It really doesn’t matter in some ways what the Trump administration does or does not do on the issue of global warming and sea level rise. The planet is going to react to CO2 regardless of what we do. It has existed without politics for billions of years. It doesn’t care who we elect, it works on chemical, geological and biological factors. While it would be nice to have an administration that took it seriously and provided funding to help communities mitigate the effects of what we continue to do globally, this article points out that the real estate market and insurance companies, along with the effected communities, are already dealing with the issue. People that live on the coast and own property there, are on the front of the wave, so to speak. They will pay the costs first. It will only get worse, as we are too far along with global warming to reverse all the trends even if we stopped using fossil fuel tomorrow. The lag time of the effect is longer than one lifetime.
That’s why I’m pushing the notion that we should continue to focus on the local, state and regional levels to make meaningful changes, while we wait out the Trump administration. Your personal decisions will matter more than ever. What you eat, what you decide to drive, will be part of how we craft this part of the US to survive four years of inaction at the federal level. If you own property at sea level, you should be pondering what you are going to do. Don’t expect help from the Feds. America has voted in an administration that does not even believe your problem exists. No amount of deregulation is going to help you. As Roger Miller said, “You can’t roller skate in an buffalo herd.”
Real estate agents looking to sell coastal properties usually focus on one thing: how close the home is to the water’s edge. But buyers are increasingly asking instead how far back it is from the waterline. How many feet above sea level? Is it fortified against storm surges? Does it have emergency power and sump pumps? Rising sea levels are changing the way people think about waterfront real estate. Though demand remains strong and developers continue to build near the water in many coastal cities, homeowners across the nation are slowly growing wary of buying property in areas most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Ian Urbina reports. (NY Times)
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/24/science/global-warming-coastal-real-estate.html
Filed under: Climate Change, Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound |
Yes I hope that their lawsuit finds suitable ears back in WA DC, where the real heart of power is. But I applaud their efforts. It’s going to be their world to fix.
Let’s not forget the young people challenging the whole state: http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/washington-state-youth-sue-government-over-climate-change/