Southern states fight estimates of sea level rise

Allen Reed in Myrtle Beach Online via the AP: Most scientists agree the hills where the Wright brothers first took flight along the Outer Banks of North Carolina will someday be under water. The debate over exactly when that will happen is taking shape in state and local governments and has been fueled by both scientific speculations and late-night witticisms.

...North Carolina is out front of the issue to regulate against what is generally accepted as scientific consensus. But other states have tested the waters, and even more could follow suit. The vast majority of coastal states do not legislate on "climate change," which has become a politically charged term after being used as a substitute for the more politicized term "global warming." Many states have laws that allow for coastal planning, but rarely do states mandate practices specifically on the rising seas.

In Virginia, legislators removed language about "sea-level rise" from a study bill. They replaced it with the phrase many lawmakers were more comfortable with - "recurrent flooding." Politicians felt the previous language was left-leaning. Texas is working on a coastal plan to address the issue, but got some attention in 2010 when the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality tried to remove the terms "global warming" and "accelerated sea-level rise" from a publication it funded. After scientists subsequently threatened to pull their work from the Texas publication, the state relented.

In California, legislation allows studying and planning for sea-level rise. In October, a bill from Connecticut lawmakers will take effect that allows for "a rise in sea level," as defined by NOAA publications, to be considered by state and local planners. Massachusetts requires all state agencies to consider climate change impacts, including sea-level rise. New Hampshire, in 2011, had a couple of bills die in committee that would have required state preparation for rising seas.

Dave Burton, science adviser for the development lobby NC-20, helped provide North Carolina lawmakers with a lower sea level estimate based on historical trends. He is hopeful that North Carolina and Virginia will set an example that other states will follow. "In the scientific community there is a lot of pushback," Burton said. "There are a lot of folks who are very aware of the fact that there is a great divide between what the activists are claiming and the data."...

Kitty Hawk, NC, September 23, 2003 -- A house right on the coast of the Outer Banks of North Carolina collapsed when it was undercut by the storm surge from Hurricane Isabel. Photo by Mark Wolfe/FEMA News Photo