If you have some time off over the upcoming holiday, take a few minutes to look at the most recent draft of Brunswick’s Climate Action Plan. It’s a lot more interesting than you might think and, while reading the whole 111-page document might be a bit overwhelming, there is a lot to be learned from just looking at the executive summary — enough to be able to provide feedback to the Climate Action Committee before the plan is presented to the Town Council on Dec. 16. I have written about Brunswick’s Climate Action Plan previously in this column and outlined the basics of the process involved in its creation over the past year and a half. One of the major goals of the process has been to gather and incorporate public feedback. As such, in this final stretch, the town has put out a public survey, which is open until Dec. 5.
The Climate Action plan includes many components, all of which can be reviewed online at brunswickme.gov/654/Climate-Action-Plan. Or, if you are someone who, like me, needs to read lengthy materials on paper, you can check out a full copy at the Curtis Memorial Library and also at the Planning and Development Office in Town Hall to review. The executive summary lays out the big picture changes occurring like those in water and air temperature patterns as well as precipitation and storm frequency and intensity. These are all impacts with a far greater reach than the limits of Brunswick. But, it also gets down to the specifics of what defines Brunswick both in terms of environment and resources and also its people and their demographics.
On the watery side of things, Brunswick has about 7.6 square miles of water, as compared to its total area of 54 square miles. That’s a big chunk which requires a lot of thought with regard to how it is managed — particularly with changing environmental factors. A couple of interesting statistics are listed in the plan including that 41% of that watery area is intertidal and 37% is shallow water, with only 22% being classified as “deep” water. This is illustrative of the large intersection between land and water, particularly when given the tides that can drastically change where the boundary lies. As such, one of the goals of the plan is to “improve watershed stormwater runoff and coastal bluff management,” another topic I’ve written about several times in this column.
Some of this information falls under the “Vulnerability Assessment” bit of the draft plan. In addition to addressing the protection of water resources, the other focus areas include transportation, property and resource access, ecosystem conversation, challenges to public health and addressing equity. One could easily argue, however, that any of these topics could feed back into how we take care of our marine resources including the people that live, work, and enjoy the seafood harvested from our coastal waters.
Another interesting set of statistics laid out in the “Greenhouse Gas Inventory” appendix includes that 30% of Brunswick households are defined as “cost burdened” and 29% of housing is occupied by renters. This is important in understanding that the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions are commercial and residential buildings, the inputs being from heating and cooling. One other statistic relevant both economically and environmentally is that
Eighty percent of people who work in Brunswick commute from outside of town, which results in another large category of emissions — personal vehicles. The Plan lays out a number of strategies to reduce emissions with the goal of net zero emissions community-wide by 2050.
There is much more detail in each of these sections and also specifics included in the “Implementation Matrix” for those who want to dive deeper. There are also a number of ways to provide input at this point including the survey, which can be found at the website references above. If you get stuck along the way, you can save your progress and come back to it later, but the whole thing doesn’t take more than 15 minutes to complete. If you’re really on a roll, you can dive into the 198 question “bonus survey” with the caveat that you don’t have to answer all 198 questions. And, if you’re not into surveys, there is a community forum on Nov. 25 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Curtis Memorial Library, or you can provide feedback in person during the Climate Action office hours on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 2 p.m. in Room 217 at the Town Hall.
Heading into Thanksgiving week, I’m grateful that we have a process in our town to address some of these challenges and also for the opportunity to provide feedback on the things that shape its future.
Susan Olcott is the director of strategic partnerships at Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.