I think Massachusetts might very well split up over the effects of rising sea levels

[friendly_iconoclast]

From the Environment and Energy Group:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127128629

Climate breakdown to trigger debate over which cities to protect from rising sea levels

"You realise we’re just not going to protect a lot of these places"
The Independent
Christopher Flavelle
June 20,2019

As disaster costs keep rising across the United States, a troubling new debate has become urgent: if there’s not enough money to protect every coastal community from the effects of human-caused global warming, how should we decide which ones to save first?

After three years of brutal flooding and hurricanes, there is growing consensus among policymakers and scientists that coastal areas will require significant spending to ride out future storms and rising sea levels — not in decades but now and in the very near future.

By 2040, simply providing basic storm-surge protection in the form of sea walls for all coastal cities with more than 25,000 residents will require at least $42bn (£33.1bn), according to new estimates from the Centre for Climate Integrity, an environmental advocacy group.“Once you get into it, you realise we’re just not going to protect a lot of these places,” said Richard Wiles, the centre’s executive director. “This is the next wave of climate denial — denying the costs that we’re all facing.”

More here
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change-us-storms-sea-level-global-warming-hurricane-a8967576.html

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127128629#post4

I can easily imagine my own state of Massachusetts splitting up over this

The central and western counties (Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Worcester, and Middlesex) already
think they're getting screwed over financially by the richer eastern/coastal ones.

They'll not want to fork over more in an attempt to 'harden' the coastal cities:

Boston Built a New Waterfront Just in Time for the Apocalypse

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-18/boston-built-a-new-waterfront-just-in-time-for-the-apocalypse

Designing a neighborhood from scratch: The stakes are high at Suffolk Downs

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2019/06/17/designing-neighborhood-from-scratch-the-stakes-are-high-suffolk-downs/KcWz5yacTUChK4cq9sYnJM/story.html

TL;DR version: The Suffolk Downs site is, at best, 20-25 feet above high tide as it is. A developer wants to plant
a ca. $1.5 billion edge city on the site.

Middlesex is already the most populous county. Picture this:

2030: The Commonwealth: "We need more money to protect the Boston/Quincy area"

Western Mass: "Fuck off, we've got our own problems to take care of"