California’s coastline is worth saving — and we – Latest News
Californians are nonetheless cleansing up after Hurricane Marie introduced large waves, storm surges and flooding to coastal communities.
Marie didn’t even should make landfall to have a large impression. Just ask actor Nicolas Cage, whose Malibu home was practically swallowed by a sinkhole.
The property at 18912 Pacific Coast Highway, one of many destroyed within the 2025 LA wildfires, is proven on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Malibu, CA. CA Post
We are inclined to assume of coastlines as static, as a result of that’s how we draw them on maps. In the final century, Americans constructed alongside coastlines — typically as a result of it was simpler, and typically as a result of as our society grew wealthier, it started to position a premium on magnificence and recreation.
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Destruction brought on by the 2025 LA wildfires is seen on the Malibu coast on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Malibu, CA. Pedro Colo for CA Post
We thought coastlines would keep the identical, as a result of we deliberate them to be so.
But coastlines are dynamic. That means they change over time.
Today’s seashore could be gone after tomorrow’s storm. Cliffs can tumble to the sea after floods, or earthquakes.
That doesn’t imply we can’t construct on the coast, or take away what has been constructed there already.
There are engineering options to the challenges of coastal dwelling. Seawalls can defend houses and highways. Caissons can keep buildings above tides and sinkholes. Railways and roads could be elevated or moved inland.
Destruction brought on by the 2025 LA wildfires is seen on the Malibu coast on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Malibu, CA. CA Post
Destruction brought on by the 2025 LA wildfires is seen on the Malibu coast on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Malibu, CA. Pedro Colo for CA Post
There are actually two questions.
The first is money. Who can pay to make these adjustments? Will the funds be personal, or public?
Many Californians may object to tax {dollars} being spent to guard seaside mansions which are owned by the state’s wealthiest residents.
At the identical time, the public is determined by coastal trains and the Pacific Coast Highway. And the coastline’s points of interest drive tourism within the Golden State.
The second query is about political will.
California must have an grownup dialog about our coast — particularly with the ruins of the Palisades Fire nonetheless haunting the scenic drive in Malibu.
We can’t abandon the coastline or persist with previous laws that simply gradual down rebuilding.
California’s coast is worth saving. And we can do it.
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