For Climate Action
Kathryn Karl
The Cost of Politics:
Climate Change and Rising Sea Levels in North Carolina
Defining the Problem
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The political climate in North Carolina has reversed from denying scientific facts about sea level rise and other climate change issues towards striving to become a leading state in climate change action and policy. This reversal in policy is resulting from the destruction of three hurricanes in a two year time span and the changing of political offices from a conservative republican government towards a more liberal democratic initiative. The decision can all be said to come down to economic value because investing in new resiliency efforts and sustainable infrastructure is more cost efficient than repairing major damages after the fact. Furthermore, there is a major issue of social inequality in regards to climate change.
The economy, and flood insurance and devastation need to be dealt with.
#climatechange #FEMA #politics #hurricaneflorence #hurricanematthew #hurricanemichael #NOAA #ncgov #adcirc #unc
Reference Modes
North Carolina House Bill 819
The stalling factor that is preventing sustainable development and climate mitigation and adaption strategies is the power that the businessmen have over politicians. Politician’s campaigns depend on donations from businessmen who demand the politicians to implement policies that help keep business as usual, so that business continues to make profits without having to do expensive changes.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Developers are able to make quick and easy money by developing in dangerous land that is going to be damaged from sea level rise and flooding because they do not have to pay for or repairing the damages that occur later because they are gone before the damage occurs. Instead, the owner, renter, or federal government has to pay.
Hypothesis
(scroll down to view the dynamic system model)
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1. The key problem from this system is that quick money can be made by developing on the coast or floodplains, but natural disasters are more destructive because of GHG emissions which are making costs for repairs to continuously increase.
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2. The national government has gone bankrupt trying to help the families that the developers have put in these dangerous situations with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
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3. What we need to strive for is more equitable and sustainable systems which are better for the whole biosphere; however, sustainable development is a slower process to be profitable.
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4. There are a few leverage points that can be seen in this model in a combination of both punishments and rewards depending on the section of the system it is in.
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Rewards: Investment and political action towards sustainable development needs to help low-income families to move to safer and more resilient land.
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Punishments: Developers need to be held accountable for the costs building on a coast or in a floodplain creates.
Key Relationships in the Dynamic System Model:
Proposing a Solution (click to expand):
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Hurricane Florence
Hurricane Florence was a Cape Verde storm that was a record breaking storm because it had the highest storm surges at 9-13’ and life-threatening amounts of flooding. The hardest hit areas were New Bern, Newport, Belhaven, Oriental, North Topsail Beach, Jacksonville, and Carteret County.
Cost of Damages: Back-to-Back Hurricanes
While the State government in NC decided they did not want to spend the money to improve the infrastructure and help the state to become more resilient towards climate change and more frequent and intense natural disasters, they are forced to repair the damage from Hurricanes and Michael, which will be exorbitantly more expensive.