This issue:
new community resources + newsletters
events, including the next climate action workshop (31st July)
Climate migration to NH
US climate migration
Preface: Climate change could drive migration to New England (WBUR)
Extreme heat events are commonplace in the South. Home insurance is unobtainable in Florida and California. Parts of the country are perpetually on fire. At some point, people start looking for safety (and milder summers). The question isn’t “if”, it’s “when and how many”.
Jesse Keenan, an associate professor of real estate in Tulane University's School of Architecture says: “temperate northern states will get the most inbound migration,”
Keenan, who studies the intersection of climate change adaptation and the built environment, estimated that 50 million Americans could eventually move within the country to regions such as New England or the Upper Midwest in search of a haven from severe climate impacts.
And that’s just the internal US migrants. Internationally, the numbers are on another level.
Most communities aren’t planning ahead
A few places are planning ahead, but most are not. For instance: the climate action plan that Portsmouth is working on will likely include suggested policies for building physical resilience against flooding, but it’s doubtful (based on similar plans) that it will contain provisions for mass inbound migration.
The impact of the arrival of a few million internal refugees is hard to fathom. A future-minded municipality could decide to plan for the impact on housing, services, water, jobs…
“Since change is going to happen, it falls on us to imagine and to figure out what kind of change we actually want to have,” she said. “Whether or not that means the Northeast is going to become a really vibrant place as it once was throughout the region – I think that remains to be seen.” - Prof. Linda Shi, Cornell
Don’t raise the drawbridge on international refugees
Acceptance of refugees peaked in the US in 1980 with 207,000 places made for New Americans. The previous President capped admissions at 12,000 a year. The current President has expanded the numbers, but still not close to 1980s levels. Canada, by contrast, admits about 6x as many refugees per capita. There are approximately 80 million displaced people worldwide.
The greatest number of refugees accepted by New Hampshire in a single year was (drumroll) 516.
Internally-displaced citizens won’t be subject to a quota (unless something drastic changes), but it’s easy to imagine that a combination of resentment and a rightward political shift would mean further limiting the numbers of international refugees settled - when we should be accepting many more.
Feel like doing something? Internationally: Support the IRC. Locally: ask your representatives what plans are being made to manage climate migration to NH. Check out Welcoming New Hampshire - “coming together to make New Hampshire more welcoming for everyone, with a particular focus on welcoming immigrants and refugees”. Watch Ai Weiwei’s stunning movie on this topic: Human Flow.
New resources
Seacoast sustainability directory (from Refill Station)
The Refill Station has started a Seacoast Sustainability Directory for like-minded organizations and businesses. Looks like I’ll need to update my own list!
Sustainability events calendar
Refill has been busy! Check out this awesome calendar.
Portsmouth’s Climate Future newsletter
From the City of Portsmouth. View latest issue + subscribe (top-right button).
Events
See also: Refill Station’s calendar
From 350NH:
July 20, 6:00pm: Climate Change and Mental Health (Virtual)
Join us for a webinar about the impacts of climate change on mental health with our friends at NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action! RSVP here.
July 24, 6pm: Community Power Working Group (Virtual)
Do you want to pass community power in your town? Already working on it? Join the 350NH community power working group to get support from others across the state! Email Jennifer@350nh.org for the meeting link.
Portsmouth’s Climate Action Workshop #2
6:00 - 8:00 PM July 31, 2023, Levenson Room -Portsmouth Public Library or via Zoom.
The Great Green Crab Hunt
Monday, July 24, 2023 • 10:00am–11:00am, Rye, NH
Join the New Hampshire Green Crab Project to search the coast for green crabs! Volunteers will contribute to a study evaluating the potential for a commercial fishery to help control this invasive species.
Our community power post got traction
Earlier this month I published a quick how-to for community power, to encourage more people to pick one of the greener tariffs. So far it’s been opened and read by about twice as many people as usual. Thanks to those who read an earlier draft and gave feedback, especially on my math.
Have you had a conversation with a friend or neighbor about shifting to Clean 50 / Clean 100? How did it go?
Around the web
Geo engineering enters the mainstream
Last week, the U.S. government tiptoed a little closer to the world of science fiction. In a 44-page report it seemed at pains to say was not its own idea, the White House laid out a five-year research plan to explore the development and eventual deployment of solar radiation management, or SRM, technology—the idea of blocking out the sun to slow down climate change.
When it comes to wind power, New Hampshire blows
As New England states rub their hands in gleeful anticipation of an economic benefit from offshore wind power, New Hampshire risks being left on the sidelines.
Coastal New Hampshire communities to get new hydrodynamic flood risk model
The state of New Hampshire is currently working off limited flood risk maps.
The water level maps guiding decision makers on coastal storm and sea-level rise scenarios don’t account for waves, winds, or other physical features that dynamically interact with tidal floodwaters.