I reported last year about shoring up Jamestown Island to avoid incursions from the James River. Simple measurements with a conductivity meter showed pools across the island are brackish from tidal surges and hurricanes. That explained why only a few relatively salt-tolerant amphibians are present in an environment that is otherwise ideal for them.

The Colonial Parkway is a 23-mile scenic highway connecting Jamestown and Williamsburg on the James River side of the Virginia Peninsula and Yorktown on the York River side. This year it’s the turn of the eroded banks along the York to be reinforced. Engineers have brought in granite blocks for laying along the route. They need a lot of heavy equipment—several large excavators, trucks, and barges moored offshore for a small ship to transfer rock.

It’s necessary work for preserving American heritage but does nothing to mitigate climate change. In fact, it does the opposite and that’s a paradox. As we grasp the seriousness of unfolding crises at sea and on land, the extra fossil energy used to protect nature and property emits more greenhouse gases.

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