To Build or Not to Build

Recently, as hurricane Sandy victims on Long Island and all throughout New Jersey continued their work to rebuild, proposals from area government officials started flooding in about what to do to prevent damage of this caliber in New York City in the future. The main proposal is a 10 Billion dollar dam that would protect the areas in New York City bordering the water. The money is to be asked for from the federal government, but the question is, to build or not to build?

Beginning with the reasons for, in the past two years in the NE area, there have been hurricanes, that hasn't happened for at least a decade before it, so the frequency is seeming to increase, as well as the fact that there have been two major hurricanes hit harbor cities in the US in the last decade that have cost billions in damage. Sandy cost approximately 14 billion in damages, so a 10 billion dollar wall aimed at preventing such damage seems like a bargain. A huge question is whether or not newly re-elected President Obama will agree to the plans. However, the idea that he would refuse makes no sense from a governmental standpoint, because the whole job of a government is to protect its people.

For the against side, most of them do not believe in global warming and/or the effects of it, so they say Sandy is once in a half of a millennium occurrence, which has been put down by the even more damaging great hurricane of 1938, but nevertheless the argument might have some prowess. Also, people (mainly outside NYC) say that it would contribute to more national debt, hence hurting many to save some. Also, the problem of blocking views of the river and if there is a storm during the construction then everything would be destroyed and take more money and resources.

The actual probability of it happening is high because people say Obama wouldn't do it because it would anger people outside of NY and NJ, but now that he's on his last term, he doesn't have to restrain himself by whether or not he thinks swing voters will like his actions or not, so he has the means to do it. He has also collaborated recently with the representatives of NY recently hence he is no stranger to collaboration with them. Also after the storm damage gets cleared the victims will definitely be pushing for storm damage prevention measures.