10 Steps
Our New Governor Should Take to Protect the Coast
 Here are the top 10 things our new
governor needs to do on behalf of the NC coast and its people:
1.
Put an environmentalist in charge of protecting the coast: In
speaking about his appointment of Bill Holman as secretary of the NC
Department of the Environment and Natural Resources in 1999, former
Gov. Jim Hunt says: “I picked the first real environmentalist to
head the environmental department in the history of state
government.” The next governor should follow Hunt’s example.
2.
Appoint good commissioners who don’t undercut environmental
agencies: The litmus test for any appointments to regulatory
commissions should be a pledge that they work on behalf of the
public’s interest and the state’s environment, and never return
political favors or promote private agendas.
3. Help coastal
agencies do their jobs:
The governor’s annual budget requests to the NC General Assembly
should be adequate so that coastal environmental agencies have a
fighting chance to carry out their existing legislative mandates.
The new administration should constantly shield agencies from
political interference in their day-to-day decision making.
4. Declare war
on stormwater and stimulate the coastal economy:
The Civilian Conservation Core, called Franklin Roosevelt’s Tree
Army, is credited with renewing the nation’s decimated forests
between 1933 and 1942. It also helped stimulate a depressed economy.
The new governor should enlist an army of landowners and contractors
to renew coastal water quality by getting legislators to provide
financial incentives to install thousands of stormwater reduction
measures all over the coast. Channeling significant funding through
the established Community Conservation Assistance Program would be a
great way to rekindle the coastal economy by putting the private
sector to work cleaning up our coastal waters.
5. Promote Low
Impact Development (LID):
Encourage LID so that it becomes the normal approach to coastal
development by promoting its merits and removing regulatory
obstacles at the state and local government levels.
6. Use trends
in shellfish and swimming water quality as the environmental
indicators to gauge the effectiveness of coastal management
programs: Put a laser
focus on protecting and enhancing shellfish and swimming waters
along our coast. Success of environmental programs should be
measured by their ability to arrest further declines in water
quality and to move water quality trends in positive directions.
7. Put “energy”
in the cabinet: Chart a
clean, renewable and diversified energy future for the NC coast. The
governor should seek to establish a cabinet-level “energy” position
to coordinate and promote state energy policy in environmentally
sustainable and climate-friendly ways.
8. Shore up
beach management policies and regulations:
Public oceanfront beaches should never be sacrificed to protect
private oceanfront property. The governor should reaffirm this
long-standing state policy by providing the leadership necessary to
adopt forward-looking oceanfront management initiatives that will be
effective in an era of rising sea levels and more intense storm
activity.
9. Promote
living shorelines: Maryland just passed a
new law that mandates the use of living shorelines, wherever they
are feasible, to deal with erosion along the estuarine shoreline.
Meanwhile, North Carolina still
allows for this prime fisheries habitat to be walled off with
vertical bulkheads, even when more natural approaches to controlling
erosion are practical. The governor should insist that
North Carolina
follow Maryland’s
lead and go on to become regional leaders.
10. Promote
green and efficient infrastructure: Push for expanded trust fund
budgets and disaster mitigation funds so that coastal lands and
easements can be purchased to protect and restore water quality,
provide for public access and shield development from dangerous
storm surges and winds. Guide financial investments in new
infrastructure (sewers, highways, etc.) into those communities that
effectively promote efficient land use patterns designed to protect
sensitive environmental areas.
The NC Coastal Federation is ready to
work with the new governor and administration in achieving this
agenda. The North Carolina Coastal Federation (NCCF) is the state’s
only non-profit organization focused exclusively on protecting and
restoring the coast of North Carolina through education, advocacy
and habitat restoration and preservation. For more information call
252-393-8185 or check out NCCF's website at
nccoast.org.
Read more articles in the December print edition of Island Review.
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