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RAIN BLAME GAME

New Yorkers Blame Hurricane Sandy on Climate Change

As for living, breathing sources of frustration, NY residents point to power providers

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by Dain Fitzgerald

Staff Writer t

Image: New Yorker

The rest of the country can debate just who to pour blame on for Hurricane Sandy, but Gothamist informs us that New Yorkers point the soggy finger at climate change.

A poll by the Empire State's Siena College interviewed over 800 residents and found that 69% of them attributed the recent and devastating storm to global climate change, and not merely one freak incident of out-of-control weather. As for the less than perfect response to Sandy, New Yorkers place more of the blame on power providers than politicians (much to the latter's joy). While 67% of New Yorkers say Gov. Andrew Cuomo fared well in his handling of Sandy, and 60% say the same of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an equally large chunk of respondents say Long Island Power Authority and Con Edison botched things up.

Looking forward, 72% of those surveyed said a large-scale infrastructure project such as a storm surge barrier would be an optimal way to protect against flooded subway stations and genuinely wet bars.

Via the Blaze and Gothamist.
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Comments (view in Forum)

  • o
    woodtick57
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    and it hit at a full moon.(high tide...not crazy people, that myth has been debunked enough...)

    i think the global warming crowd is doing a disservice by calling every normal storm proof of global warming.
  • CATTLEPROD
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    Anyone who lives along the east coast of america from maine, through new york, down to florida can expect a hurricane at least once in thier lifetime. If they are living on the coast of new york I would think they had money, they should have been obligated to buy insurance, like anyone with beachfront property. They had plenty of warning. The failure came with the response from city and state people, which they should have expected. It reminds me of that scene in "airplane". "they bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into, I say, let them crash."
  • bsking
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    amen..people on the outer banks in NC..rent their beach homes out for upwards of 2500 A WEEK in spring and summer... most of them prepare when storms come... but there's always a few to get on TV and cry about it.

    I think if you are going to live on the coast you should have to be responsible to rebuild out of your own pocket. lot of insurance companies won't insure those homes anymore they been rebuilt 3 and 4 times.
  • DogLady_1
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    NY's coast is just like the MS coast... There is prime real estate along certain stretches of waterfront, and the rest is swampy, buggy, shifty, and cheap. That's where fishermen live, and welders who inherited the home from their blue collar parents. When Katrina took out the MS Gulf Coast, there were as many poor living along the water who were wiped out as there were upper crust types... we lost some history and heritage when our stately waterfront mansions were rendered to splinters on land that had never been hit by a hurricane from the time they were built... the same applied also to AL, LA and FL coastline properties... Also, a warning is only good when the people know how to act on the warning... New Yorkers don't get that kind of weather much, and prep was most likely given off a FEMA cue card read by a local news reporter... It's not the human beings' fault that Sandy wrecked their lives... they couldn't have stopped it... Just ask any Katrina survivor... they'll tell ya...
  • CATTLEPROD
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    @DogLady_1 Whenever someone makes a comment like I did, someone like you trots out the innocent victims in the whole thing in an attempt to make me feel guilty or something. Katrina, plenty of warning. Why didn't they leave? Too much looting to do afterward? We all know george bush steered that storm into new orleans with a weather control device. Did he use mind control also to make sure they avoided the warnings so more could die? Sandy. Plenty of warning. No help from bloomberg afterward. Thats thier fault. They voted for him. What good was barry in all this? I live downstream from a dam. If I ever hear it is starting to leak, I'm getting to higher ground for a while. I know that takes common sense, I just wonder why people who live in coastal areas dont have any when a storm is on the way. when usually for at least 3 days prior the news pack runs with thier hope for chaos to show as soon as it runs aground and we think it will hit hardest here. UUUUHHHHH, I think I will stay. It's thier fault. They had plenty of warning.
  • DogLady_1
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    @CATTLEPROD - So, where do you suggest more than 15 million people go for every storm??? have you thought about that? Do all other areas of the country have the infrastructure to take on the residents of 220 sq. miles of land??? I wasn't try to make you feel guilty... not my job. I was trying to enlighten you that logistically, your expectations are not realistic for every single person in a storm zone to evacuate... oh, and I was also pointing out that not everyone who lives on the waterfront "has money"...
  • View all 7 replies >
  • stepped_in_it
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    Normal....no. But, from the Chicago Trib: "The normal high temperature for Dec. 3 is 39 degrees, he said, and the temperature has only reached 70 degrees in December twice in the 142 years that the National Weather Service has been recording the data: 71 degrees on Dec. 3, 1970, and again Dec. 2, 1982."

    I do believe we, man, are influencing the weather patterns of the Earth. Can't be helped when 7 billion people live on a planet NOT designed for that many people. With fossil fuel use and denuding of the land, it's will happen. What do we do? Wipe out 1/2 the population? Stop all use of fossil fuel (which would wipe out 1/2 the population).

