Commentary: Newport Beach should work to prevent, as well as prepare for, rising sea levels

Newport Beach residents can’t say we weren’t warned. At the recent packed City Hall forum on sea level rise, city staff and UC Irvine consultants painted a grim future for the low-lying areas of our city (Balboa Island, the peninsula and harbor areas).

Alarming projections from the city’s Local Coastal Program indicate that seas could rise as much as 5½ feet by 2100. Also shocking is the projected need for as much as $1 billion, mostly to pay for higher sea walls that could, in the future, accommodate a 10-foot “cap.”

Many of us walked out of that meeting shell-shocked. Of course our city is not alone. Climate-driven sea level rise is a global problem. Much of the world’s population lives in coastal cities. New York, Houston, Miami, London and Hong Kong are among cities facing major property loss and catastrophic disruption. What can cities do?

Albert Einstein said, “A clever person solves a problem, a wise person seeks to prevent it.” All the presentations at the City Hall forum were about adapting and armoring our community but the reality is, none of these actions will stop the sea from rising. To prevent such a devastating future we must deal with what is causing sea levels to rise.

Ultimately, the only way to stop the sea from flooding our city is to quickly reduce carbon emissions so that polar ice will not continue to melt, and the ocean will not expand from accelerating global warming.

Nothing less than the future of our beautiful city is at stake. Are there actions our City Council could take to protect us from sea level rise? Certainly it is prudent to carry out some adaptation actions like strengthening sea walls, replenishing sand and altering building requirements. Programs of sustainability and energy efficiency to lower the city’s contribution to global warming should also be pursued. But these actions alone will not work fast enough to hold back the tide.

Many cities are finding ways to use their political influence. Since our president announced pulling out of the Paris Agreements to lower carbon emissions, 391 city mayors, representing nearly 70 million Americans, have banded together, petitioning Congress to honor the agreement while committing their own cities to reduce carbon emissions in line with the accord.

Long Beach, Oakland and San Jose are among these cities. Should the mayor of Newport Beach join in? Hundreds of cities have adopted resolutions, petitioning Congress to consider a federal tax on carbon such as the Carbon Dividend Plan being promoted by the conservative Climate Leadership Council led by Republican luminaries Hank Paulson and George Schultz.

This simple, market-friendly approach has attracted broad bipartisan support. Among the petitioning cities are Santa Monica, San Luis Obispo, Oakland and San Francisco. Should our council members consider supporting this solution?

Faced with the enormous costs of more frequent and intense climate-related storms, droughts, wildfires and floods, a few cities have taken legal action to make the coal, oil and gas industry pay for its carbon pollution. Los Angeles City Council members, citing the fact that these companies knew they were contributing to climate change and did nothing to stop their destructive ways, are considering legal action against petroleum companies.

New York City filed a lawsuit this month against Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell and other companies, claiming the city has suffered extensive damage from climate change, including “inundation, erosion and regular tidal flooding of its property.” Where will Newport Beach residents get the estimated billion dollars needed to protect our city against sea rise?

Polling shows that a majority of Orange County residents, including Republicans, accept climate science and want governments to act to reduce emissions and lead the transition to clean-energy sources. Actions taken by the City Council that seek to protect our beautiful city will receive ample community support.

Our properties are threatened, and our community is at risk. If carbon emissions can be reduced quickly the worst impacts of sea level rise could be averted. Continued inaction will literally sink us.

BOB TAYLOR lives in Newport Beach.