Padilla co-authors ‘living shorelines’ bill to protect coastal areas from rising seas

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-CA, recently announced a bill intended to help protect coastal communities from climate change effects like sea level rise and stronger storms.

The Living Shorelines Act of 2021, which Padilla introduced with Democratic federal legislators from New Jersey and Connecticut, would create a pair of federal grant programs through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study and construct “living shorelines” out of natural materials like plants, sand and rock rather than concrete barriers.