2020: “Jeff Bezos Commits $10 Billion to Address Climate Change” (New York Times)…
“Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet,” he wrote. “I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share.”
2023: “Jeff Bezos revealed as buyer of $68M Indian Creek teardown” (The Real Deal)…
Billionaire Jeff Bezos, the third richest person in the world, reportedly paid $68 million to purchase a waterfront home in Miami’s Indian Creek Village.
The mansion Bezos reportedly purchased was built in 1965 and expanded in 1985. It spans nearly 9,300 square feet with three bedrooms and three bathrooms on a 2.8-acre lot.
Last year, his parents, Mike and Jackie Bezos, purchased two waterfront homes in Coral Gables for $78 million.
Where is Indian Creek? See the top right corner:
Let’s hope that the new house is completed before sea level rise washes Miami Beach away!
Speaking of tragedy in Florida, will you be offering an assessment on the horrific crash in Broward County?
JJ: I don’t know much about the EC-135. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/344983 says that there was a fire (presumably engine; light helicopters don’t typically have fire extinguishing systems as you’d find on a regional jet or full-size airliner) and then a tailboom failure. Without a tail rotor, supposedly Robinsons can fly at high cruise speeds because the vertical stabilizer will keep the fuselage from spinning. But in order to land, the only option is an autorotation because if there is no power going into the rotor system there is no torque for the antitorque system to push against (i.e., you don’t need a tail rotor at that point).
It is difficult to realistically simulate a tail rotor failure during training and, in any case, doing the right thing during training is a lot easier than doing the right thing during a real-world surprise emergency.
Bezos Earth Fund allows Bezos and his fiancée to yacht around the Mediterranean Sea, and to travel to the Amazon Rainforest (Lauren Sanchez has posted “earth-friendly recipes” on her Instagram page). They can claim some “Earth Fund” related work was done — thus, it’s a tax shelter for his “philanthropy” — can probably write off the cost of all fossil fuels used, as well as staff, gourmet meals, etc..????
Bezos’ considerable property on the island of Maui was spared, so he isn’t worried about “climate change” affecting him personally???
correction — it’s #ClimateFriendlyFriday for the avocado toast set https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cur-MjtpIw6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
“A donation has been made in your name to the Human Fund.” -Seinfeld, 1997
why richest man goes for fake boobs when he can get real ones(may be young).
He still hasn’t bought the $250 mil Steinway tower penthouse, so that would be a fail. That would be the ultimate climate change alarmist castle, to remind us non prime, spacex fanboy, blog commenters of our place.
Don’t be too hard on Jeff Bezos, he’s just living by the life of a do-gooder, trying to follow in the large footsteps of Bill Epstein Gates III, John Kerry, and company.
Amazon undercounts its carbon footprint:
https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-carbon-emissions-reporting.html
And despite the undercounting the footprint has grown substantially:
https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/1/23287351/amazon-climate-change-carbon-emissions-worse-2021
In most cases, going to brick-and-mortar stores is better for the environment anyway.
@Phil: Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on the EC-135. As always, very insightful.
JJD – Back to “thinking about it”
P.S. My offer always stands if you land at KGAI for a lunch or dinner to thank you for all you do. If you like somewhat realistic food from Hong Kong, A+J is my “Go To Place”
Whoah, slow down there about the danger of climate change. Today, Science says it’s a mere bit player amid the greater danger of air pollution. But who knows, maybe tomorrow Science will say our greatest danger is something else again. Stay tuned!
#science claims that human – induced climate change is the greatest danger to mother earth. #science also claims that air population is the greatest threat for humans.
And docter fauci is science.
Philip — Serious question: If you were building there, how many feet above sea level would you want to be?
Am I the only one surprised that information like this isn’t listed on all FL real estate listings?
It seems like something you would want to know right away, like square footage or year of construction.
Google tells me ocean levels will be 1 ft higher in 2050, although maybe people should be more concerned with storms than with the resting water level.
Is there a rule of thumb for how much buffer one needs?
Florida is flat. Miami Beach is only few feet above Ocean level, it is on a barrier island. I believe that wave height drops as square of distance it travels across dry land, farther reduces by shallow shore waters, so it should be pretty safe from regular storms. But one foot global ocean level rise would definitely cut Miami Beach beaches.
There is no noticeable of the sea rise level at US East coast for the past 30+ years I have been observing it. Furthermore, island of Manhattan’s bed rock is sinking into Earth’s crust and despite this there is no noticeable land loss to Atlantic Ocean in Manhattan.
David: It depends on the potential for storm surge. The Gulf coast is much more prone to storm surge than the Atlantic coast because the Gulf water is shallow much farther out. So on the Gulf coast I would want to be protected from a 25′ surge and on the Atlantic coast probably it would be acceptable to risk a 15′ surge. For Palm Beach county, for example,
https://maps.co.palm-beach.fl.us/cwgis/?app=evacuation_info#
shows that a lot of rich people live in Zone B. https://www.fox13news.com/weather/know-your-zone-florida-evacuation-zones-what-they-mean-and-when-to-leave says this could be flooded by a 15′ storm surge. Hurricane Andrew generate a surge of about 17′ in Miami. I think that is as bad as a hurricane has ever been in SE Florida. I think Zone C is safe enough (potentially vulnerable to a surge between 15′ and 20′), but Zone D is better (vulnerable to surges of 21-28′).
We’re right on the edge of Zone D. We could evacuate by putting a leash on the golden retriever and walking about 100 yards west to a neighborhood that is not in any evacuation zone (i.e., there is no situation in which people would be ordered to evacuate) and, in fact, there is a middle school serving as a hurricane shelter there. (Florida counties run pet-friendly shelters!)
So… 10′ above sea level in a flat area 500′ from the ocean is probably not safe, but 10′ above sea level in a flat area 15,000′ from the ocean is probably safe because the surges can’t stay above sea level indefinitely. They eventually start to recede (except in Hollywood movies or nytimes articles?).
Some county web sites, e.g., Miami’s, explain that the zones map to hurricane category. So A is at risk from a Category 1 hurricane and D is at risk from a Category 4 hurricane.
Rich people in Miami are generally in Zone A or Zone B.
I guess one strategy would be to live in one of the higher-ground parts of Zone A (vulnerable to an 11′ surge), but build up an additional 12′ (sacrifice floor on the ground for garage parking, storage, playroom, etc.). The part of the house you care about, therefore, is actually in Zone D.
Most of the newer construction right on the water and/or on the barrier islands seems to take this approach. Also big concrete condo buildings. They just expect the ground-level parking area and the elevator lobby to be trashed by any serious storm.
Let’s check the current hurricane, Idalia.
https://www.floridadisaster.org/evacuation-orders/
is comprehensive, I think. They seem to refer to geographical areas that everyone can understand rather than these zones that people may not know about.
Hernando County, however, has a voluntary evacuation for Zones A-C.
Hillsborough has a mandatory evacuation order for Zone A. Also Manatee and Pinellas Counties.
So I hope that Zone D is safe and we don’t have to wade 100 yards west!
If the whole city centre of Chicago could be raised up 150 years ago, surely today’s go-ahead can-do civil engineers would have no trouble doing the same for Miami Beach?
It seems that the issue could be solved by a climate change acknowledgement. It could go together with the mandatory land acknowledgement. I suggest that Bezos puts up the following lawn sign:
This house was built on land stolen from $native_tribe.
This house was built on land that will be reclaimed by nature thanks to polluters like Amazon.