Abstract
Many areas of the world include significant human development in low-lying coastal areas. The United States is no exception. And like many coastal nations, the United States has a long history of public policies that subsidize coastal development. These subsidies, in the aggregate, have created a policy orientation that views coastlines as passive resources. Meanwhile, climate change is increasing the objective risks of many coastal regions, demanding coastlines be viewed as active hazards. This chapter explores this dichotomy between current policy orientations viewing coastlines as passive resources and the need to move towards an active hazard framework. The United States is used as a case study to explore the history of coastal development policy through key national policies, and how that history impacts the need for new, hazard-based, policy directions. The insights identified in this chapter can be applied to any coastal nation where development priorities are impacting proactive coastal climate resiliency planning.