Removing US Subsidies Curbed Building in Climate Risk Zones, Study Finds
The decades-old Coastal Barrier Resources System has steered development to less vulnerable areas and limited disaster damages, researchers say.
Flooding near Horseshoe Beach, Florida following Hurricane Idalia, Aug. 30, 2023.
Photographer: Christian Monterrosa/BloombergThe US Congress passed the Coastal Barrier Resources Act in 1982 to preserve relatively undeveloped waterfront areas as natural buffer zones. At least 1.4 million acres along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts were made ineligible for the kind of federal expenditures that would encourage further development, such as infrastructure grants, subsidized flood insurance and funds for rebuilding after disasters. The goal was to check destruction from extreme weather, rein in costs to taxpayers and protect home values.
It worked, according to a new study in Nature Climate Change that assesses the impact of the law.