Verrill, center, gathered with community members in the small island town of Southport, Maine. They came together to prioritize solutions for identified climate risks and concerns in October 2023.
Over the past year and a half, I have worked with several coastal towns in Maine to collectively identify and prioritize climate-action project areas to make the communities more resilient to the climate crisis. Coastal communities in Maine are facing significant climate change challenges, including flooding, severe storms, and socioeconomic effects.
Severe Weather Events: One storm in December of 2023 dumped 5-7 inches of rain in central and western Maine, creating historical flooding that washed out culverts, stream crossings, and waterfront roads. This led to extensive power outage events. Ten counties sustained more than $20 million in public infrastructure damage and more than 400,000 customers lost power for several days (myself included!). Then mere weeks later, two back-to-back record-breaking storms in January destroyed roads and swept away buildings and cars on the coast.
Back-to-back storms on January 10 and 13, 2024 destroyed coastal infrastructure. Shown above is Shore Road in East Boothbay on January 24, 2024.
The recent storms have not only caused extensive physical damage but have also exacerbated existing socio-economic concerns such as waterfront privatization and gentrification. The destruction of critical infrastructure, coupled with delays in insurance or FEMA funding, has heightened the stress and anxiety among residents, business owners, and town managers. This underscores the broader challenge of climate resilience where communities must not only adapt physically but also address the socio-economic impacts of extreme weather events, particularly on vulnerable populations. If not everyone can afford coastal housing, who will equitable adaptation serve?
Economic costs of coastal damage: Hundreds of thousands of people are employed along the coast of Maine, which contributes over $37 billion to the U.S. GDP (NOAA Office for Coastal Management). Maine’s extensive coastline remains a pillar of the state’s economy. Over 40% of the population resides along the increasingly vulnerable shore. If we fail to adapt, the GDP and jobs that coastal businesses and industries provide will be washed away, quite literally.
Centralized financial incentives for decentralized economic decision-making: Incentives from the state government have sought to spur local climate action but stark questions remain. How can we protect our coastal roads and buildings with nature-based solutions while also drastically reducing the carbon emissions contributing to the rapid warming of the Gulf of Maine?
Maine’s reliance on shoreline roads to access transportation intensifies the issue, contributing to the transportation sector’s substantial carbon emissions. In 2019 alone, this sector was responsible for a staggering 49% of the state’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion. As Maine strives to meet its emissions reduction goals, there is a clear imperative to mitigate transportation-related carbon emissions.
This dual focus on adapting to climate impacts and reducing carbon emissions presents a formidable challenge for coastal communities.
What does the future hold for transportation in Maine? The Maine Climate Action Plan has set an ambitious goal of having 219,000 light-duty electric vehicles (EVs) on the road by 2030. However, some concerns have been raised regarding mobility. Recent storms have caused widespread power outages across the state, and flooding has disrupted road connections between communities. Given these challenges with regional power grids and transport networks, there is a question about whether promoting individual electric cars aligns with addressing broader infrastructure issues.
Coastal Maine is at an inflection point. Climate impacts and social vulnerabilities can no longer be addressed in isolation. Holistic adaptation and mitigation strategies are needed to protect coastal livelihoods and ecosystems. But collective action powered by social solidarity, not profits, must guide the process. If climate resilience planning does not center on justice and human needs, then who exactly are we making the coast resilient for?
The future of Maine’s coast depends on coming together to build community-driven solutions.
In summary, coastal Maine faces an urgent need to simultaneously adapt infrastructure, mitigate carbon emissions, and equitably address socio-economic vulnerabilities. A resilient transition requires holistic planning and community-centered collective action. And that’s why our next step as a community is to undertake a community-driven recovery and transition (CDRT) planning scenario. I’m putting together a project team, lining up local and regional buy-in in the form of partnerships, and will soon undertake collaborative funding/fundraising efforts to support the next steps.