Lisa Vegan’s Reviews > California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline > Status Update

“What if we saw every decision to relocate as a brave advance?”

“The coast is never saved; it’s always being saved.”

“There’s no point fighting a force as powerful as the ocean.”

“Right now, managed retread is just a slogan.”

“Here’s the hard truth…We’re already locked into a certain amount of climate change, and we need to adapt to the effects that we know we’re going to be experiencing.”

“Coastal officials have been working actively against the tendency to reinforce existing environmental injustices, and more institutions are now paying attention to Indigenous knowledge.”

“Sand, although it might seem limitless…it’s the most exploited and consumed natural resource in the world after fresh water…”

“In San Francisco, most people would be surprised to learn that beyond the marshlands that have been filled in or altered, there also used to be miles of sandy beach fronting the Bayshore…”

“Most responses so far to sea level rise can be placed along a ‘green-to-gray scale’…”

"We talk about the Amazon being the lungs of our planet, but studies show that coastal wetlands, left to their own devices, can capture and store three to five times more carbon dioxide than tropical forests - and sometimes much, much more."

"The best shot at saving the tidal marsh in California might just be, after all, along the San Francisco Bay."

Every time I pick up this book I do enjoy it.

The San Francisco Bay Area and groundwater: "already identified 25 different landfills at risk of leaching toxic chemicals as the water levels rise."

"The coast of California is marked by massive inequality."

"Floating cities might sound like science fiction...(but) no new technology is required."

"Resilience includes knowing when an unwanted transformation is inevitable."

"Crammed onto the tip of a thumb-shaped peninsula, this celebrated metropolis...owes its existence to sheer force of will...Something needs to give. But even in a city as environmentally minded as San Francisco, acquiescing to nature has not been easy."

This is an important book and I am enjoying it but it's not a page-turner. It's going to take me a long time to read it.