If we continue with climate policy goals as we know them, I will lose my home.

Long Beach, Centerville (Image courtesy of author)

I was born and raised on Cape Cod. My childhood memories of summer take place at the beach. My family and I would bob in the waves and take long strolls through the shell-littered sand.

If we don’t act to prevent the worst effects of climate change now, Cape Cod will cease to exist as we know it. 

The Cape will face higher storm surges, salt water infiltration that compromises freshwater and underground septic systems, and many other problems. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 20% of Cape Cod is within the agency’s flood hazard area. That puts over $29 billion worth of property at risk, along with around 1,500 historic structures and monuments. 

Sea level rise is one of the biggest threats Cape Cod faces. The highest point on the Cape is only 306 feet above sea level. When waters rise, many homes and businesses built right on the coastline will be at risk of flooding. Some of these structures are built directly on sand—which can erode during large storms that bring high waters and strong winds—making them even more susceptible to the impacts of sea-level rise. 

Me as a child at the beach (Image courtesy of author)

While my family does not live on the beach, we live a mere three miles away. As far as Cape Cod goes, this is about as far away from the beach as anyone can live. Centerville, where I live, is where its name suggests: the center of the Cape. I know that we don’t face the immediate danger of those who live in sight of the surf, but I can’t help but fear for the future. For many families, just like my own, the Cape is not a vacation destination — it is home. 

Warnings of rising sea levels don’t fall on deaf ears, but not few individuals can just  pick up their lives and flee the rising seas.

There are many families like mine who live year-round on Cape Cod. We don’t have lavish homes with private beaches and countless windows with ocean views. We don’t have the financial means to rebuild after flood damages. We don’t have anywhere else to go.

Unless we act together against climate change in a way that centers coastal communities and the impacts they face, asking families like mine to uproot their lives is exactly what is going to happen.

The most aspirational form of climate policy right now is the Green New Deal: the congressional resolution demands that the United States undergo a rapid “fair and just” transition to 100-percent clean energy. My concern, however, is that the Green New Deal only mentions the oceans once. 

To supplement the Green New Deal, Senator Elizabeth Warren worked with leading scientists and policy advisors to craft the Blue New Deal. The Blue New Deal prioritizes the protection of coastal communities and the ocean itself, as well as emphasizing how such communities and ecosystems can help us achieve our goal of a clean energy future for our children and grandchildren. 

It’s the Blue New Deal that provides the framework for places like Cape Cod to have a fighting chance for our future in the face of the climate crisis.

But this is not just about Cape Cod.  We as a country do need a Blue New Deal. Forty percent of the United States population lives on the coast. What is good for Cape Cod is also good for  coastal communities around the nation.

I need a Blue New Deal.

Cape Cod needs a Blue New Deal.

We—the United States—need a Blue New Deal.