I mentioned to you previously how the North Carolina general assembly had proposed legislation that would require that historical data be used to determine sea level rise predictions, which sent Scientific American into apoplexy. Now
(AP) The North Carolina Senate has approved a bill that ignores scientists’ warnings of rising sea levels.
Senators approved the bill on a 34-to-11 vote Tuesday. The measure received little fanfare and no senators spoke in opposition to the measure.
The bill now goes back to the House for a vote.
HB 819 says that only the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission can calculate how fast the sea is rising for state governmental purposes and those calculations must be based on historic trends, which are much lower than the science panel’s projections.
There was a choice between going with the hysterics from people who were looking into their crystal ball computer models and looking at what has actually occurred, and the Senate voted to go with that science stuff.
A state-appointed science panel warned sea levels could rise by more than three feet by 2100 and threaten more than 2,000 square miles of coastal land.
It could. Or could not. Probably won’t. There has essentially been no rise this century.
“This bill has made us the laughingstock of the country,” said Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe. “We’ve been on Stephen Colbert’s comedy show.”
It’s amazing that going with established scientific facts using historic, real world data instead of garbage in garbage out computer models can somehow make NC a “laughing stock”, when it should be the other way around. Steven Goddard points out
The IPCC forecast range is 7-24 inches of sea level rise. The 3 foot+ forecasts are from a few fringe lunatics who lack basic mathematics and science skills.
But Stephen Colbert made fun of NC! Oh, the humanity!
Repubs really are the anti science party.
The NC CRC’s  Science Panel & scientists:
– Used the Least Reliable Tide Gauge Data in NC.
– Used Obsolete Reports
– Used only One-sided Sea Level Rise  reports
– Used only  One-sided Global Warming reports,
– Admitted they did no science, only a “Literature Search”.
– No 4 miles inundation of NC Tidelands over 150 years is visible .
–  Ignored  US Coast Survey , and US Fish Services Tide Gauge Data 1850 1950.
– Said, ‘What’s the Big Deal, Let’s wait 5 Years and see what happens.’Â
– Reports confuse Erosion due to dredging, winds, waves and currents with Inundation.Â
– Have not answered  questions about the above concerns.
Thankfully, it looks like NC Legislators want verifiable Science upon which to base multi billion dollar public policy decisions that could harm tens of thousands of local, taxpaying property owners.
This is serious business, and it’s good NC doesn’t base decisions on a comedy skit.
Bill Price   Pine Knoll Shores
PS: We really need to know if SLR will accelerate. It might be helpful to urge the Science Panel to participate in an Open Public Forum to answer above and other questions about their science.
So far they have declined.
So, it’s anti-science to used actual data, rather than peering into a crystal ball?
Good info, Bill. Will it accelerate? Probably not. The coastal property is in much more danger from the erosion that has been going on for a long time.