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Maine Partners for Cool Communities

WHY IT STARTED

Maine Partners for Cool Communities has grown organically since 2003 through partners working together on various projects related to environmental and global warming concerns: creating no-idling zones in school and community areas or jointly developing conferences that articulated the link between global warming, the environment, and public health issues. In 2005, a Sierra Club program called “cool cities” was launched when Mayor Nichols from Seattle initiated the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which called on all mayors to take action on climate change when it became obvious that the federal government would take no action on the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. The mayor wanted to build a mandate across the country and provide the building blocks for the nation to meet the standards called for in the Kyoto Protocols.

The collaboration of those involved in Maine Partners for Cool Communities has evolved since 2003. Several partners had all been working together on various projects focused on climate change, air quality, public health, protecting environment, but had not formed themselves as a formal partnership. They realized they were often in the same room, working on similar issues from the grass roots level, with common constituents. By 2005, the group decided to explore a formal partnership. The first meetings of Maine Partners for Cool Communities were a series of small gatherings for discussion about actions that might bring together communities and citizens around energy and environmental issues. There were originally five partners that included the Sierra Club Maine Chapter, Maine Council of Churches, Physicians for Social Responsibility of Maine, American Lung Association of Maine, and Maine Energy Investment Corporation. Each of the original five partners brought a passion and deep concern about moving forward on these important issues in communities around the state. They decided to speak of “cool communities” rather than cities, as called for by the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, since Maine has few large urban areas, but many small communities.

WHO IS INVOLVED

Not everyone who initially explores a possibility of collaboration becomes part of the resulting partnership. Originally five partners were involved in preliminary discussions; however, due to organizational downsizing and mergers, the current partnership now includes three representatives – Maine Council of Churches, Sierra Club Maine Chapter, and Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) of Maine. Andy Burt represents the Maine Council of Churches where she works as a consultant on projects related to food and faith; Joan Saxe and Claudia King both bring the Sierra Club perspective; and Karen DiAndrea speaks for Physicians for Social Responsibility. These organizational representatives are often joined by Barbara DiBiase, sustainability consultant for several Maine towns.

HOW THEY WORK TOGETHER

The partners work together informally, with a Steering Committee that includes the three current partners. They meet when they need to meet; they are a partnership, not a formal entity or 501(C)3. A monthly e-newsletter called “Cool News” keeps volunteers and organizations apprised of current activities and public policy on global warming and smart energy solutions. Joan Saxe and Andy Burt write and disseminate this newsletter through the Sierra Club office with input from other partners. 

An example that illustrates how partners work together is the Green Sneakers project. In 2009, after attending an international energy meeting in Copenhagen, Joan Saxe returned, called all the partners together and said, “We need to ramp this up…we need to get on the streets.” Partners recognized that community volunteers can sometimes burn out when working on issues over a long period, so they decided to develop a fun project to mobilize communities and volunteers and the Green Sneakers project was born. At the time, Governor Baldacci had set an energy goal that by 2030 every ME home and 50% of ME businesses would be weatherized. Partners took this as a challenge, knowing that the only way this would happen would be to mobilize the citizenry. Claudia King identified a slogan – “walkin’ the talk for smart energy solutions” – and by May 2010, the Green Sneakers Project had been launched in four communities; by October 2010 it had spread to 14 communities. In 2010, 125 volunteers paired up to reach 2,000 homes going door to door to educate people about the advantages of weatherizing their homes.

Community volunteers were recruited through the faith community, Sierra Club, environmental groups, PSR, Rotary Clubs, high schools, and strategically-placed posters calling for volunteers. The volunteers were trained by an Efficiency Maine certified contractor, who created an online training for volunteers. Partners and energy professionals wrote an eight-page tabloid containing case studies of homes with energy upgrades and the savings they had achieved. The Green Sneakers effort has continued to expand in other ways: an Advisory Committee for Green Sneakers and an energy training project “Future Homeowners” for high school-age youth have developed in the mid-coast area. Partners are training volunteers who provide free home energy visits and  “walk throughs”, talking  homeowners through the home energy audit/upgrade process and steering them to Efficiency Maine’s certified auditors. A spring 2010 project asked those homeowners who have had energy audits/upgrades to display a Green Sneakers sign on their lawns, building further interest and momentum around the mid-coast.

CHALLENGES

Funding for the Cool Communities efforts is an ongoing challenge; over the years, partners have taken on this work as volunteers. Recently the partners have learned the importance of placing someone well-connected in communities on the ground to move the work forward. Through a small grant, Nancy Glassman was hired as a community organizer in January 2011. She is a former art teacher in the mid-coast area and has contacts throughout the region. She brings a passion and commitment to the work and partners now see this local presence as an important foundational component that could be replicated in other communities.

The partners of “cool communities” are spread around the state, so communication can sometimes be challenging; partners try to meet in central locations whenever possible. Partners are aware, however, of the importance of building momentum through citizen activists and community connectors in local communities where they can be the most effective.

PROGRESS TOWARDS GOAL

Maine Partners for Cool Communities is currently focusing on documenting the results of its grassroots efforts. Partners cite several accomplishments: by December 2009, after a few years of working on “cool communities”, 26 Maine communities had signed on to the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement or set up an energy committee and completed some of the steps in the protocols; through the spring 2010 Green Sneakers project, with just a brief conversation at their door, 200 people signed up for a free home visit and audit, with 60 signing up in the mid-coast area alone.

Partners are driven by the goal of having every Maine home become energy efficient by 2030. The Maine Partners for Cool Communities wants to play a significant role in making that happen. They are currently planning another Green Sneakers canvass in York County in October 2011, in collaboration with the Seacoast Energy Initiative. They believe that Maine people are most often generous and committed to energy efficiency and reversing climate change, if the partners of this network can find innovative creative ways to reach them.