North Carolina Senate Approves Sea Level Calculation Bill

The North Carolina Senate has approved a bill that ignores scientists’ warnings of rising sea levels.

Senators in North Carolina approved the bill on a 34-to-11 vote Tuesday. The measure received little fanfare and no senators spoke in opposition to the measure.

The bill now goes back to the House for a vote.

A state-appointed science panel has warned sea levels could rise by more than three feet by 2100 and threaten more than 2,000 square miles of coastal land.

A coastal development group disputes the scientists’ findings and says the state should prepare for an eight-inch increase instead. The developers say stricter regulations would harm the coastal economy.

The bill has thrust the legislature into the national spotlight and was recently mocked by comedian Stephen Colbert.