Port Townsend is better prepared than many other places for the crisis posed by climate change, according to those tasked with addressing the issue. Still, some dangers could threaten the community sooner than later.

“There are two angles to climate action,” said Port Townsend City Council Member Owen Rowe, a member of the Climate Action Committee. “Mitigation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the goal of delaying or reducing the severity of climate changes, and adaptation to already-existing and anticipated changes in the climate.”

Rowe said that transportation in Jefferson County, both personal and commercial, is the biggest component of our greenhouse gas emissions.

“We can mitigate this by switching to electric vehicles, and by making longer-term changes to our land use and living patterns to reduce the need for transportation in the first place.”

Things are moving. The Port of Port Townsend last week submitted a grant to build a barrier that will preserve and protect many local businesses from future climate events. On the waterfront, the Port is requesting a slice of $700 million set aside as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure Communities program.

The Port’s proposed Sea Level Rise Project would extend from the Port Townsend paper mill along the Larry Scott Trail. It would connect with the Boat Haven and wind its way to the ferry terminal.

Such a wall would preserve and protect all the lower-plain