Ruin on the coast

The Senate endorses folly.
Via Chris’ Selling our sand and threatening our coast:

With virtually no debate, the Senate approved a change to North Carolina’s coastal regulations that could have disastrous effects on North Carolina’s shore. The bill would give the Coastal Resources Commission the ability to allow the construction of permanent, hardened structrures to prevent select beaches from eroding.

North Carolina currently bans seawalls and the hardened structures, called terminal groins, because they increase erosion further down the coast and could encourage more development in fragile areas.

This is about money and carving up the coast. Yes, there are individuals who built or bought too close to the ocean on a barrier island. Barrier islands move. They roll over themselves. With sea level rise, chances are they’re going to move a bit more. You can’t stop that with concrete. You can only mess with the flow of sand up and down the coast.
That has consequences for your neighbors and plays havoc with nearby inlets and estuaries.
North Carolina has one of the most beautiful coastlines and certainly the most natural spaces left on the East Coast. Let’s keep it that way.

NC Coastal Federation

NC Conservation Network