At the January 8, 2024 Town Council meeting the council voted 5-0 in favor of approving the Town of Cape Elizabeth Resolution to join the Community Resilience Partnership, a program of the Maine Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future.  The program provides grants to municipalities and Tribal Governments for activities that lower energy expenses, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase community resilience in alignment with the state's climate action plan and goals.

Vince Faherty, a member of the town's Energy Committee, explained that the committee became aware of the program after being tasked by the Town Council to work with Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) to develop a Climate Action Plan.  Faherty explained that the passage of the resolution is required before Cape Elizabeth can become eligible for grant funding through the state's Community Resilience Partnership.  Another requirement, which was completed on November 30, 2023, is that the town host a community workshop.  The workshop focused on providing a baseline understanding of climate change, current impacts, the process for climate action planning, and an overview inventory of greenhouse gas.  An additional requirement, which is currently underway by the Energy Committee, is to complete an inventory of Cape Elizabeth's climate-resilience-related actions.

The Energy Committee will continue in this work alongside GPCOG who is assisting with the navigation of the program's application process.  This includes a newly launched website: Cape Climate Action.  The website includes a link to a the Climate Awareness & Concerns survey, in which the community is asked to complete.  Residents may provide input on the website, as well as access past and future workshop events, project updates, and a list of climate hazards.  

The website and Cape Elizabeth's climate action development will be located at the bottom of the homepage and on the Energy Committee's webpage.