COASTAL COSTS / CLIMATE STUDY- A new report says Texas could have to spend more than $19 billion dollars to protect the state’s coastal areas from climate change and recommend some form of coastal barrier or sea wall, and Louisiana will need to spend twice that, around $38 billion. The “Center for Climate Integrity” is a group that pushes for oil companies to pay for climate damage.
The report analyzed what it calls “modest” projections for sea level rise across the country – and says Texas and Louisiana would need to protect thousands of miles of coastline to keep businesses, homes and roads safe from increased flooding. The University of Colorado’s Paul Chinowsky is the report’s lead scientist.
“The amount of technical expertise, shoreline engineering, the amount of physical resources that we’re gonna need – is a massive national question that we have to have” Chinowsky explained.
The report acknowledges not every part of the coast needs a physical barrier and says there are other ways to bolster natural shoreline protections. But the authors argue any approach will be too expensive for governments alone to handle, and that the oil industry should cover some of the cost due to environmental impacts from man-made coastal canals through wetlands and air pollution.
