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California’s coastline is worth saving — and we can do it

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Californians are still cleaning up after Hurricane Marie brought big waves, storm surges and flooding to coastal communities.

Marie didn’t even have to make landfall to have a huge impact. Just ask actor Nicolas Cage, whose Malibu home was nearly swallowed by a sinkhole.

We tend to think of coastlines as static, because that’s how we draw them on maps. In the last century, Americans built along coastlines — sometimes because it was easier, and sometimes because as our society grew wealthier, it began to place a premium on beauty and recreation.

We thought coastlines would stay the same, because we planned them to be so.

But coastlines are dynamic. That means they change over time. 

Today’s beach might be gone after tomorrow’s storm. Cliffs can tumble to the sea after floods, or earthquakes. 

That doesn’t mean we........

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