Re Hudson Solar: until we clearly track the factors that make up this storied tale – what are they? storm water runoff, mud slides, broken habitat, tree removal? – what we have is a hodgepodge of credible and questionable data and narratives, culminating in even more reactions (including this one).
That’s right, “tracking factors” or risk management, is at least a part of what’s missing, the remainder being the analysis of factors and proposals to mitigate the worst of them including any downsides to doing so – like costs, and, perhaps, creating (even) more policies to guard against the slippery slide of deforestation.
Taking a lead from (simplifying) strategist James Carville in the 1992 presidential campaign for Bill Clinton, “It’s the economy stupid:” It’s the documentation stupid – the tedious documenting of all the factors that make an issue worth paying attention to, plus the assessment of those most critical factors, and the proposed mitigation of each.
Not guaranteed is the painless easy answer to all problems, but what risk management does enable is greater clarity by virtue of relying on a structured (not lost-in-the-weeds) presentation, one that makes it easier for critical points to be tracked and ultimately everything to be clearer to everyone.
Now what’s wrong with that?