It’s amazing that Amazon might be considering anywhere but Chicago for the placement of their new facility.

Houston was just destroyed by Hurricane Harvey, and easily could be again. Austin escaped Harvey’s whole wrath by the skin of its teeth, but could easily bear the next mega-storm’s brunt itself. New York, ever vulnerable, hasn’t completely recovered after Superstorm Sandy. Hours after flattening Florida, Hurricane Irma still hampered Atlanta, limiting the world’s busiest airport’s operations, and even with significant help, poor Puerto Rico will never be the same.

This unholy trinity (HarvIrMaria) is at the forefront of what’s predicted to be a new era of disruptive weather events. If Amazon’s smart, it will quickly give up the idea of putting their place anywhere affected by this kind of wild severe weather – so maybe they will deign to award it to Chicago.

With the worst of times ahead, Chicago is predicted to get Atlanta’s climate. So if Amazon does pick the Windy City, it will still essentially get one of the other short-listed cities. Win-win? Rather, write “how to make silk purses out of hog-butchers’ ears.”

 A lot of things in your warehouses will not be needed as the oceans rise and ecosystems are bankrupted by greed – in other words, right now! And while you’re at it, Amazon, stop treating workers as disposable or interchangeable and the products you carry as crucial and unavoidable. If you truly care about our communities, prove it!