CEO Column

By: David Biderman, SWANA CEO and Executive Director

A June heat wave in the Pacific Northwest set all time record high temperature records in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, and killed hundreds. Eight inches of rain in an hour in a major city in China last month caused flooding resulting in scores of subway riders and motorists being trapped in a tunnel, with fatal consequences. Unprecedented flooding in Germany and Belgium wiped out several villages and killed hundreds. A drought in the western United States has Lake Mead, Lake Powell, and other important sources of water for drinking and irrigation at record low levels. Smoke from forest fires in the western U.S. and Canada adversely impacted air quality in New York City and Minneapolis, Minnesota earlier this summer.

Still think Climate Change is a hoax?

Even if you do, it is indisputable that major unprecedented weather events are occurring with increased frequency. In the United States, Canada, and throughout the world.  In 2020, there were a record 22 weather/climate disasters in the United States alone, with a total cost of about $99 billion.

It isn’t really up for debate that global climate patterns are changing, and that the world we live in is warmer than the one our grandparents inhabited. Where I live in northern Virginia, the growing season is at least 2 weeks longer than it was when I moved here in 1990. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report issued earlier this week paints a very dark and increasingly warm future for the planet and its inhabitants unless we take immediate and aggressive action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

What does this have to do with solid waste management?  Who do residents and businesses rely on to clean up the debris after floods, hurricanes, and forest fires, and protect them from future storms?

The “government,” and often, local government.

As the peak of hurricane season approaches, many state and local governments in the southeastern U.S. are likely reviewing their emergency plans. That’s terrific, but the intensity of recent tropical systems indicates that our planning may not be sufficient. Many haulers and local governments are currently experiencing a worker shortage in collection – imagine what could happen if your workers can’t get to the yard because the roads are flooded, or because they are dealing with flooding at their homes. New York City experienced this during Superstorm Sandy.

Climate change is a difficult and controversial topic, and I suspect some SWANA members may not be thrilled that I’m mentioning it. There is no political agenda here. Cleaning up after a hurricane or forest fire costs money, and elected officials and residents rely on local sanitation departments and their private sector partners to get it done. We need to be planning and preparing for – and demanding more funding for – these natural disasters. The past decade, globally, was the warmest in recorded history. It is likely this decade (the 2020’s) will surpass it. This means more flooding and more droughts (ironic, right?), and more “unprecedented” heat waves, with fatal outcomes for too many.

I don’t pretend to have the answers to these complicated questions. But we have to start asking the right questions.