I’d love to be writing a more hopeful story about the ways in which renewables can power those left in the dark in the wake of major natural disasters like hurricanes Fiona and Ian. And that story likely will get written. But until there is solar for all, wind power for all, and we are truly in the midst of the just transition frontline communities demand and deserve, I’ve gotta hold that story. Right now, communities are still being impacted and only starting to assess the damage from Hurricane Ian. And those in the path of Hurricane Fiona are still suffering its devastating effects, from lack of power to lack of access to basic resources, to homes being simply uninhabitable.
As I type this, there are innumerable homeowners stuck with few options for a recovery that doesn’t just bring their homes back to livable but allows them to be more resilient in the face of climate-worsened storms. I remember speaking with a source from FEMA last year in the wake of Hurricane Ida who likened the agency’s own relief efforts to the difference between doing the bare minimum with recovery or doing the bare minimum and then slapping a new coat of paint on the whole thing. The paint will never even be purchased, given the mechanisms FEMA has in place. And given the historic inequities in who receives relief and recovery money, sometimes even that bare minimum restoration will never happen.
