As a resident of Cape Cod, Ma. and a retired marine scientist, I find that local citizens are pre-occupied by the crises of the moment (largely related to the consequences of the economic meltdown) and give little thought to how we can make the transition to sustainability. Problems like developing wind energy; upgrading our wastewater infrastructure; developing zero waste approaches to address municipal solid wastes; improving our public transportation system to reduce reliance on private vehicles; and better planning to reduce sprawl development are viewed in isolation. One reason for this is that state/federal regulations and the agencies responsible for management/regulatory oversight focus on individual components of the wider problem of reducing our carbon footprint and living more sustainably within the constraints imposed by ecosystem services. The basis of Cape Cod’s economy is tourism, second homes, retirees and real estate, so the environment is closely linked to the economy.

In addition, the effects of climate change are already evident here. Roughly half of our residents can’t purchase home insurance in the private market and are thrust into the state system of last resort. Home owners with private insurance face high wind damage deductibles in their policies and have to pay to have trees removed near their homes to maintain their insurance policies. There have been shifts in distribution of fish populations off of our shore as our coastal ocean warms and increased loss of coastal beaches/dunes from Northeasters. There have also been temporal/spatial shifts in plants and animals on land that are either permanent residents or seasonal migrants. Some of these changes in the natural environment come from long term climate fluctuations related to the North Atlantic Oscillation, but others result from human-induced climate disruption.

We have a number of prestigious scientific institutions in Woods Hole that provide scientific data to quantify these changes and most of the institutions conduct public outreach programs. Many of these advances in scientific understanding are covered in the local media. In spite of this favorable situation very few towns have developed Climate Action Plans and begun implementation. Only two towns have joined the “Cool Cities” program. Local Environmental NGOs hold programs on many of the challenges that we face as either a direct or indirect consequence of climate change. Since roughly 20% of our population is retirees, many of these senior citizens are engaged in volunteer endeavors to address components of this problem. Unfortunately we lack a holistic vision to address these problems in an integrated approach.

Even though there are costs associated in addressing these problems, there are also community benefits associated with this and opportunities to create “green jobs”. Green jobs in the private sector from the expenditure of public funds will provide direct, indirect and induced economic benefits to our local towns. It would be nice if the ESA produced some outreach products that emphasize this relationship. It would also be helpful to link climate disruption with the resilience of the sociological-ecological system that supports are life styles on Cape Cod and elsewhere.