Leaders from municipalities across the Commonwealth have joined forces in an effort to combat the coastal impacts of climate change. Among the 20 communities represented by the new Coastal Communities Alliance are Lynn, Marblehead, Nahant, Peabody, and Swampscott.
The alliance’s goal is to provide a platform for information-sharing and peer learning between the participating communities’ officials. It aims to facilitate a joint effort in identifying funding avenues, technical assistance, and unique policies and conducting projects.
Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson expressed pride that his city is part of the alliance.
“Building climate-resilient communities and applying sustainable solutions in the face of the climate crisis is both a local and regional effort,” Nicholson said.
According to Nahant Town Administrator Tony Barletta, coastal resiliency is the most important challenge facing his town. He explained how a large portion of the mainland in town becomes inaccessible during storms due to coastal flooding.
“The Town of Nahant is completely surrounded by the effects of sea-level rise,” Barletta said.
Swampscott’s Climate Action Plan Committee received nine recommended actions in 2016 to improve climate-resiliency efforts from Kleinfelder, a Boston-based engineering-consulting company. Committee Vice Chair and Select Board member Doug Thompson named updating the report in order to be better suited to receive resiliency grants from the state as a priority for the town.
“Everything from the living reef idea, to higher walls, to closeable gates, to raising roads, to managed retreat, all of these things will be on the table,” Thompson said in April.
Swampscott Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald said that the lives of coastal residents could be in danger if the issue is not mitigated.
“It is critically important that we work together as local and regional officials to address the dramatic impact of climate change,” Fitzgerald said. “We need to make investments now to protect our communities and region.”
Despite not technically representing an oceanfront community, Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt felt it was important to assist in solving what he called a region-wide problem.
State Rep. Jenny Armini has advocated for coastal resiliency in her communities of Marblehead, Lynn, and Swampscott. She applauded the local leaders for recognizing the severity of the issue and working together to try and solve it.
“The impacts of climate change know no borders,” Armini said. “Solutions that work for one coastal community likely work for another.”
In spring 2023, Gov. Maura Healey appointed Melissa Hoffer as state climate chief. Not only is she the first climate chief in Massachusetts, but the position is also the first of its kind in the country. Much like the alliance, the creation of Hoffer’s position was designed to facilitate a more unified effort among coastal communities.
““It doesn’t make a lot of sense for each individual community to be planning how it’s going to address a problem when it has a problem that’s similar to its next-door neighbor,” Hoffer said in February. “We maybe don’t have to spend as much time thinking about particular impacts when we can come up with a more regional strategy for helping folks deal with it.”
Earlier in the year, Hoffer visited Marblehead and Swampscott to learn of their coastal-resiliency efforts thus far.
