Why Republicans Should Be Worried About Rising Sea Levels

Background

Climate change is one of the core political issues that candidates need to campaign on if they have not been doing so already. There are many aspects of climate change, one of which is global warming, which is simply the warming of the earth. Climate change, on the other hand, is how global warming is changing the climate. Climate change occurs in various ways, including air pollution and rising sea levels, the latter of which this article will at least begin to focus on. The reason for this is because everyone – regardless of whether you are a human, a plant, or an animal – needs water to survive. Focus will be placed on some of the states where rising sea levels are far more than obvious.

South Carolina

As anybody watching the news these days will know, the Senators from South Carolina are Republicans Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott. South Carolina’s tourism industry reached over $22 billion in revenue in 2018. It’s hard not to think that at least some of that money comes from the beaches in the Palmetto State, such as Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head Island. Both of those cities sit along South Carolina’s Atlantic Coast. Something significant to remember is that the Atlantic Ocean rises as much as one inch per year, meaning that the ocean will be almost a foot closer to buildings, like hotels and restaurants, in a decade. During this time, some people might need to relocate further inland because their buildings will have a greater tendency to become flooded more often. Every single day that, say, a restaurant, is closed is income lost to the owners and to the employees. If the building is damaged, they will need to pay for that too. If the restaurant is not considered “fast food,” or if it is regarded as a “mom and pop” establishment, that financial burden will be especially hard, and they might need to go out of business, something that will be quite the blow to the government because they might be relying on taxes from the store, which they will not get if they are out of business from rising sea levels from climate change. If not from rising sea levels, buildings will sustain damage from another climate change consequence in the form of stronger hurricanes, such as Hurricane Florence. Not that long ago, category 3 and 4 hurricanes were enough for every single news network to drop whatever they were doing and enter nonstop coverage. Nowadays, that does not even come close to being top of mind. However, it’s different for people along the coast of South Carolina because, unlike a lot of us, they must live through it. People further inland will not understand the plight of people in Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head Island because they have not lived through it but make no mistake. Their lives are very hard following the immediate aftermath following a hurricane, and so is the state because they are relying on tourism dollars for their budget, which is no good, as Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham should know.

Louisiana

Louisiana borders the Gulf of Mexico. About a decade ago, we were worried not about rising sea levels, but something else happening in the sea – the BP oil spill. That was more about regulation than the sea levels themselves. I wonder if Republican Steve Scalise did anything…I do not think he did, because he is a Republican, and they are typically anti-regulation. BP polluted the ocean with their oil, which cost Louisiana, and surrounding states, millions, if not billions, of dollars in lost tourism because, let’s face it, people go to the beach during the summer to swim in the water, not a whole lot of oil. Can you imagine going to the beach and swimming in oil that will eventually go to make gasoline? Gross. If you’re anything like me, you have since tried your hardest to not get your gas at BP, which not only resulted in a loss of profits for BP but gains in earnings for other gas stations near each one of us.

Alaska

Many people forget about our largest state (by land area), because, along with Hawaii, it is not contiguous with what we may see as the United States. One of their Senators is Republican Lisa Murkowski. She has been in the news because, despite being a Republican, she has been very supportive of abortion and other women’s issues. Alaska was also the home of the Exxon Valdez oil spill back in the 90s. Alaska is also a significant site for commercial fishing, so another oil spill will not only deter ships from going in oil-filled waters, but it will also destroy aquatic ecosystems in that region.

Handy Guide

I’ve decided to put together a bit of a guide as to what individual states need to look out for in terms of rising sea levels that are only news to somebody who has never looked at a map before in their lives.

Atlantic Ocean

Maine

New Hampshire

Massachusetts

Rhode Island

Connecticut

New York

New Jersey

Delaware

Maryland

Virginia

North Carolina

South Carolina

Georgia

Florida

Pacific Ocean

Alaska

Hawaii

Washington

Oregon

California

Gulf of Mexico

Florida

Alabama

Mississippi

Louisiana

Texas

Conclusion

We all need to be worried about rising sea levels, and we need to elect politicians that have the same mindset. Rising sea levels will negatively impact tourism, which in turn will negatively impact state budgets. There is also a lot of regulation that needs to be done, so that part of these rising sea levels does not include any oil at all. People and many types of ecosystems cannot survive like this. Rising sea levels are appalling, if not fatal, to all of our populations, so we need to take action now before it is too late.