Restoring beaches

The United States Geological Survey asserts that more than half of beaches on the East and Gulf Coasts are eroding. We're doing a lot - and spending a lot of money - to prevent this by pumping sand onto them. As sea-level rise continues, and if storms intensify as predicted, the projects will require more sand, and more dollars. The real problem is that the federal government does this for beaches of all types, including engineered beaches — in which sand is added to beaches and dunes largely to protect coastal investment property. This means that even in places where there has been no property damage at all, taxpayers may still be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars to restore the beaches, which, in general, have been built to enhance the values of private property.