What do they mean?

Houston is seen as resilient. As a city. As a feature of our identity. As I explore the ways we need to become stronger and better protect ourselves from inevitable upheaval, I ground myself in climate realities and accept the uncertainty that comes with our position on the Gulf Coast and other conditions that make us vulnerable.

What we do with our resources must be a mix of preparing for the worst, while allowing room for invention and evolution. Moving away from choices that contribute to our destruction is important but we are now in an era when “expecting the worst” is just responsible.

I’ve spent the last three months immersed in thinking through how we – the residents of this workhorse of a city – ought to invest our resources so that we have a better chance of riding out the next wave of upheaval. Resilience – what does it mean here?  And how do we invest in our region so that everyone here from the strongest to those most vulnerable has a chance at a decent life for the foreseeable future?

I do not think the answer to resilience investment should come from a research institute. Though I treasure data and what it points to, and I want what research institutes have to offer, we need to better understand what all institutions – business, philanthropy, government – are doing and what they are planning to do.

I do not think good answers to Gulf Coast resilience should come from global climate change organizations that value and prioritize actions beyond our reach, designed for ecologies and economies completely unlike ours. I do not believe in paying to be graded on a curve that leaves the Gulf Coast a constant loser. Paying to sit at the “cool kids climate table” is not my idea of a good use of resources.

I am determined to see a new scorecard developed for this region. One that embraces our climate realities while chronicling our necessary adaptations.

What are we – leaders and institutions- willing to be held accountable for and to?

As I search for good answers I find that Houston’s leaders have strengths that serve us well. Pragmatism. Truth telling. Minimal sense of entitlement. Willing to tackle hard problems from a “get something done” perspective. One of our shortcomings, however, is that we tend to run like hell in our own lanes, only reluctantly pausing to coordinate. I see that changing as we pursue answers only possible through collaboration.

I’ll continue to look for ways to include the broadest range of voices and perspectives from those willing to be held accountable. I resist opinions minus effort or investment. Skin in the game on the delivery side – litmus test.

I believe it is possible to crowdsource good markers of our ability to go on living here. To identify all the ways we are adapting and protecting. To score what we are doing to make this essential city work come hell, wind or high water.

I wrote this as an invitation because I care and about the people of this region and I know you do too.