Denial in California:
"Seaside cliffs are crumbling in Pacifica, bringing down entire buildings. Balboa Island, barely above sea level, is spending $1.8 million to raise the wall that separates it from the ocean."
"From San Diego to Humboldt counties, homeowners scramble to fend off increasing erosion and storm surges, pleading with officials for bigger seawalls that can hold back the even bigger ocean."
"Retreat is as un-American as it gets, neighborhood groups declared. To win, California must defend."
"Homeowners flooded city meetings, knocked on neighbors’ doors and plastered signs around town. The mayor became the town punching bag, and new leaders were voted in to help Pacifica stand its ground."
"How could anyone get a 30-year-mortgage if city documents say the entire street might be condemned in the future and turned into a beach? How will she get insurance or permits to remodel her home?"
"About 30% of Southern California’s shoreline today is behind some form of seawall "
"For the homeowner, insurance policies, hazard grants and federal disaster relief are all set up in a way that encourages rebuilding rather than relocating. There’s no incentive for owners to consider options beyond hunkering down with bigger and better walls. The way the state pushes down insurance prices also masks the true cost of living in a hazardous area."
"And so states, and ultimately taxpayers, are the ones subject to the biggest financial risks when a disaster hits."
"Realtors are in a bind. Unlike other hazard zones in California, there are no mandatory disclosures for homes that might be subject to relocation or other sea level rise plans in the future. "
"Mother Nature’s going to do what she’s going to do, and we can’t do anything about it"
"It’s either planned retreat or unplanned retreat."
"If you start retreating, residents demanded, where do you stop?"
"Building mansions on the sand also took up about 200 feet of the beach and dunes, leaving only a narrow buffer against the rising sea"
"The reptilian frenzy over managed retreat has overtaken Imperial Beach, as it has in other cities. Fear overwhelms reason. Conspiracy theories and misinformation abound."
"calls managed retreat an ideology being pushed by extreme environmentalists "
"Imperial Beach doesn’t even track the number of times the ocean tops the seawall "
" “Ultimately, the city can’t protect private property owners. We need to be upfront about that,” he said. “The insurance industry or the state needs to figure that one out.” "
“Behold your highway tax dollars falling into the ocean,”
https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-sea-level-rise-california-coast/sidd
