Letter to the Editor: Surely Harry Crosbie’s housing plan is all at sea
One of the almost universally accepted consequences of climate change is rising sea levels. This reality threatens homes, farms, towns and large cities.
The proposal as outlined in the Irish Examiner, August 19, by Harry Crosbie to build homes for up to 150,000 people on Sandymount Strand and the Tolka Estuary in Dublin blatantly ignores that reality.
Surely the vital necessity to totally prohibit such developments must be accepted by all the nations of the world. Some may say that in the overall context of the extent of the world’s oceans the suggested development would only have a minimal impact on ocean levels, but we must by now know that water displaced at one location impacts the coastlines elsewhere.
We are informed that some islands in the Pacific Ocean are gradually being submerged by rising waters and that this trend will not only continue but will become much more widespread.
A decision to proceed with the project would undermine the public’s commitment to taking positive action to counter climate change and would make a mockery of our support for the Paris climate agreement. There are many other options available to governments and developers if they are serious about housing people and saving coastal areas.
