Enact bill to slow global warming

I was warned. It was 1985 and we were looking to buy our first house. When I described the lovely location of a house in Short Beach, Branford, on a salt marsh to someone at work, he asked if the house was in the flood plain. And was I familiar with global warming? It all seemed far-fetched and I dismissed the notion that our house-to-be would be threatened. What were the chances?

Over the years, we had a few minor floods in our crawl space. Irene (2011) gave the storage area a good soaking and we spent several depressing days bringing our ruined clothes, bedding and family photos to the dump. But Superstorm Sandy (2012) outdid them all. We didn’t evacuate like some of our neighbors. The sea water began inundating our first floor half an hour before high tide. It was a mess. Afterwards we patched the damaged walls, fixed the gas furnace and water heater, and threw out more possessions. It was then that it struck us that we had to do something to stay dry and preserve the value of our home.

The Branford town engineer gave us expert advice and our excellent contractor raised the house seven feet, to a final elevation of 14 feet above sea level. Only time will tell whether the changes we made will be enough to keep the house dry.

When hysterical Chicken Little tells us the sky is falling we should be skeptical. However, it’s clear that extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity. When 97 percent of climate scientists tell us that we have a problem and that the window for action won’t stay open for long, maybe it’s time to take climate change seriously. A climate bill (HR763) backed by eminent economists is awaiting action in Congress. It’s time to enact, as there is no evacuation option.

Daniel Rabin Branford