Columbia Law Report Encourages 'Managed Coastal Retreat' over Fortification

State and local governments should learn how to exploit legal strategies to discourage or prevent development along risky coastlines rather than investing in expensive fortification measures, a report from the Columbia Law School argues.

The report, from the law school's Center for Climate Change Law, takes up the controversial issue of "managed retreat" and describes the myriad ways government officials can make citizens step back from the coast.
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Managed retreat is the theory that says building up expensive infrastructure to arm coastlines against storms can raise the cost of future major storm events.  The theory would "just say no" to protective measures like sea walls or floodgates in favor of simply moving inland, as hard as that might be for avid coastal dwellers to swallow.

Columbia Law Report Encourages 'Managed Coastal Retreat' over Fortification