Emergency Funds Spent To Replace Beach Sand

[burrowowl]

why are we not surprised:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1111-2004May29.html

That's where my money goes, buying your baby (ooops the RICH) clothes ... Song from prehistoric times.

[Bozita]

1. Rich folks need welfare too.

My guess is that many of the affected will call it anything other than what it is.

Taxpayers always bail out the unfortunate folks cursed with ocean-front properties.

Ain't democracy great?

[pinniped]

2. They are contaminating the natural sands of the beach with "exotic" sand.

Where's the outrage?

[NuttyFluffers]

3. because even sand means more to them than humans.

must be a fixation with the microscopic... love sand, love zygotes, love stem cells... and drive hummers.

hmm, yes, one can make a case for compensation very well, no?

[vajraroshana]

4. We've known for nearly a century or more

that our beaches are impermanent (as all beaches are).

I'd love nothing more than to have a house on the beach, but for crying out loud, let's be realistic. The ocean will take it's due.

How about a hut, or a tent site with hookups.

gaaahhh.... uuuuugh!

[SoCalDem]

5. They have been doing this for YEARS on the Atlantic coast

Lately there have been studies done that show that it might actually be CAUSING erosion, instead of preventing it..

Here in CA , they found that by altering the sand distribution, they only caused trouble for other people down or up the coast.. Places that used to have beach, lost it, and sand was distributed elsewhere..

Mother Nature knows where the sand belongs..

[jmowreader]

6. Here's the logic behind this

Emerald Isle is a Tourist Area. Most of the people who own beachfront property in Emerald Isle don't live in Emerald Isle--if you were to run a check on the property owners in Emerald Isle, most of them would show up with Charlotte and Raleigh addresses. You'd get some Northerners too, but mostly you'll find large Southern communities on there. These are vacation homes. (It's the same story in every small coastal town.)

If you had a $500,000 house on the beach, you wouldn't leave it empty all year long. The people who own these homes don't leave them empty either--I've printed maps for several of the coastal communities. You've seen them--they have ads all the way around the perimeter of the map. On some of the maps, most of the ads are from realtors offering weekly rentals of these homes; the other maps are almost exclusively populated with realty ads.

You're not paying to make the beaches these homes abut beautiful. You are paying to save the Support Businesses--the guys who sell beach towels, snow-cones, ice cream, groceries, all the things tourists who rent these houses for a thousand a week need to make their vacations more pleasant. After all, if rich Yankees don't come down and spend their Yankee Dollars buying ice cream cones and paperback books, the economy of Emerald Isle will dry up and blow away.

And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

Oh hell yes this is welfare for the rich. The guy who owns the snow cone shop doesn't live in Emerald Isle. He lives in Supply. No one lives in Emerald Isle.