Saving old homes can calm the seas

Re the July 10 story “New state law empowers owners to demolish old homes:” Due to the lack of public debate, was Gov. Ron DeSantis briefed on the environmental repercussions of the legislation he recently signed into law?

The legislation has farreaching implications for the historic fabric of our state and also “catastrophically” aggravates climate change. Mitigating for sea level rise is treating the symptom, not the cause, and does nothing to protect the environment. The new law accepts the dire prognosis of climate as fait accompli. The law’s gene- sis may have been in good faith, but the new standards are in bad form.

Sea level rise is one of the side effects of poor planning and lack of stew- ardship of the built environment. Rising sea levels correlate to rising carbon (mainly due to over-devel- opment) and can be mitigated if municipalities accept the reduction of carbon in their sustainabil- ity policies. Allowing old homes in coastal areas to be demolished and rebuilt because they are vulnerable to sea level rise is like killing patients because they are vulnerable to disease.

According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, “Arguments that promote a practice of disposable real estate are unsustainable at best and at worst environmentally catastrophic. New buildings …will likely never offset the carbon cost of their construction. We don’t have time to simply build our way to a sustain- able future.”

As of Jan. 1, demolitions of old homes will require no historical oversight. This decree will slowly erode the state’s cultural and architectural heritage while simultaneously speed the climate challenge.