Mobile
Friday, June 29, 2012
News / Opinion General Assembly tries to tackle sea level rise by outlawing facts
Posted By Erin Tracy-Blackwood on Fri, Jun 29, 2012 at 12:18 PM
Science costing you money? Outlaw it!
A bill circulating the North Carolina General Assembly would require the state to use only historical data when calculating sea-level rise, instead of using climate scientists' current projections. They predict the shoreline will be three feet underwater by the end of that century.
That doesn't jive with real estate developers, who seem to have crafted H819. They would like to build lovely and expensive homes along the shoreline and aren't about to let inevitable natural events get in the way of their profits. They are going to handle this like Americans and tell Planet Earth its sea level whims aren't welcome in the zoning and regulatory process.
Stephen Colbert pointed out the absurdity of the bill earlier this month on his Comedy Central show. He likened it to predicting his death by considering only historical data: "I've been alive all my life, therefore, I always will be."
The sad reality is, one day Colbert will no longer be with us. And whether North Carolina legislators realize the futility of the bill, or continue to embarrass their constituents by even considering this idiocy, the sea level will rise.
Acknowledging this fact may cause an economic headache now, but failing to prepare for it so the state can coddle real-estate developers will cause a complete catastrophe for all future generations of North Carolinians. Even the money their grandfathers made off oceanfront properties won't be able to save them.
Speaking of...
Comments
Showing 1-1 of 1
Latest in The CLog
More by Erin Tracy-Blackwood
-
Jigsaw, Dating App That Hides Users’ Faces, launches in Charlotte, NCTo Fight Superficial Dating App Culture 3
-
Question the Queen City: The story of Mabel Rea 4
The Charlotte native went Hollywood, returned home and met a tragic demise.
-
Knight and Day: Plot eclipsed by stars 1
Cruise and Diaz are main reasons to consider seeing mindless action flick.
