Trump Has Met His Match in the Art of the Deal

President Donald Trump receives a briefing on the potential path and destruction of hurricane Irma. Photo via POTUS.

By Jill Chapin

September 15, 2017

It took a female to finally expose Trump’s overstated braggadocio regarding his self-touted ability to forge real estate deals. When he told Floridians that he was with them as they build a bigger and better Florida, he failed to acknowledge the true powerhouse in this scenario. Trump will have no say – and no ability – to go against the overwhelming dominance of his biggest adversary ever – Mother Nature. She will ensure that Florida will not be growing for a long long time. Worse, She will be doing everything in Her formidable power to shrink Florida’s footprint as beaches erode and rising oceans claim inch by foot by yard of Florida’s coastlines.

But Trump and those who have a say in Florida’s future are still capable of making it better, if they are respectful by giving Mother Nature a seat at the table to figure out how to work around her relentless pursuit of claiming more and more of Florida’s real estate.

It would be futile to try to outsmart Her. And as long as climate change deniers refuse to accept that our oceans are warming, thus fueling bigger and stronger hurricanes, She will continue to have the upper hand. This always happens when one side of a struggle is well-armed and the other refuses to defend itself.

Trump’s bold words of building bigger may work in downtown New York, but they won’t make a whit of difference along Florida’s beaches. If he could master of art of humility, he would accept the inevitable and encourage Florida to build smarter, not bigger. Rebuilding farther away from the coast would be the first sensible suggestion. Floridians could console themselves that a move away from the ocean’s edge is only temporary as rising oceans will soon greet them at their new location anyway.

Meanwhile, rebuilding with stronger building codes will help to mitigate the ravages of Mother Nature’s power, but again, it would remain uncertain if the most stringent building codes would be enough if Her hurricanes rise to the level of a 6 or 7, which we currently don’t even measure at this strength.

We can build underground power lines and underground storage facilities filled with food, water, fuel and rescue equipment. Of course, She will do all in her power to undermine these efforts but we need to try something to let Her know that we respect Her power and will do everything we can to escape from harm’s way.

But until we agree to phase out our dependence on fossil fuels which would lower the ocean’s temperature, we will likely be on an inevitable path towards more and greater destruction.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We still have an opportunity to cool and calm our planet. As bad as things are, the story is not yet over. As C.S. Lewis said, you can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.

Jill Chapin

Jill Chapin has been a guest writer and columnist in several Los Angeles area papers for over fifteen years. She has written a bilingual parenting book titled, "If You Have Kids, Then Be a Parent!" and a children's book entitled, "My Magic Bubble."

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