KITTERY - When the national government added the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to the base closure list in 2005, the surrounding communities in Maine and New Hampshire joined together to keep the shipyard open.
Their victory, says John Rudolph of the Bi-State Green Project, proved that the two states can work together cooperatively to effect change.
Rudolph said after the shipyard success, the states have worked together to develop ongoing bi-state efforts, including a biotech industry, workforce housing, public transportation and the Bi-State Green Project, a joint venture of the Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission and Rockingham Economic Development Corporation, which hopes to combat climate change by combining government and private efforts to make energy efficiency a key part of the region's economic development.
"The public attitude toward climate change has really shifted dramatically in the last few years," said Rudolph, an environmental journalist who is project coordinator for Bi-State. "But still there's a sense of how do we tackle this huge problem? The Bi-State Green Project is about starting to make some changes for Maine and New Hampshire."
Rudolph spoke at a "Green" forum held at the Kittery Trading Post on Feb. 7, where he was joined by members of the Maine Partners for Cool Communities and representatives from seacoast towns who shared their own success stories.
Rudolph has long reported on climate change firsthand. One of his first assignments as a young reporter in the early 1970s was covering the energy crisis. In 1992, he traveled to the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Rudolph said climate change has been known to the scientific community for more than 50 years. However, when two scientists from the University of Chicago first discussed how they had seen dramatic melting of the polar ice caps, they saw it as a potential benefit. The melting would make the arctic waters more navigable, a critical location during the Cold War. They also guessed that it would take 50 to 60 years for the arctic ice to melt in summer, which was a close prediction.
"In the summer of 2000 the arctic ice was gone from the North Pole," said Rudolph.
Despite the rapid changes and scientists' warning that an 80-percent drop in energy consumption is needed by 2050 to avoid dangerous levels of warming, Rudolph said research supports that such a reduction can be accomplished by current technology - if the effort simultaneously tackles energy efficiency, sustainable economic development and the reduction of greenhouse gases.
It is here Rudolph sees the opportunity for Seacoast communities to work together, creating a climate change industry that would not only work to reduce emissions, but would also provide economic growth.
He cited solar energy along with along with increased use of wind power, biomass fuels such as wood and biodiesel - which may soon be developed out of algae instead of soybeans as use of soybeans has been criticized for creating a carbon footprint that offsets the benefit of biodiesel, as some of those energy efficient industries.
With reported revenues of $775 million in 2007, Rudolph said that solar energy is a big business now in other parts of the country.
"Why shouldn't we in the Seacoast have a piece of that solar energy pie?" he asked.
Energy efficient building also offers opportunities. According to the Jordan Institute, a New Hampshire organization that funds research and policy initiatives that explore the link between environment and public health, older buildings are responsible for 59 percent of New Hampshire's energy usage. The institute has started a revolving loan fund for schools and municipal buildings where borrowers repay on their utility bills.
"Retrofitting existing buildings could prevent millions of dollars from leaving our local economy," said Rudolph.
Sarah Brown of Cool Kittery also found that financial incentives are important initiates for getting their towns to adopt conservation methods, including a wind turbine recently installed at the town dump. She said they were able to save the town money with increased energy efficiency, which made a difference to the town.
"Now it's fiscally responsible for towns and businesses to look at alternative energies," she said.
At the meeting, members of the Maine chapter of the Sierra Club handed the town representatives "Cool Kits" that included resources for not only going Green, such as tips for greening your home, eating locally, renewable energy, biodiesel, ocean tidal power, waste management and recycling, but also organizing initiatives on a local level.
"That's the great thing about these Cool Kits and all the towns that have already done this, because you don't have to reinvent the wheel," said Brown, who cited the York Energy Efficiency Committee for being a leader in the region and one of her inspirations.
Increasing communication is the first focus of the Bi-State Green Project, which is working to develop a searchable database that will have as many resources as possible.
"You get thousands and thousands of sites, and it's really hard to find the information that you're looking for," said Rudolph. "What we really need is a one-stop shop."
Maine Partners for Cool Communities include the American Lung Association of Maine, Maine Council of Churches, Maine Energy Investment Corporation, Physicians for Social Responsibility of Maine and the Sierra Club, Maine Chapter.
To find out more visit www.coolmaine.org.
