Looking For Climate Change Answers

HARWICH – How do the residents of the fictional Cape Cod town of Codcity feel about new Cape Cod bridges?

During a mock town meeting at the Cape Cod Youth Climate Summit held at the 204 Cultural Arts Municipal Building Feb. 5, students suggested ways to mitigate the new bridges’ impact on climate change. Their solutions ranged from tolls to paving part of the Cape Cod Canal to allow easier vehicle access to the peninsula.

The 40 students who participated in the Codcity town meeting were among approximately 70 high school students who came together to exchange ideas about ways to mitigate climate change. The Cape Cod Youth Climate Summit is an annual event associated with Mass Audubon’s Youth Climate Leadership Program. The summit connects students with local sustainability and education leaders to exchange ideas and information on the climate crisis.

The summit “teaches students how to use their voice to seek changes when they feel out of reach, like when they can’t vote,” said Morgan Peck, climate change education coordinator for Massachusetts Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

The students in attendance came from Monomoy Regional High School, Nauset Regional High School, Sturgis East and West Charter Schools, Cape Cod Academy, Bourne and Falmouth High Schools. Youth climate leader representatives, who oversee the program, serve on a year-round basis, shaping the annual content for the summit. Davion Dawkins and Ethan Sougert represented MRHS and Grace Smith represented Nauset as youth climate leaders. The keynote speaker for the summit was Melissa Lavinson, executive director of the state Office of Energy Transformation.

Codcity residents considered whether the new bridges, with better traffic flow, will reduce carbon output from idling traffic as 55 percent of emissions on the peninsula come from the transportation sector and if ferries and trains have significantly lower carbon footprint than cars. The emissions have an impact on sea level rise, which causes erosion, a specific climate issue affecting Cape Cod.

The approximately 40 students serving as residents of Codcity put forward recommendations to the fictional town’s select board.

Placing a toll on the bridges was a hot topic. Tolls were seen as a funding source to build walkways and bike paths and find more sustainable means of crossing the canal. Some felt electric vehicles should not have to pay a toll. One recommendation was to charge a toll and direct the funds to the cost of sewering to protect water quality.

One student pointed out that the town of Bourne is on both sides of the canal and residents would have to pay a toll to go to the other section of town. A resident exemption permit was suggested. Another recommendation was to place a toll only on major carbon contributors such as trucks. Another student said that by the time new bridges are complete, there will be a lot more electric vehicles in use, greatly reducing the carbon footprint associated with the bridge.

Alternative means of transportation were suggested such as trains and ferries from Plymouth and Boston. That raised a number of issues related to the need to substantially improve public transportation on the Cape, because people coming to work or visiting would need bus service to get to their destination from the train or ferry terminals. 

There were other recommendations, such as establishing a rail boat service across the canal. One student took exception to the rebuilding of massive cement and iron structures, saying the carbon footprint from the heavy construction vehicles used in replacing the bridges would have a greater carbon footprint than their long-term use by vehicles.

With changes in the maritime use of the canal over the past 90 years, another student urged filling in a section of the canal, allowing water passage through culverts, and having a grade level highway connect to the man-made peninsula. That would reduce carbon emissions from idling vehicles, he said. 

In her keynote address, Lavinson said change is an essential part of addressing climate issues, citing the commonwealth’s vision of reaching zero carbon emissions by 2050. Change just doesn’t happen, Lavinson told the youth climate leaders. The best ideas for change come from people who are closest to the problem, she said. 

 “We need you to help in bringing people to the table if we want informative change and more sustainable energy,” Lavinson said.

The fossil fuel energy system, with its large power plants and wires, has been in place for 100 years with impacts on air quality, water and land, she said. Few people understand the system; they just know it's there and only pay a little more attention when costs rise, she said.

The system is being upended by cleaner energy and new technology, Lavinson said. In Massachusetts, 200,000 people make a living in the clean energy sector. There needs to be a shared understanding of the issues to change, she said, encouraging the students to bring people to the table, to understand the need for change and the use of clean technologies such as solar and wind. 

 Lavinson encouraged climate leaders to do more community outreach to educate people about the transformation of the energy system and work on ways to make it more sustainable and affordable. 

After the keynote address, the students split into groups to attend several different sessions relating to climate change. The sessions included salt marsh and natural solution by Mass Audubon’s Sara Grady; decarbonizing public transportation on Cape Cod by Chris Powicki of the Sierra Club; Resilient Woods Hole by Ed Thompson; forever chemicals and climate change by Dr. Laurel Schaider of the Silent Spring Institute; wasted food, food recovery and climate impact by Joni Kusminsky; and wildlife photography and moving people to action by Maceo Susi, a photographer and ecologist.