William Becker is a writer, journalist, and policy expert on energy, climate change, and disaster prevention and recovery. His eclectic career includes roles as the Executive Assistant to the Attorney General of Wisconsin, Counselor to the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, and Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. He earned a Bronze Medal as a U.S. Army combat correspondent during the Vietnam War and served as a writer/photographer for the Associated Press, editorial writer for the Wisconsin State Journal, and publisher of his own weekly newspaper in Wisconsin. Bill McKibben is an environmentalist, educator, climate activist, and the author of The End of Nature, widely regarded as the first book on climate change for a general audience.
Climate change is causing larger and more frequent weather disasters. Floods are the most frequent and costly in the United States, causing $17 billion annually in damages between 2010 and 2018—and experts predict damages will double by 2051. How should we respond? Climate change expert Bill Becker argues we should not respond by building more flood-control structures like dams, levees, and seawalls. That was the policy of the last century. The nation's 92,000 dams and 30,000 miles of levees are aging and insufficient to stop the floods we see today. More than 100 million Americans are now at risk. The Creeks Will Rise: People Coexisting with Floods makes a compelling case that we must begin collaborating with nature. Wherever possible, communities should help flood-prone families move to safer places. We should return the land to rivers and oceans and restore the wetlands, coastal marshes, and other ecosystems that provide natural flood protection. Becker writes from experience. He helped move a flood-prone community to higher ground forty years ago. He has since worked with scores of flooded communities to help them plan their recoveries. We must collaborate with nature rather than trying to control it.
