Environmentalists and free market practitioners are seekingcommon ground in finding ways to minimize risks associated withhurricanes, according to speakers at the Hurricane Science forSafety Leadership Forum.

Speaking this week at a meeting in Orlando, Fla.,representatives of the National Wildlife Federation offered to joinforces with insurers and others interested in hurricane riskmitigation, to work for common interests that would protectwetlands. The wetlands act as natural buffers against hurricanesand also provide an important habitat for wildlife.

Amanda Staudt, from the National Wildlife Federation, said thereis an “obvious overlap of interests” for different stakeholders towork together, and she cited areas in which she is attempting tobuild a wide consensus. One point, she said, is reducing theincentive to build in high-risk areas such as floodplains andcoastal land vulnerable to sea-level rise.

She noted that high-risk flooding areas that cause concern formany stakeholders are along coasts and rivers, and she said theseareas are also important for wildlife habitat.

She said there were prior efforts to build a wide consensus withother stakeholders, but this time more aggressive addressing ofclimate change is helping to bring people together.

For example, in her nine key points, titled “Shared Principlesfor Minimizing Risk from Hurricanes, Storms and Flooding in theFace of Global Warming,” Ms. Staudt mentions, “Take global warminginto account in building practices.” She said global warming isexpected to make hurricanes more intense, with higher wind speed,and building codes today, designed to ensure buildings can resistwinds up to a certain speed, should take into account thathurricanes may come with stronger winds in the future.

The National Wildlife Federation received an unlikely ally inEli Lehrer, of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, described as a“free market think tank.” Mr. Lehrer said he is usually opposed toenvironmental groups, but he acknowledged that free market andenvironmental groups are both committed to ideas and principles,rather than the concept of permanent allies and enemies. On theidea of hurricane mitigation, he said, the interests of freeenterprise and environmentalists are aligned.

For example, where Ms. Staudt spoke to reducing the incentive tobuild in high-risk areas, Mr. Lehrer, speaking about Florida,stressed that the government should not be providing incentives forpeople to live in these areas. There is no particular benefit, hesaid, to people living on dunes or in wetlands. If people choose tolive there, then they should bear the costs associated with thatdecision, Mr. Lehrer stated.

In general, Mr. Lehrer said he respects the work of the NationalWildlife Federation, and he said he sees a lot of places where freemarket environmental groups can work together.