A.R. Siders: You can build it — but is it legal? Engineering and law solutions to climate adaptation

Climate change demands innovative ways to engineer and design infrastructure. Sometimes these innovative solutions, however, are stymied by laws. Floating houses in flood-prone areas must meet building code requirements for water and septic hook ups. Floating cities to house sinking island nation peoples are currently illegal under maritime law. Un-building at-risk areas can pose problems for cities who have legal obligations to provide roads and other services. Only by engineers and lawyers working together can we find solutions to transform both our built and legal environments.