    But, what I find funny/interesting is that man, with approx 150 years of documented resources, think they KNOW what's happening to the Earth. That 150 years is not bad if you believe the Earth is 6000 yrs old, but, if you believe it many millions years old, that 150 years is but a drop in the bucket!
  • martydotcom
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    @stepped_in_it Hmmm if the world was created 6000 years ago after the great flood Who knows what existed before the for the 4.5 billion years before the geat flood?
    So much for theology... only a graduate of the school for the terminally vague would deny the very obvious shrinking polar ice caps, Greenland, glaciers raising water temp and levels... now, add in man made changes in concentration in greenhouse gases and the undeniable conclusion is we're screwing up. You would think a society that created computers, lasers, men walking on the moon etc would be capable of taking a piercing glimpse into the obvious and begin to cope with climate change. Total theater of the absurd oil companies taking advance of shrinking polar icecap to drill heretofore frozen areas.
  • stepped_in_it
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    @martydotcom Yeah....we're in agreement. Can't wait to snorkel Wall st. and Times Square to find lost art.....lol. The real "female dog" is mardi gras is gonna suck big time....LMAO
  • u
    Realthinker
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    As a matter of fact it is normal. I distinctly remember riding my new bike on Christmas Day in my shirtsleeves about 1954 or so. Such warm spells happen with regularity in every one of the winter months. It's called the December thaw, the Jan. thaw and so on. Some spells are warmer than others but they are not indicative of "climate change:" which has always been nothing but an excuse to raise taxes and control how we live and what we drive.
    http://thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/it...
  • View all 22 replies >
  • MongoAPillager
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    69% blame climate change,1% or less know how to tie their shoes,much less study global weather patterns,these are the same people who can't be trusted with a large soda!!!
  • DARSB
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    Not to confuse the anti-science crowd with data, but Sandy threw the ocean at the land, and because of global warming, there were about eight inches more ocean to throw.
  • DARSB
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    @David944 Apparently, Eric the Red, who named Greenland, could have been a real estate mogul in Florida. Two sources cited by Wikipedia for the name contain the same explanation, "He named the land Greenland, saying that people would be eager to go there if it had a good name." ;)
  • View all 12 replies >
  • Ashstop
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    An act of God,
    he controls the wind, rain.. Everything .
    There's not enough carbon in the world to stop one drop of rain if he says " let it rain "
    Lol!!! As if man controls anything!!!
  • u
    Cheenoguy
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    Lol. Oh wait you actually believe that? I'm sorry I couldn't hear you real well because the hospital down the street is full of kids dying from cancer. If your god is controlling everything he's 10 times as incompetent as the worst politician in mankind's history.
  • Ashstop
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    @Cheenoguy
    Yes, death is part of life, God had to turn away when his Son died but it was necessary ( without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin) so we don't end at death :)
    If Man is so powerful that we can control the climate then why aren't we saving those kids?
    We will all believe in God after we die, I hope to believe in him in heaven, only you can choose where you believe in him
  • u
    Cheenoguy
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    @Ashstop
    First of all, if your god is in control of everything the kids are getting cancer because he gives it to them.
    The only thing that is absolutely certain about death is that you die. Everything else is a guess.
    Your argument that somehow we are all powerful if we can destroy the planet is just ridiculous. You can run over a kid in your car and kill him. That is an indisputable fact. So by your logic you should be able to get out of the car and resurrect him. Destroying is easier then repairing. Doubt me? Create a small fire in your house and leave. Now rebuild it. Which was easier?
    Oh and by the way there are Drs working day and night down the road helping a lot of those kids become cancer survivors.
  • View all 9 replies >
  • View all 9 replies >
  • Your_Name_Here
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    Build your entire city 3" above sea level totally ignoring everything you learned in grade school about weather and climate and oceans. Whine continuously when the inevitable happens and blame it on everything except your own stupidity. You and the folks from New Orleans can sell each other "I survived the storm but lost all my stuff" T-Shirts. Read some history of the continents (maybe on your cell phone if that's working) and you will know this sort of thing has happened before.
  • u
    Kellso
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    It was predicted by GORE's bunch several years ago and what woudl cause all this. NOBODY LISTENED! EVERYBODY HAD THEIR HEADS IN THE SAND! This is just the Start of things to come!!!!!
  • twinertia
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    In general: people. You can't expect to keep digging, burning, and consuming and not have SOME type of effect on the planet's weather patterns. We see these things hit in different places, shake our heads, thank our imaginary "deities" it wasn't us this time.....and do nothing. Only a complete coastal infrastructure overhaul can lessen the destruction: back-up underground power grids, inland dry goods storehouses, better battery technologies, etc. Life's three (3) fundamentals is all it'll take: time, money, and desire.
  • Buzzfriendly
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    Mother nature is the culprit and if they haven't gotten the word in NY then you guys need to be aware that hurricanes happen during hurricane season and particularly strike the gulf and east coast. VA FL NC SC MA RI would like to welcome you to our climate change.
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