The Green Blueprint

The ‘ecological ponzi scheme’ putting Florida at risk


Listen Later

Michael Grunwald is an energy and climate journalist who lives in south Florida. He loves Florida. But he also loves to poke fun at Florida's poor planning. In 2017, he wrote a piece for POLITICO about Cape Coral -- the boomtown built on swampland that is uniquely vulnerable to hurricanes.

Cape Coral is a city of 200,000 people in Southwest Florida. It's basically a wetland, nestled next to Fort Myers – one of the fastest growing areas in the country.

Construction of Cape Coral started in the late 1950s. It was the vision of two brothers who got wealthy peddling baldness tonic from wool grease. They knew how to sell anything, including a city built on water.

And then, in late September, Hurricane Ian rolled in. The near-category 5 hurricane knocked out the city's water supply, electricity, and left most houses underwater. Mike wrote an update to that piece, reminding readers about the “fantasy” propping up Southwest Florida.

This week, We talk with Mike Grunwald about Florida's unwillingness to plan for climate change – and what a nearby solar-powered city that weathered Hurricane Ian tells us about what's possible.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Green BlueprintBy Latitude Media

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

200 ratings


More shows like The Green Blueprint

View all
Energy Gang by Wood Mackenzie

Energy Gang

1,251 Listeners

Columbia Energy Exchange by Columbia University

Columbia Energy Exchange

395 Listeners

Currents by Norton Rose Fulbright

Currents

123 Listeners

Interchange Recharged by Wood Mackenzie

Interchange Recharged

503 Listeners

Redefining Energy by Laurent Segalen and Gerard Reid

Redefining Energy

129 Listeners

Inevitable by an MCJ podcast

Inevitable

168 Listeners

Switched On by Bloomberg

Switched On

98 Listeners

POLITICO Energy by POLITICO

POLITICO Energy

138 Listeners

Climate Rising by Harvard Business School Business & Environment Initiative

Climate Rising

75 Listeners

Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change by Michael Liebreich, Bryony Worthington

Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

77 Listeners

Volts by David Roberts

Volts

591 Listeners

Catalyst with Shayle Kann by Latitude Media

Catalyst with Shayle Kann

262 Listeners

Zero: The Climate Race by Bloomberg

Zero: The Climate Race

198 Listeners

The Latitude by Latitude Media

The Latitude

124 Listeners

Hot Buttons by Latitude Media

Hot Buttons

71 Listeners

With Great Power by GridX and Latitude Studios

With Great Power

81 Listeners

Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins by Heatmap News

Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins

93 Listeners

Open Circuit by Latitude Media

Open Circuit

141 Listeners