for Jersey Residents
This website is updated several times [a] week. Please visit again for *NEW* or recently *Updated* information. Click on links below to view more information.
*NEW* Advisory Flood Maps for Rebuilding Now Available
*NEW* FEMA: Looking looking for different living arrangements other than with family or friends? FEMA may be able to help.
*NEW*
Jan. 30, 2013 FEMA Registration Deadline for N.J. Hurricane Sandy Survivors

 

Sierra Club Sandy Updates

The NJ Sierra Club‘s Jeff Tittle has written a series of perceptive blog posts about Sandy for BrickPatch.com; leaving aside his frequent criticisms of Governor Christie, here are some key excerpts that mostly just lay out the facts:

November 5, 2012: Climate Change Makes Storms like Hurricane Sandy Worse

…This is the ninth such devastating storm to hit the Garden State in the last five years and the impacts of climate change will only make such storms worse.  We have had hurricanes and Halloween snow storms.  There have been too many coincidences.  You cannot deny that climate disruption is a factor and it is impacting New Jersey.

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Regenerative Community Ventures, Inc.

Regenerative Community Ventures, Inc., a licensee of Unified Field Corporation, engages communities in processes that lead to economic, environmental, social and cultural resilience. UFC has developed a “sustainable community partnership development model” that helps keep local dollars working locally through profitable projects that provide more sustainable ways of living and strengthen local economies.

What We Do

  1. We  plan, fund and implement high impact local projects, providing the capital and expertise to help communities rebuild sustainably — to become more resilient, more self-sufficient in energy and infrastructure, and help restore the strength of local economies, creating jobs and economic opportunity.
  2. We build the community’s grass roots funding potential and help to keep local money working locally.
  3. We apply these principles as a demonstration of sustainable local whole systems economics within an application for permission to organize and operate a locally owned Unified Field Bank™
  4. We bring together experts in sustainability, business development, finance, green building, permaculture, renewable energy, energy and environmental conservation, and community development.
  5. As a social enterprise, we bring together the resources of the private sector — the strength of innovation and entrepreneurship, the power of private capital and of business acumen — with planners, community leaders, and local, state, and federal officials, to make things happen quickly while taking into account the long-run objectives of resilience, self-sufficiency, and sustainable development.

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The Wake-Up Call

For many on the East Coast, Hurricane Sandy was a wake-up call, on several levels.

For one thing, it made it very clear just where we are most vulnerable: along the coasts, particularly, but also far inland in our electrical grid and in our distribution of food and fuel and the other necessities of life, such as hot water.

It also served to re-open, in the waning days of the Presidential campaign, the much-avoided discussion of climate change. Though there was some scientific debate as to whether the severity, or the unusual path, of the storm was attributable in any way to global warming, there was no doubt that the sea-level rise of about a foot in the last century was an exacerbating factor, especially in the flooding of New York’s subways and tunnels.

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