Posted by Bob Lord
So, I stumbled onto this piece over at TomDispatch, Exodus from Phoenix, and couldn't not read it, even though I have a ton of work sitting on my desk. Then, I couldn't not share. Here's the teaser:
If cities were stocks, you’d want to short Phoenix.
Of course, it’s an easy city to pick on. The nation’s 13th largest metropolitan area (nudging out Detroit) crams 4.3 million people into a low bowl in a hot desert, where horrific heat waves and windstorms visit it regularly. It snuggles next to the nation’s largest nuclear plant and, having exhausted local sources, it depends on an improbable infrastructure to suck water from the distant (and dwindling) Colorado River.
In Phoenix, you don’t ask: What could go wrong? You ask: What couldn’t?
Interestingly, the piece doesn't mention Tucson, probably because Tucson's approach to climate is so much saner than ours. Unfortunately, the writer offers no advice as to how long I should wait before selling my house, an issue I've occasionally pondered. That of course is how you short a city (if you live there).
If you're a doom and gloomer, as I sometimes am, you'll love this piece. If you're not, you should read it anyhow.
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