A recent report by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has given some sobering facts about sea-level rise due to climate change.
The report states that sea levels will rise 10-12 inches by 2050. This, the report states, in unavoidable due to the greenhouse gasses already in our atmosphere. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, 10 to 12 inches would put "roughly 140,000 homes at risk of chronic inundation and flooding every other week on average." What is even more sobering, NOAA's report states that if nothing is done to reduce our production of greenhouse gas emissions, the sea is on track to rise up to 8 feet by the end of the century. It goes without saying that this would be devastating to coastal cities and communities (including Georgia's own) in the United States and around the world. Congress should act now to pass legislation to help our economy make the shift away from fossil fuels to nonpolluting renewable energy.
The Build Back Better bill that failed to pass Congress in December contained measures to support the transition to a sustainable economy. This energy legislation, which has more chance of bipartisan support than other measures in the BBB, should be reintroduced as a standalone bill. Businesses from utility companies to the oil and gas industry, from large corporations to small businesses understand this need already. They know they must have a healthy climate and a healthy economy to have a healthy business. Congress must act. There is no time to waste.
Nancy Greear, Published in Gainesville Times