Climate Change To Raise Sea Levels, Cost Long Beach $100 Million

LONG BEACH, NY — The city of Long Beach might have to spend over $100 million by 2040 to raise seawalls due to rising sea levels caused by climate change, according to an environmental advocacy group.

The Center for Climate Integrity organized a nationwide study to project costs of raising seawalls and other protective barriers. Long Beach has five miles of seawalls, the 57th most miles of seawalls in the state. Raising those walls to counteract seawater will cost the city $103.6 million — the 34th most expensive in the state.

"At present, taxpayers and property owners are on the hook for 100 percent of climate adaptations costs," the organization wrote. "Unless something changes, communities will be forced to cut existing public services or raise taxes as these costs continue to rise."

There are currently around 33,750 people living in Long Beach. To cover the price tag, each person would have to pay close to $3,100 in added taxes that would otherwise go to community essentials such as schools, hospitals and emergency services.

Overall, the nation faces more than $400 billion in costs over the next two decades due to "inevitable" sea-level rise, the researchers found. The cost is nearly as high as the original interstate highway system, and it requires building more than 50,000 miles of coastal barriers in half the time it took to create the highway network.

The advocacy group said big oil companies should pay their fair share for environmental issues.

"Communities cannot afford the massive costs of climate adaptation on their own," the organization said. "These costs weren't always inevitable. Now that they are, polluters should pay their fair share."