Last evening, a story on 60 Minutes (CBS) highlighted life on Smith Island in Chesapeake Bay. The livelihood and property of the Island's residents are threatened by rising sea levels; the latter, of course, is a consequence of global warming.
The report indicated that Maryland has offered to buy the properties and have them demolished, allowing residents to move to higher ground on the mainland; apparently, there were no takers. As a result, the State and Federal Government have initiated costly and, in the long run, futile efforts to mitigate the flooding.
Proud of their heritage, long-time residents of Smith Island certainly have the right to hold out as long as possible. More questionable is the State's willingness to permit new construction by adventurous residents arriving from the mainland. Island and coastal communities across the globe are threatened by climate change; do we admire their tenacity and support their high risk choices or do we limit public funding to resettlement assistance? Denial, in the name of tradition, is not a helpful approach.
