To the Editor:
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, an unelected and essentially autonomous division of state government, decided, without legislative oversight or input (and with the blessing of the Democratic governor Murphy who appointed them), to change flood levels (Resilient Environments and Landscapes – REAL) to increase flood levels to a 5-foot rise in sea levels. Then DEP changed it to 4 feet above the national level set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Only if a new governor, likely a Republican like Jack Ciattarelli, is elected, it is likely this 4-foot level will not be enacted.
The incredible economic damage this proposed increase would have on New Jersey Shore communities is devastating.
Nearly all Shore communities have vigorously opposed this increase, but Democrats refuse to listen. There is no scientific proof, no clear study, or even a federal review that warrants this drastic proposal.
While some levels of seawater rise and fall with cycles over time, there is no evidence that 4-foot or higher levels are warranted for New Jersey. Other states, including Florida, which is surrounded by water, have the FEMA levels, and that is the most hurricane-prone state in the nation. Why New Jersey?
Anthony Thomas DiSimone
Wildwood
