Subsidizing Danger and Killing Fish–It Ain’t Smart! Encouraging Building in Floodplains Is Dopey
Building in floodplains is very bad for salmon (and lots of other wildlife). It takes away the habitat they need to survive. And that is bad for people. It also puts people in harm’s way when the floods come. And in the Pacific Northwest, more floods are coming all the time because of changing weather patterns caused by climate change.
Unfortunately, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) encourages construction in floodplains by offering artificially low-cost flood insurance. They undercut the private insurance industry and spend our tax dollars to make it cheaper for businesses to build in places that destroy the Northwest’s ecology and fish. It is plain and simple goofy.