Chibuike Okafor | US Environmental Policy Student
The North Carolina coastline is home to various well-known and highly visited beaches and coastal towns. Seasonal tourism is one of the primary industries in these communities which attracts visitors nationally as well as film studios with notable shows and movies like Dawson’s Creek, The Summer I Turned Pretty, and Iron Man 3 filming in various coastal towns like Wilmington. Beside the beautiful beaches commonly advertised, there are various ecosystems and agricultural communities within these coastal areas. Unfortunately, an underlying environmental issue threatens these coastal communities in North Carolina and across the east coast: salt-water intrusion, which worsens water quality and land productivity by infiltrating freshwater aquifers and increasing soil salinity[1]. These local communities recognize the urgency of addressing salt-water intrusion, but with Trump’s presidency underway, the question remains: how will the U.S. federal government aid these at-risk coastal communities in this fight to save their livelihoods?
In past years, part of the answer to the federal support of these communities lied within the U.S. Department of Agriculture and their Climate Hubs initiative. In 2014, the USDA started regional Climate Hubs to work with land managers, farmers, researchers, and communities to address the impact of climate change events. Although Congress didn’t directly pass legislation regarding the department’s actions on climate change, USDA initiated this program within the department’s authorities under the Global Climate Change Prevention Act of 1990 to support these communities[2].
Within the USDA Southeast Climate Hub, they specifically addressed the soil salination issue caused by salt-water intrusions. This Climate Hub worked with local, state, and federal partners to provide producers and land managers with needed information, models, and tools to adapt to the increasing vulnerability and damage to coastal lands[3]. These resources include regional risk assessments, research studies and grants, risk management tools, and education programs and workshops to inform and develop plans with coastal communities facing salinization issues[4]. Throughout the years of this program’s implementation, past administrations made further federal investments to increase support of farmers and rural communities in this climate crisis. Some notable investments include funding from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and the Urban and Community Forestry Program to support the adoption of climate-smart practices [5].
Despite the past efforts of the USDA, demands from Trump’s administration threatens the integration and prioritization of these climate tools from the federal government within coastal communities. Since his inauguration, Trump sought to modify the message of climate change in federal agencies and reallocate funds across the government to fit his administrative goals. In January, the USDA’s new secretary, Brooke Rollins, ordered staff to “identify and archive or unpublish” landing pages discussing and focusing on climate change. Although most pages regarding the USDA Climate Hubs are still up, webpages across the agency, focused on climate-smart agriculture and adaptations that were critical to farmers for managing climate change risk have been removed[6]. These aren’t the only actions directly targeting former USDA’s efforts as, earlier this month, Rollins canceled the $3-billion Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. This program provided grants to fund market opportunities for U.S. agricultural and forest land managers and the production of innovative and inexpensive climate-smart practices, quantification of risk, and environmental monitoring[7]. Although Rollins plans on reinvesting this funding into a new initiative called Advancing Markets for Producers, the criteria for eligibility and structure of this program has yet to be announced or clarified. In all, these actions cast uncertainty on the future of the USDA Climate Hubs and leave farmers and producers who are dependent on climate change education and federal financial support stranded and vulnerable to the changing climate.
With increased global temperatures, sea level in coastal regions in the northeast of the United States already rise an average of 3 mm per year along with an increased frequency of large and intense storms and higher tides. Within regular conditions, there is a zone of transition between the fresh ground water in aquifers and the saline sea water and the pattern of movement between the waters prevent excessive movement of salt-water in these aquifers[8]. The combination of increased sea-level rise, higher tides, more intense storms, and increased groundwater pumping from wells to meet population and agricultural demands reduces the zone of transition significantly to a point where salt-water frequently infiltrates the groundwater and surface water storage[9]. On top of this, according to a NOAA report, sea level is expected to rise another 10 to 14 inches on the east coast in the next thirty years, which is the highest increase across all other national coastal regions[10].
The implications and damages to these communities are evident and wide-reaching. By as early as 2030, models estimate increased flooding risk for over 20 million coastal residents nationally due to sea-level rise and storm surges[11]. By 2050, scientists estimate routine flooding damages and risk for over 4 million acres of land nationally and over $100 billion worth of property across the coastlines[12]. With an ongoing decrease in water quality for most coastal residents, increased risk for less salt-tolerant species in wetland ecosystems, and decreased productivity in agricultural communities, the livelihoods of farmers and residents alike are increasingly at risk due to salt-water intrusion[13]. Rather than reallocating funds that support climate innovation and education, the USDA must prioritize climate change mitigation and adapt their programs to support the needs of their constituents in coastal communities.
