Climate change and human activity are making parts of Cape Cod uninhabitable. Many don't want to spend the money to fix the problem.
runoff from the land. And where does much of that runoff come from? From antiquated or inadequate septic systems. The rest is from fertilizers used by a few farmers and lots of Cape Cod residents who treasure a nice green lawn around their quaint little Cape Cod cottage with its gray shingles and white trim.visited Mashpee recently to interview Ashley Fisher, the town’s director of natural resources, who is on a mission to discover the cause of the town’s declining oyster population.
The result is expanding aquatic dead zones and shrinking shellfish harvests, the collapse of vegetation like eelgrass — a buffer against worsening storms, water too dangerous to touch, and a smell Fisher describes rather charitably, as “earthy.
Massachusetts has proposed a mandate that would require communities on Cape Cod to fix the problem within 20 years through a mix of upgrading the septic tanks used by homes that aren’t connected to city sewer systems and by building new networks of public sewer lines. Local officials say the plan would run into the billions of dollars and push housing costs beyond the means of many residents.
This is what happens when an economic system imposes no costs for the disposal of waste products. Humans have been living this way for centuries, always passing the costs of environmental degradation on to their heirs. Let it be someone else’s problem to solve. Meanwhile, we get to kick the can down the road a little longer.
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