When does the beach evacuation begin?
"N.C. beach residents get grim forecast on sea level rise," The N&O reports.
So, here it is: If you believe the dire predictions about global warming, rising seas and more frequent and more intense hurricanes, there's only one sensible coastal policy.
Stop building on the beach.
No new homes, businesses, roads, anything.
Instead, start the retreat.
We can begin to replace fossil fuels with alternative sources of energy, take the bus to work, keep our homes colder in winter and hotter in summer, all the things we should do to conserve our resources and improve our environment ...but none of that will have a discernible impact on climate change and the predicted consequences.
Unless I've missed promises from the scientific/political/environmental community urging these actions that they'll produce results.
So, if we're serious, we have to accommodate ourselves to a changing environment.
One of the first things to do is back away from the beach.
Who's going to start?
Comments (1)
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Doug:
Stopping all construction is not necessarily the correct answer. Beach land should become less valuable and more vulnerable, but that doesn't mean that construction might not make sense. Suppose that a community faces only a modest risk for 40 years and then a much higher risk after that. Some property owners might reasonably conclude that the 40 years is worth the investment.
As a society, we should eliminate subsidies that would contribute to overbuilding. For instance, we should require that all payments into the National Flood Insurance Program be actuarially fair. Federal subisidies to beach replenishment projects should also be reduced, if not eliminated altogether.
Posted on November 14, 2007 8:36 AM