Clean Air & Water

Climate Change and the End of Oil

     James Howard Kunstler, noted author of The Geography of Nowhere and The Long Emergency, discussed the “converging catastrophes of the 21st century” – climate change and the end of oil – in a captivating presentation at Furman University on March 14. These catastrophes are causing seismic changes in our nation’s economy and culture. First on his list is our current pattern of low-density exurban development. Decrying sprawl as “the greatest misallocation of resources in the history of civilization,” Kunstler connected our willingness to throw good money after bad (for roads, schools, and other infrastructure) to an endemic American “psychology of previous investment.” He predicted that big cities will contract substantially in area while densifying at the core, while some cities in the unsustainably arid Southwest, such as Phoenix and Las Vegas, will “dry up and blow away.”

As rural land will be valued less as raw material for future subdivisions and industrial parks, Kunstler predicts it will gain importance for its productive agricultural capability. Locally-grown food requires smaller energy inputs – from seed to harvest to table.

Instead of waiting for the technological magic pill that would enable us to continue our current lifestyles, Kunstler stresses that we must drastically reduce our energy consumption. One concrete step he proposes is the restoration of the U.S. passenger railroad system, once “the envy of the world.” Rail is also a more energy-efficient means than trucking for moving freight, and could tie into a revitalized network of wharves for maritime trade. He concludes that we should no longer tolerate places that “dishonor our collective life,” but reemphasize the public realm while rebuilding local economic and social networks.

Tackling the Sources of Stormwater Problems

Above: A typical scene in the Upstate, where landscaping ordinances are generally weak or non-existent.

     The impacts of poor stormwater management are all around us, in choked rivers, eroded streambanks, and flooded basements. But this problem has no single source. Too much runoff happens as a result of innumerable small, seemingly innocuous decisions that developers make every day all across the Upstate: how big is the parking lot at the new supermarket down the street, how many feet wide is the cul-de-sac that you live on, and whether the downspouts on the houses in the big subdivision up the road drain to the lawn or straight to the curb.

Runoff also happens in response to the minutiae of county and state stormwater regulations: how long a detention basin must hold water after a rain, what formulas are used to determine the required diameter of stormwater pipes, and whether a developer gets “credit” for building narrower streets.

Above: By contrast, this parking lot in Beaufort County, where standards are more stringent, provides an example of how old trees preserved on-site and below-grade vegetated areas drastically reduce stormwater runoff (and create a much more hospitable environment).

Poring over municipal stormwater management ordinances and county subdivision regulations isn’t exactly thrilling work. But identifying weaknesses in these codes and strengthening them are essential to improving water quality in our region.

That’s why Upstate Forever recently brought on a new full-time staff person, Heather Bergerud, to work exclusively on stormwater issues (see Staff News). We also have partnered with the Homebuilders Association of Greenville to organize the monthly 2007 Low Impact Development Breakfast Series, which has brought speakers from around the Southeast to discuss better ways to manage stormwater. In addition, on May 30 we held a full-day symposium at Furman University on “Stormwater Management in Greenville County: Where It’s Going and Why It Matters.” To find out more about these and other events, visit http://www.saludareedy.org/events.html.