The Plan to Save New York From the Next Sandy Will Ruin the Waterfront. It Doesn’t Have To.
June 20th, 2023 Via The New York Times, commentary on the plan to save New York from the next Sandy: Last September, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unveiled its proposal to protect the greater New York and New [...]
How Cities Are Trying To Stop Their Land From Sinking
June 20th, 2023 Courtesy of The Washington Post, a look at how some cities are putting water back into the ground, a process called managed aquifer recharge, to stabilize land subsidence: Groundwater has [...]
Milwaukee’s Green Infrastructure 2035 Vision
June 20th, 2023 Via Medium, an article on Milwaukee’s 2035 Vision aims to scale up green infrastructure using natural processes to improve water quality and manage water quantity by restoring the hydrologic [...]
Slowing Water for Greener Neighborhoods
June 20th, 2023 Via Illuminem, a report on the potential benefits of resilient and absorptive infrastructure: Climate Change has brought fiercer storms with devastating floods and long-lasting droughts that stressed [...]
Rising Sea Levels Will Isolate People Long Before They’re Underwater
June 20th, 2023 Via Hakai Magazine, a look at how rising sea levels will isolate people long before they’re underwater: The Chignecto Isthmus—the low marshy strip connecting New Brunswick and Nova Scotia—may [...]
Can Cities Eliminate Heat-Related Deaths? Phoenix Is Trying.
June 20th, 2023 Via NextCity, a look at how Phoenix hopes a new Office of Heat Response can move fast enough to counter the impacts of deadly heat: Regional Carrillo could walk to his last job in five minutes. In [...]

ABOUT
BLACK SWANS GREEN SHOOTS
Black Swans / Green Shoots examines the collision between urbanization and resource scarcity in a world affected by climate change, identifying opportunities to build sustainable cities and resilient infrastructure through the use of revolutionary capital, increased awareness, innovative technologies, and smart design to make a difference in the face of global and local climate perils.

'Black Swans' are highly improbable events that come as a surprise, have major disruptive effects, and that are often rationalized after the fact as if they had been predictable to begin with. In our rapidly warming world, such events are occurring ever more frequently and include wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.

'Green Shoots' is a term used to describe signs of economic recovery or positive data during a downturn. It references a period of growth and recovery, when plants start to show signs of health and life, and, therefore, has been employed as a metaphor for a recovering economy.

It is my hope that Black Swans / Green Shoots will help readers understand both climate-activated risk and opportunity so that you may invest in, advise, or lead organizations in the context of increasing pressures of global urbanization, resource scarcity, and perils relating to climate change. I believe that the tools of business and finance can help individuals, businesses, and global society make informed choices about who and what to protect, and I hope that this blog provides some insight into the policy and private sector tools used to assess investments in resilient reinforcement, response, or recovery.