NC-20

NC-20 is a coalition of 20 coastal counties in North Carolina. These counties are threatened with flooding due to sea level rise. So, there solution to this problem is to deny the sea level rise, seek crackpot science and get legislation introduced to outlaw sea level rise. I'm not making this up.

This is like finding out you have been diagnosed with cancer and going out to find a doctor who says you don't. It might make you feel better for a little while, but you still have cancer and its only a matter of time before it begins to take its toll. In the meantime, you have wasted opportunities to address the problem.

That is the situation in North Carolina. They have a real problem developing with sea level rise over the coming decades. They have an opportunity to address this problem now, but instead, they find the extremists that tells them what they want to hear. Its only a matter of time before reality comes to haunt them.

The motive for this is simple. In a memo to NC-20 members, it is stated, "The economic consequences of adding 39" to our already existing flood levels are obvious: The cost of building would escalate rapidly if, indeed, a building permit could be obtained at all on many thousands of acres in the NC 20 region."

Their solution? They turned to Nicola Scafetta, a research scientist at Duke University. Scafetta claims "At least 60% of the warming of the Earth observed since 1970 appears to be induced by natural cycles which are present in the solar system." He also predicts "a stabilization of global temperature or cooling until 2030-2040." These claims are based on what he claims are naturally occurring cycles in the solar system.

Unfortunately, his claims have been debunked.

The validity of Scafetta's work is easily seen by looking at his publication list. He is published by groups such as The Heartland Institute and Science and Public Policy Institute. These are well-known climate change denier organizations that take funding from the fossil fuel industry, including Saudi Arabia, and are responsible for organizing much of the climate war. You can tell a lot about someone by who their friends are.

Meanwhile, the people of these 20 counties of North Carolina are being misused by NC-20 and will have to pay the consequences later on.