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Coordinated Community Planning Framework
Sample Connections

Sample Connections—Energy & Key Issues

Listed below are some interconnections to be explored and characterized by Cape & Islands energy stakeholders through coordinated and collaborative community planning processes:

Air quality: Cape & Islands communities are downwind from major sources of pollution, while local sources of pollution abound. Smog, regional haze, and other air quality problems pose public health risks and can hamper enjoyment of environmental amenities.

Business competitiveness: Energy commodities generally cost more here than elsewhere in New England, hampering the competitiveness of local businesses.

Climate change: Cape & Islands communities are particularly vulnerable to the localized effects of global change resulting from greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil fuel combustion and other sources.

Cost of living: Bills for electricity and heating fuels, along with visits to the gas station, reduce the amount of money available for shelter, food, and other necessities.

Cultural heritage: The Cape-style home design evolved from the need to maximize the efficient use of energy and other resources, while early local industries were powered by the wind, flowing waters, and tidal fluctuations.

Economic development: Most of the money spent on energy in local communities flows to large corporations headquartered elsewhere. Renewable resources provide opportunities to create an advanced energy cluster that builds wealth without degrading the regional environment.

Energy costs: The prices paid for fossil fuels fail to fully account for their significant environmental and social costs, including air and water quality problems, health risks, national security effects, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Land use: Sprawl development reflective of an automobile-centered culture alters community character and demands extensive infrastructure. Village-centered growth enables more efficient use of energy and other resources.

Quality of life: Almost every aspect of daily existence, from the necessities to the amenities, requires energy—at home, on the road, and at work.

Public health: A variety of energy-related risk factors exist, including breathing polluted air, drinking contaminated water, and eating mercury-containing fish.

Tourism: Tourists and seasonal residents fuel the economy, but their demands on electricity and transportation infrastructure impose year-round costs on local communities and full-time residents.

Transportation: Every motorized vehicle consumes energy. Traffic congestion aggravates air quality problems and degrades quality of life as well as visitor experiences.

Water quality: Emissions from power plants, vehicles, and other sources contribute to eutrophication problems, oil and fuel spills threaten marine ecosystems, and gasoline additives and other chemicals have been detected in drinking water supplies.

Water supply and wastewater treatment: Withdrawing water from aquifers, delivering potable water to consumers, and collecting and treating wastewater and contaminated groundwater are all energy-intensive processes.