North Carolina Coalition with Senator Kay Hagan. Left to Right: Erica Ramjohn (River City CDC), Rick Copeland (CARE Intl.), Wayne Gideons (Yaroke, USA), Senator Kay Hagan, Dr. Stephen Smith (SACE), Anne Blair (SACE), Aubrey Davis (Outer Banks Brewing Station), Toni Reale (SACE), Jennifer Rennicks (SACE). the belief that we have an economic, environmental and a moral imperative to protect our Southeastern coastal communities, natural resources and businesses from the perils of global warming.

 SACE Leads Diverse Coalition to DC to Advocate for Climate Action

 On October 21^st and 22^nd, SACE staff led a diverse coalition of clean energy business owners, decision makers, faith leaders and academics from coastal North Carolina and Florida to our nation’s capitol to carry a message of urgency to act on climate change.  These community leaders visited with Senators Hagan, Burr, LeMieux, Nelson as well as Congressional Representatives from Florida and North Carolina’s vulnerable coastal communities.

 The Southeast simply cannot afford to ignore climate change

 The southeastern coast is home to more than 16 million residents and the property values along our shoreline are in excess of $2.2 trillion.  We rely on our more than 2,000 miles of coastline as a primary economic driver of tourism, real estate and recreation. Yet our communities, and our unique natural and historic resources are particularly vulnerable to the threats of climate change – from rising seas to stronger storms.

 Renee Cahoon, Mayor of Nags Head, NC, along with Kelly Kirschner, Vice-Mayor and City Commissioner of Sarasota, FL, Dr. Chris Dumas a coastal economist at UNC-Wilmington and Dr. Doug Gamble an Associate Professor of Geography at UNC-Wilmington brought a wealth of knowledge to their elected officials regarding the costs of inaction on climate change.

 “The sea level rise that we’ve experienced in our community has had a direct impact on tax base loss, lower property values, municipal services and maintenance of infrastructure, so I think it’s very important that we start dealing with the issue that we can’t ignore, because we see the impact on a daily basis.” – Mayor Cahoon of Nags Head, NC Dr. Dumas shared results

from a 2007 publication that he co-authored titled Measuring the Impacts of Climate Change to North Carolina’s Coastal Resources with elected officials.  Using conservative sea level rise projections, North Carolina’s coast could lose $6 billion in coastal property values and about $230 million in reduced recreation value of NC beaches by mid-century (due to fewer beaches being available and in poor condition) if nothing is done to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

According to Swiss Re’s “Shaping Climate Resistant Development” study, which looked at the costs of climate inaction to three-Miami, FL area counties (Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach), they expect annual losses from hurricane-related impacts alone (not including sea level rise) for these counties to total $30 billion by 2030 if they continue on their current haphazard path of coastal development.

Adaptation and Mitigation

The Swiss Re report looked at a  variety of adaptation options for Florida and found that nearly 40% of expected loss can be averted cost effectively and have a net economic gain, however large residual loss remains (also about 40%).   According to Swiss Re, cost-effective adaptation options that should be part of a core strategy to manage hurricane risk include beach renourishment, home improvements, vegetation management and barriers to salt-water intrusion to name a few (see report for details). The need for North Carolina to think seriously about adaptation is becoming more evident every day – a recent article in the Charlotte Observer highlights sea level rise concerns for the coast.

North Carolina’s Climate Action Advisory Group recommended 56 options (across all economic sectors) for mitigating the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to the  Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change to be adopted into policy.  Some of these recommendations have up-front costs, but would actually save more money in the long-term. For example, by making the state’s transportation sector more efficient, North Carolina can reduce GHG emissions 30-40% in 20 years and save $5 billion on a net basis.