The Cape Gazette offered a letter Friday, Aug 23 from Sen. Gerald Hocker to Shawn Garvin, secretary of DNREC, expressing concern about flooding north of the Indian River Inlet. I am pleased to see Sen. Hocker finally recognizing the effects of climate change.
Earlier this summer, he selected several speakers at a public session concerning offshore wind turbines. One speaker denied that our oceans are rising, despite scientific measurements showing they are rising, making flooding worse as the years go by. Pumping sand is expensive, and the sources of funding will need to be significantly increased to meet these demands.
The problem is even more scary if you look at warnings from scientists recently published in Nature Communications. The gulf stream is showing signs of slowing down. Consequences of this will be vastly more serious than some local flooding. Tourists will be forced to leave our beaches when we build concrete walls around Delaware coastal towns. By then, ocean levels will add several feet instead of just several millimeters per year. Wind turbines will then appear harmless by comparison.
Ted Spickler
Dagsboro
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to viewpoints@capegazette.com. All letters are considered at the discretion of the newsroom and published as space allows. Due to the large volume of submissions, we cannot acknowledge receipt of each submission. Letters must include a phone number and address for verification. Keep letters to 400 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content or length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Letters should focus on local issues, not national topics or personalities. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days regarding a particular topic. Authors may submit a second letter within that time period if it pertains to a different issue. Letters may not be critical of personalities or specific businesses. Criticism of public figures is permissible. Endorsement letters for political candidates are no longer accepted. Letters must be the author’s original work, and may not be generated by artificial intelligence tools. Templates, form letters and letters containing language similar to other submissions will not be published.
