Stephan: Virginia Beach city County, VA, the largest city in the commonwealth, is politically split. In the last election it voted 44.8% Democrat and 48.4% Republican, with the remaining 6.8% voting Independent. I am publishing this story because Virginia Beach demonstrates how weird America's response to climate change has become. The projections about the effect of climate change, and the role of carbon emissions on the area are quite clear. About 30% of the county/city's landmass is likely to be submerged. So, faced with that, this article illustrates the hoops that those wanting to prepare for climate change have to go through when about half of the people don't even want to use the words, climate change. This country is going to have a very hard time, with a lot of unnecessary suffering, and death, because a large percentage of us don't live in a fact-based world.
Jon Baranowski and his family play in the flooded parking lot of the Virginia Beach Fishing Center in Virginia Beach, Va., as Hurricane Dorian passes through Hampton Roads on Friday, Sept. 6, 2019. Credit: Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot /AP
VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA — In Virginia Beach, sea level rise is a real and existential threat. And city officials aren’t afraid to say so.
For years, they have worked to develop complex — and expensive — initiatives they hope will safeguard the city from some of the most worrying flood projections.
In all of their recent preparations, however, city staff have steered clear of what most experts say is causing the tides to creep higher and higher. By design, they rarely, if ever, utter the words “climate change” — and they specifically avoid attributing any such change directly to humans.
“We don’t want to be stuck in the middle of arguments,” explained C.J. Bodnar, a city engineer who is helping lead Virginia Beach’s outreach efforts. “I can show you the gauge information to show you that, yes, sea level rise is happening. But I’m not […]
