The end of denial

Sarah Severn.

At the time of writing this there are 71 large uncontained wildfires in the US, and over 8 million acres have burned. The fire in the Columbia River Gorge has displaced hundreds of residents, shut down Interstate 84 and burned 52 square miles (134 square kilometers).

On the East Coast Hurricanes Harvey & Irma could together cost the US 290bn according to Joel Myers of Accuweather and, as reported in US news, he cites “business disruptions, higher unemployment and transportation and infrastructure damage, along with crop loss and elevated gas prices that are expected to impact people across the country.”  Lt General Russel L Honore , author of Leadership in the New Normal, stated in an interview with CNN that, “40% of small businesses fail after disasters like Irma.” His point was that they do not have the financial resiliency to deal with this level of business disruption.

Read the story by the Strategic Advisor to Washington Business for Climate Action, Sarah Severn - “The end of denial.”