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Discussion with Forum Participants
Pages 17-28

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From page 17...
... Each group has to look at its contribution to the overall solution, he said. The utility companies "are going to make sure the lights stay on so the trains can keep running.
From page 18...
... It is going to vary from place to place." White agreed that "all of us are responsible." In the United States, the elected representatives of the public make policy, and government agencies carry out that policy. "We try to do the best job we can to engineer it or, in places where engineering isn't potentially the right solution, we try to come up with another kind of solution.… It is not a silver bullet.
From page 19...
... When the Netherlands buckshot." buys land for floodplains, de Jong – White explained, it looks for stretches that are not densely populated, making it cheaper to buy privately owned property. In some cases, it may also create habitable areas in redeveloped districts, such as residential zones next to a reclaimed waterfront, which may offset expenditures.
From page 20...
... If they can't get goods and services to port, they are not going to make a sale." Nicholls reported that when he lived in the United States he heard FEMA officials talking about a six-week window of opportunity after a disaster, during which people would think differently. If public officials are willing to make a strong case immediately after a major event, they
From page 21...
... A lot of preparation has to be done beforehand." Velshi also observed that people in the United States, along with their elected representatives, are not necessarily ready to have a conversation about sea level rise and its implications. White added that not everyone in a large society is going to have the same perspective.
From page 22...
... "We can see that we are going to deal with a rise.… Taking an adaptive management approach means that we adapt in an appropriate manner. We have "If we plan, we can probably to expect that we are going to have make adaptive management a to commit resources, but I can't tell lot cheaper in the long run." you how many resources.… If we – Nicholls plan, we can probably make it a lot cheaper in the long run." In the event of very large increases, the choices are engineering solutions or "some kind of either ungraceful or graceful retreat," Nicholls said.
From page 23...
... The real question for me is in the unknown." REMAINING UNCERTAINTIES The speakers acknowledged that many other uncertainties surround sea level rise beyond its rate and extent. White pointed out that, while much is known about structural solutions, far less is known about cost reductions.
From page 24...
... , because that is what people want from their government. They want us to use their tax dollars responsibly and not overinvest." When Velshi asked how the Dutch have approached this problem, de Jong acknowledged that there are limits to what can be built today for eventualities in the long-term future.
From page 25...
... "We must use that discount rate, but it doesn't prevent us from conducting sensitivity analyses to the discount rate," she said. "If we look at a very low discount rate, we are able to justify adaptation measures that bring us past the 50-year economic analysis period that OMB requires.
From page 26...
... And Muilenburg mentioned the work of the US military in devel "If we have a product and we oping countries. "It is a very effec can't communicate it, whether tive approach that brings people in writing or orally or through together and builds capacity." graphics, then we don't really White noted that engineers in have a product." the United States tend to think that – White solutions move from the developed to the developing world.
From page 27...
... Rather than giving them courses on climate change, we embed it into the whole program." By teaching about climate change everywhere it is relevant, universities can make the subject "practical and useful in their careers," he said. Clough added that the Grand Challenges Scholars Program represents "a tremendous opportunity" to get young people involved, not only in the United States but around the world.


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