Stop H819: Plan for Climate Change, Don't Deny It

I’m lucky enough to be able to spend my retirement enjoying the beautiful beaches of Wilmington, North Carolina. But by the time my youngest grandkids have grown up, sea level rise caused by global warming pollution could put parts of Wilmington underwater.

Instead of working to save North Carolina’s coast for future generations, legislators in my state are trying to pass laws officially ignoring the threat. The State Senate recently approved a bill that requires our state’s coastal commission to use only historical data to plan for sea level rise. So instead of assuming that the sea will rise 39 inches this century, as climate scientists predict, these legislators want to insist it will only rise 8 inches. The North Carolina House has suggested an alternative that’s only slightly less ridiculous: they want to pass a five-year moratorium on considering climate science in coastal planning. So the Senate wants to outlaw science, while the House wants to suspend it.

These proposals are the brainchild of group called NC-20, which wants to ignore sea level rise predictions because it will slow down real estate development. Amazingly, the group’s chairman denies that climate change is even occurring, saying, “Why not wait a few years until global cooling resurfaces?”

Places like Wilmington are already facing more frequent flooding and the destruction of homes, wetlands, and ecosystems. Our legislators are elected to protect us from these threats. Instead, they're siding with climate change deniers, and simply hoping things will cool down. We can’t afford to ignore science, and we shouldn’t wait five years to start preparing.

Tell your State Representative: oppose any bill that refuses to acknowledge established climate science and sea level rise predictions.