Mr. Fletcher, what you are ably discussing is the incentive structure. I live in Florida.
After hurricane Andrew devastated parts of Miami in 1992, the state legislature adopted the "Miami-Dade Building Codes," but only for parts of Florida, in 2002. Following this, the legislature succumbed to the will of the construction lobbyists in 2017, and continues to do so.
The incentive structure behind our official building codes is a mess (but so is the incentive structure behind almost all of our politics). What we need is several smart legislators who can figure out a way to incentivize builders and insurance companies into building new homes, and hardening older homes, to make them less susceptible to climate change.
Yes, the politics of all this can be challenging - even outside of Florida. And there's no easy way out of the tradeoff between higher construction standards and affordable housing (the latter a much bigger issue, obviously).
Why did it take a full 10 years after Andrew for the new building code in South Florida? Is that because developers fought it?
Mr. Fletcher, what you are ably discussing is the incentive structure. I live in Florida.
After hurricane Andrew devastated parts of Miami in 1992, the state legislature adopted the "Miami-Dade Building Codes," but only for parts of Florida, in 2002. Following this, the legislature succumbed to the will of the construction lobbyists in 2017, and continues to do so.
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/South-Floridas-Hurricane-Building-Code-StrongAnd-North-Floridas-Could-Be-Stronger
The incentive structure behind our official building codes is a mess (but so is the incentive structure behind almost all of our politics). What we need is several smart legislators who can figure out a way to incentivize builders and insurance companies into building new homes, and hardening older homes, to make them less susceptible to climate change.
Yes, the politics of all this can be challenging - even outside of Florida. And there's no easy way out of the tradeoff between higher construction standards and affordable housing (the latter a much bigger issue, obviously).
Why did it take a full 10 years after Andrew for the new building code in South Florida? Is that because developers fought it?