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Rising, Dispatches fro the New American Shore, by Elizabeth Rush, Book Review
TREADING WATER OR RISING?
By Marj Davis and Jim Kremer April 15, 2021 RISING – Dispatches From The New American Shore (2018) is a compelling non-fiction narrative of
personal stories by Elizabeth Rush, an environmental journalist and professor of creative non-fiction at
Brown University. Rising was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-fiction. Rush interviewed individuals living near the sea around America, sometimes with repeated visits
over five years. Extended local visits in person allowed her to come to know them, their situations, their
recollections, their emotions. She traveled from New England where coasts are receding, to communities in Staten Island inundated
by storm surge, to low-lying areas of Florida flooded by hurricanes, to Louisiana’s disappearing coastal
islands with relocated climate refugees, to wetlands restoration efforts in San Francisco Bay. Yes, the Bay
Area is included – there is a chapter on Alviso and the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project
to convert the Cargill salt ponds back to wetlands. There is even mention of District 1 Supervisor in
San Mateo County. So it quite literally hits close to our coast-side home. Local note: The wetlands dilemma of SF Bay is how to allow for wetlandescaping. As Rush describes,
wetlands respond naturally by moving up and landward as sea level rises, continuing to provide us with a
protective buffer against the surge energy and flooding – UNLESS manmade structures prevent this.
“Wetlandescaping” is a neologism capturing this natural inland migration of wetland habitat in response
to sea level rise unimpeded by manmade barriers. Marj Davis was inspired to create this word while
reading Rising and participating in the “Pacifica Futures, See Change” project at Sanchez Art Center in
collaboration with the The Bureau of Linguistical Reality. Most chapters are recounted as interpreted narratives from Rush’s insightful perspective. Some
appear in the first person so it seems they are by co-authors, probably transcriptions from recordings,
and are especially impactful and poignant. Rising is not a science book, yet the science is subliminal. Rather, the scope of human experience
explored by such intimate stories of geographically dispersed people who faced and are facing personal,
property and financial loss is Art. Her approach is very effective. Accounts of lived human experience on
the front lines – the waterlines around America – is thus an account of evidence. As has been said, “the
plural of anecdote is evidence”. We learn that: FEMA in some cases has revised their requirement that insurance payments be used
only to repair/replace storm damaged properties allowing owners to move; in some communities, all
residents have been offered buy-outs at full market value if they relocate, with funding patched together
by federal and state sources; the entire South Bay town of Aviso is 16 feet below sea level due to
extraction of groundwater for irrigation and now sea level rise. Well into the book, the author takes a brief diversion seemingly off topic, when she extends her view
of the responsibility of decision makers with authority into a wider socio-cultural context. But she soon
brings it back home, using her deeply personal and timely story of risk and responsibility as a general
example of underappreciated impacts on vulnerable individuals. Environmental justice, actually injustice, is a theme which gathers momentum. “Climate change
impact and environmental injustice often overlap” says Rush, and monies for climate response will likely
not be equitably distributed. But solutions can provide “transformation and hope” as neighbors help
neighbors and become “agents of change”. Personal stories clearly show that climate change and sealevel rise are real, that all of us face a changing landscape, and that we need to plan. The Chicago Tribune, in their review of Rising, noted, “with empathy and elegance, [Rush] conveys
what it means to lose a world in slow motion”. This book gives one a broader view and perspective of
what is going on in our country on every coastline. Rush’s personal stories humanize this very
challenging situation. One realizes that we are not just making a decision for today but a choice for future
generations in how we deal with the effects of climate change. Reading this book encourages us to
consider what we HAVE done in the past, what we CAN do today, and what we SHOULD do FOR the
future. Rush concludes her book [hopefully] with the thought that “the sea is rising and so are we”. As
reported in The Nation, we need “to consider more just ways of dealing with the immense challenges.  |
Experience a King Tide - Free Public Talk and View
 King, spring, neap, and perigean tides. What do they all mean? How do local conditions as well as those miles and miles away affect what happens at our beaches? Join Pacifica's Environmental Family to explore and understand the interactions that influence our experience along the coast. Sunday, January 20, will be the second "King Tide" of the winter and will be only a bit lower than the Monday tide on the next day. Both mornings will rpovide the curious a view of what may become the normal highs as sea level rises. Unable to attend? or want to experience it again? We'll be taking photographs to document the event and share how to submit your photographs to the California King Tides Project website. Snap the Shore, See the Future |
| Attachments:
King Tide Information.pdf
Pacifica City Council Candidates Natural & Cultural Environment Issues Forum
 Where: City Council Chambers, 2212 Beach Blvd., 2nd Floor, Pacifica Presented by: Pacifica’s Environmental Family in collaboration with local environmental and cultural organizations in Pacifica. The forum will provide each candidate an opportunity to present their vision for our city including what role, if any, the natural environment, arts and culture play in advancing that vision. This expanded sharing of vision and values will contribute to greater awareness of environmental and cultural challenges and opportunities facing Pacifica that can shape a vibrant and sustainable community.
Pacifica’s Environmental Family will not be advocating for any particular policy or position during the forum and does not advocate for any particular candidate. The intention of this forum is to give the public a chance to hear what each candidate has to say about various environmental issues that Pacifica faces in a respectful and thoughtful way.
For additional information, contact: pacificaenvironmentalfamily@gmail.com * Doors open 6:45pm |
| Attachments:
City Council Candidates Forum 2018 Flyer.pdf
20th Annual Kahuna Kupuna now open for registration!
 Enjoy a day at the beach with others in our surfing community, celebrate the intergenerational nature of our sport, and raise funds for Pacifica’s Environmental Family!The Kahuna Kupuna is an annual shortboard and longboard surf contest that honors the more experienced (in age) surfers among us! The main focus of the contest is the Kahuna Kupuna division for men and women 40 years of age and over, with separate sub-divisions for shortboard and longboard surfers. In addition, an Intergenerational Team Division welcomes surfers of all ages. Click here for more information Kahuna, in Hawaiian, means Big Chief, and Kupuna means grandparent or older member of the community who everyone turns to for advice and counsel. |
Oct. 26 screening of Freightened: The Real Cost of Shipping
 Join Pacifica's Environmental Family for a screening of the award winning documentary, Frightened: The Real Cost of Shipping. Learn about international freight shipping - that we see on the horizon in Pacifica daily - and its economic and environmental impacts. Thursday, October 26, 7:00pm Sharp Park Library, 104 Hilton Way It may leave you scared shipless!!!! |
Presentations from June 16 Sea Level Rise Meeting
On Friday, June 16, Pacifica’s Environmental Family and the Pacifica Climate Committee convened a meeting of experts to examine the realities of sea level rise for Pacifica. Some of the presentations from this meeting are copied below: [COMING SOON]
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Sea Level Rise: Understanding Our Coast - June 16
| Attachments:
2017flyer.pdf
Pacifica City Council Candidates Environmental Issues Forum
 Update: View the Forum Here Where: City Council Chambers, 2212 Beach Blvd., 2nd Floor, Pacifica Presented by: Pacifica's Environmental Family in collaboration with our projects, and the Pacifica Climate Committee The forum will provide each candidate an opportunity to present their views on local environmental issues, contributing to greater awareness on environmental challenges and opportunities facing Pacifica. Pacifica's Environmental Family will not be advocating for any particular policy or position during the forum and does not advocate for any particular candidate. The intention of this forum is to give the public a chance to hear what each candidate has to say about various environmental issues that Pacifica faces in a respectful and thoughtful way. For additional information, contact: pacificaenvironmentalfamily@gmail.com |
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