It was interesting and encouraging and kind of fun to watch President-elect Donald Trump begin to pivot away last week from so many crucial issues raised in his campaign, from jailing Hillary Clinton to torturing the enemy.

The one that especially cheered me was the beginning of a reversal on climate change, with the president in waiting saying now he will keep an open mind about honoring the Paris climate accord, a deal he once derided.

Wow. Maybe global warming is not really a hoax by the Chinese.

This encouraging change of perspective reminds me of the larger political hypocrisy about global warming.

Just this year, Connecticut got $54 million in federal money to begin planning for the effects of global warming, while so many in control of Congress still scoff publicly at the idea of climate change.

Indeed, plan we should here in Connecticut.

Stonington wisely has begun a study of how rising waters will impact the town and what resources should be deployed to harden and protect important infrastructure like low roads and sewer plants.

Other communities at flooding risk, New London in particular, where so much is built on low, filled land, should follow Stonington's lead.

The recent king tides — a phenomenon that occurs a few times each year as the sun, moon and Earth align for the right gravitational pull — made it clear how damaging rising sea levels will be in shoreline communities around here.

I saw it clearly during a number of high tides on Gravel Street in Mystic, along the Mystic River. The river was just a few inches away from the tops of the granite blocks that keep the water from flowing over the street.

And this threatening condition was evident sunny day after sunny day, without a cloud in sight. Imagine those same high tides during heavy rains with a storm surge.

It will happen.

The king tides, meteorologists and scientists say, are also precursors of what normal high tides will look like in the not-too-distant future, a result of rising sea levels. That means, even in nice weather, the water will become threatening on Gravel Street every day of the year, as it will in many other shoreline areas around here.

The king tides, now higher than they have ever been, have been especially troublesome in South Florida.

This month an octopus was found floating on the floor of a Miami parking garage. Some residents in low neighborhoods have become accustomed to wading out to their cars in the driveway and the damage caused by driving through standing salt water.

Florida calls this menace, when sea water literally rises up out of storm drains, rainy day flooding.

Floridians are dealing with the economic reality of this, especially as they try to sell homes in low-lying and vulnerable neighborhoods. In communities where there are available solutions, like raising the roads and building dams, the conversation has turned to who will pay for it.

In many low-lying areas, though, like the Florida Keys, there are no practical solutions in sight.

Let's hope President Trump, who of course has a lot of Florida property, keeps evolving on the issues and helps keep that public planning money for global warming faucet wide open.

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com