Contradictory Climate Change Planning in New York City and New Bern - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Click title for link to an article from Der Spiegel. The article presents a view from outside our country that is more about the political divide in our country. It points out our inability to address a problem that would be common to many people who live near the coast. This is the greater percentage of our population. We see New York City taking a thoughtful approach in how to address the common challenge of sea level rise. We also see a state, along the same coastline, that has essentially decreed that ocean won't rise along its coastline and therefore is doing nothing about it. That state is North Carolina. Here is a bit from the article:

According to the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission (CRC), that state, like New York, will also see warmer temperatures by the end of the century, as well as a sea-level rise of more than one meter. But now the state government in North Carolina has muzzled the CRC with a new law that requires coastal communities to ignore its prognoses. The legislation states that the sea level off the North Carolina coast will not rise more quickly than it has in the last 100 years.
In the United States, two very different worlds have come into existence along the same coastline. In one of those worlds, people pay attention to climate predictions. In the other, they don't. While New Yorkers believe they have to do something against global warming, because it could spell the city's demise, the citizens of New Bern would rather put their faith in God's creation. In New Bern, climate change is a question of faith and conviction that touches on broader issues of American identity. Indeed, climate change has become central to a culture war over the future of America.

You might want to check out my recent chat with Keren Bolton on High Noon in Lake Worth episode about the topic as it relates to south Florida.