To the Editor:
The Martha’s Vineyard Interfaith Climate Action Team (ICAT) urges that the Martha’s Vineyard Commission deny the Katama Meadows proposal. The proposal would disrupt a significant habitat corridor, thus impairing the biodiversity of the area.
If approved, Katama Meadows would lead to:
- Increased nitrogen pollution in Edgartown Great Pond, which will cause irreparable harm to shellfish, eelgrass, and our ability to both harvest from and recreate in its waters.
- Significant habitat destruction and fragmentation of one of the last wildlife throughways in Edgartown.
- Clearing 28 acres of forest, resulting in about 1,500 tons of lost carbon storage — a massive carbon footprint antithetical to the MVC’s Climate Action Plan, adopted just four years ago.
As a faith-based group that promotes sustainable use of Martha’s Vineyard lands and waters, ICAT views the Katama Meadows proposed project as directly contrary to the MVC Climate Action Plan, of which we are supporters.
Martha’s Vineyard Interfaith Climate Action Team
