Mayor James Eskridge governs a small island that is disappearing into the Chesapeake Bay, but he is using his unique position to slam Al Gore’s climate change alarmism – and people are listening.
Eskridge came face to face with the famous climate change spokesman during a CNN program on global warming.
“I’m a commercial crabber,” Eskridge said, “and I’ve been working the Chesapeake Bay for fifty-plus years. And I have a crab house business out on the water. And water level is the same it was when the place was built in 1970.”
“I’m not a scientist but I’m a keen observer, and if sea levels rises are occurring,” he asked, “why am I not seeing signs of it?”
“Our island is disappearing,” he explained, “but it’s because of erosion and not because of sea level rising, unless we get a seawall, we will lose our island.”
“But, back to the question,” he said, “why am I not seeing signs of the sea level rising?”
“What do you think the erosion due to, mayor?” Gore asked.
“Wave action, storms,” he responded.
“Has that increased, any?” Gore asked.
“Not really,” Eskridge said.
“So you’re losing the Island even though the waves haven’t increased,” Gore said.
“Yes,” Eskridge replied, “this erosion has been going on since Captain John Smith discovered the island.”
“Well arguments about science aren’t necessarily going to be any comfort to you and I’m sorry for what you’re going through,” Gore said.
“It won’t necessarily do you any good for me to tell you that the scientists do say that the sea level is rising in the Chesapeake Bay,” he continued, “and that you’ve lost about two-thirds of your island already, over a longer period of time. And the forecast for the future is another two feet of sea – if there was another two feet of sea level rise, what would that mean for Tangier Island?”
“ [On Tangier Island] our elevation is only about four feet above level,” Eskridge said, “and if I see sea level rise occurring, I’ll shout it from the housetops, we don’t have, you know, the land to give up.”
“But I’m just not seeing it,” he said.
The strange plight of the mayor’s island grabbed the press’ attention when President Donald Trump called him, following his interaction with Al Gore. The mayor, a Trump supporter, was pleased to hear from Trump that they would do what they needed to, to ensure the island would stay around for hundreds of years more.