[1] Water Resources Mission Area, “Saltwater Intrusion | U.S. Geological Survey.” August 20, 2024, https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/saltwater-intrusion (accessed April 4, 2025).
[2] Genevieve K. Croft, Katie Hoover, Randy Schnepf, and Megan Stubbs, “Climate Change Adaptation: U.S. Department of Agriculture.” July 17, 2020, Congress, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R46454 (accessed April 18, 2025).
[3] “USDA Climate Hubs Strategic Plan 2020-2025” USDA, https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/Strategic_Plan_Climate_Hubs_2020_2025_FINAL_v1.pdf (accessed April 4, 2025).
[4] “Saltwater Intrusion and Salinization on Coastal Forests and Farms | USDA Climate Hubs.” https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/hubs/southeast/topic/saltwater-intrusion-and-salinization-coastal-forests-and-farms (accessed April 18, 2025).
[5] USDA Press, “USDA Celebrates 10 Years of Climate Hubs as Biden-Harris Administration Leads Historic Climate Agenda | Home.” February 5, 2024, https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2024/02/05/usda-celebrates-10-years-climate-hubs-biden-harris-administration-leads-historic-climate-agenda (accessed April 4, 2025).
[6] Nydia Gutiérrez, “Trump USDA Sued for Erasing Webpages Vital to Farmers.” Earthjustice, February 24, 2025, https://earthjustice.org/press/2025/trump-usda-sued-for-erasing-webpages-vital-to-farmers (accessed April 18, 2025).
[7] USDA Press, “USDA Cancels Biden Era Climate Slush Fund, Reprioritizes Existing Funding to Farmers | Home.” April 14, 2025, https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2025/04/14/usda-cancels-biden-era-climate-slush-fund-reprioritizes-existing-funding-farmers (accessed April 18, 2025).
[8] Water Resources Mission Area, “Saltwater Intrusion | U.S. Geological Survey.”
[9] US EPA, “Climate Adaptation and Saltwater Intrusion.” December 30, 2024, https://www.epa.gov/arc-x/climate-adaptation-and-saltwater-intrusion (accessed April 4, 2025).
[10] “2022 Technical Report | Resources.” U.S. Sea Level Change, 2022, https://sealevel.globalchange.gov/resources/2022-sea-level-rise-technical-report (accessed April 4, 2025).
[11] Kelsea Best, et al., “Demographics and Risk of Isolation Due to Sea Level Rise in the United States.” Nature Communications 14, no. 1 (Winter, 2023): 7904, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-43835-6#Sec5 (accessed April 18, 2025).
[12] William Brangham, “Report Shows Devastating Economic Impact of Rising Sea Levels along American Coast.” PBS News, September 14, 2022, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/report-shows-devastating-economic-impact-of-rising-sea-levels-along-american-coast (accessed April 18, 2025).
[13] USDA, “Saltwater Intrusion | USDA Climate Hubs.” https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/taxonomy/term/399 (accessed April 18, 2025).
Awesome post, Chibuike! I loved learning about what has already been done to help coastal communities suffering the consequences of climate change. I do not live in a coastal city and have not heard of these climate hubs before, and I wonder if that is because I do not live in a coastal community or if residents of coastal communities in the United States are also unaware of these climate hubs. I am with you in your worry about how the Trump administration will interfere with the progress climate hubs have made or are planning to make. I wonder if the USDA will continue the climate hub program, and if it does, where the funding will come from with the deregulation of the Inflation Reduction Act in the past couple of months. Will local or state governments pick up where the USDA left off? Will private donors help keep climate hubs running? This could cause a major equity disparity between coastal communities to coastal communities, favoring coastal communities that have the financial resources to support climate hubs. One positive I can think of in salination of coastal communities is that climate change does not discriminate and all coastal communities will feel effects, I want to also acknowledge that there will be disproportionate effects, but hopefully people that have doubt about climate change will realize the reality and severity of the situation and push the new presidential administration to find solutions.