Press of Atlantic City: Egg Harbor Township has applied for a federal grant of $2.4 million to tear down four eyesore motels in West Atlantic City as a way to mitigate flooding on properties severely and repeatedly inundated with water.

“We can’t build anything there once the motels are demolished,” said Business Administrator Peter Miller. “We think it should look like a green belt.”

So do we.

In fact, Atlantic City and other vulnerable shore towns should all take a harder look at green solutions to climate change challenges. For one, not addressing these problems in more holistic ways can be costly.

In West Atlantic City, for example, the four motels have had a total of 56 flooding claims over the past 10 years, equal to $3.8 million. And experts predict that flooding dangers will only increase over time.

Our region should look to places like Hoboken for successful solutions. In 2014, the city won a $230 million grant as part of Rebuild by Design, a federally funded flood prevention project that involves the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. READ MORE>>