Ep 14: Travels with Torpey - Southwest heat waves and building out of balance with nature

Rethinking with Alex Torpey

Join former mayor, municipal manager, professor, and consultant Alex Torpey for another special Travels with Torpey episode, recorded in Dixie National Forest in Utah.
Alex reflects on the extreme heat waves in the Southwest and the environmental and community impact of redevelopment and building practices, and various other human behaviors, that are done out of balance with nature.
Can we do better? What’s in store for our future?

You can find the episode wherever you listen to podcasts above, or below. Don’t forget to like and subscribe or share with a friend if you like what you hear!

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Additional information and links:

• All of my travel photos/stories on Instagram: http://instagram.com/alextorpey
• Wildfire trends in the United States – American Association for the Advancement of Science: https://www.sciline.org/wildfires/trends/
• Utah is headed into a water battle it can’t win – High Country News: https://www.hcn.org/articles/opinion-utah-tries-to-put-another-straw-in-the-colorado-before-it-runs-dry
• Highlands Watershed Protection FAQ – NJ DEP: https://www.nj.gov/dep/highlands/hwppa_faqs.htm#act
• 10 Essential Ways Trees Help Our Planet – Trees.org: https://trees.org/post/10-ways-trees-help/
• Trees can do the Dirty Work of Waste Cleanup – USDA: https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2019/08/30/trees-can-do-dirty-work-waste-cleanup
• San Francisco Residents Share Videos, Photos Of ‘Apocalyptic’ Skies As Wildfires Burn Nearby – Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/san-francisco-residents-share-videos-photos-apocalyptic-skies-wildfires-burn-nearby-1530812
• ‘It’s brutal’: Las Vegas cooks amid blazing heatwave – and it’s going to get worse – The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/19/las-vegas-heatwave-nevada-us-west-temperatures
• Editorial: California will never control raging wildfires if it doesn’t stop building in high-risk areas – LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-11-29/california-wildfire-housing-ideas
• The Record Temperatures Enveloping The West Are Not Your Average Heat Wave – NPR: https://www.npr.org/2021/06/19/1008248475/the-record-temperatures-enveloping-the-west-is-not-your-average-heat-wave?utm_source=pocket-newtab
• Can We Survive Extreme Heat? – Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/climate-crisis-goodell-survive-extreme-heat-875198/
• ‘Unrecognizable.’ Lake Mead, a lifeline for water in Los Angeles and the West, tips toward crisis: https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-07-11/lake-mead-hoover-dam-drought-nevada-arizona-california
• Trees Are Key To Fighting Urban Heat — But Cities Keep Losing Them – NPR: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/04/755349748/trees-are-key-to-fighting-urban-heat-but-cities-keep-losing-them
• Water Consumption in Construction: https://www.academia.edu/26929921/Water_Consumption_in_Construction
• A Progress Report on Reducing Water Use on Construction Sites (2008): https://www.waterwise.org.uk/knowledge-base/a-progress-report-on-reducing-water-use-on-construction-sites-2008/
• Flooding in New Jersey:
  • Want to Get Ahead of Flooding? Use NJF’s New Tool, the Enhanced Model Stormwater Ordinance: https://www.njfuture.org/2021/02/09/want-to-get-ahead-of-flooding-use-njfs-new-tool-the-enhanced-model-stormwater-ordinance/
  • Storms Cause Flooding In Hackensack, New Jersey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t63qUHoRj48
  • Why chronic floods are coming to New Jersey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD5mm8FI5hM
• The Power Broker, story of Robert Moses: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1111.The_Power_Broker
• Dixie National Forest: https://www.fs.usda.gov/dixie