{"id":147885,"date":"2025-09-11T01:55:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T01:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/147885\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T01:55:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T01:55:08","slug":"cape-elizabeth-prepares-to-combat-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/147885\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Elizabeth prepares to combat climate change"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Pond Cove in Cape Elizabeth during a December 2022 storm. (Dan King\/Community Editor)<\/p>\n

Cape Elizabeth is taking a new step to address climate change.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the Town Council approved the climate action plan put together by the Greater Portland Council of Governments.<\/p>\n

After two years and a series of studies, surveys and community workshops, the town set priorities for protecting wetlands and open spaces, improving transportation safety and accessibility and making buildings more energy efficient.<\/p>\n

The plan includes 88 action items, with a range of short- and long-term recommendations, including suggestions to switch to heat pumps, weatherize buildings and opt for electric vehicles as well as adapt building codes, update infrastructure to prepare for inclement weather and reduce fossil fuels in government facilities.<\/p>\n

Town Manager Patrick Fox said it\u2019s going to take town buy-in and participation in addition to the capacity of municipal staff to carry out the vision for this plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that it doesn\u2019t sit on the shelf like other plans,\u201d said Kelly Rehberg, sustainability project manager with GPCOG.<\/p>\n

The town, like others in southern Maine, is starting to feel the effects of climate change. Temperatures<\/a> and sea levels are rising.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing that climate change is happening and that it\u2019s affecting all of our community,\u201d Rehberg said. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing roads flooding<\/a>, invasive species and less snow.\u201d The vulnerability assessment found that over four miles are at risk of flooding during extreme flood events, impacting more than 100 properties.<\/p>\n

The climate action plan will take time to roll out and will require continual investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to do this,\u201d said Town Councilor Andrew Swayze. \u201cWe can\u2019t sit around and wait.\u201d<\/p>\n

The town agreed to align with the Maine Won\u2019t Wait campaign, with the goal of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.<\/p>\n

The town currently emits 74,056 megatons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to 8 million gallons of gasoline, according to the Greenhouse Gas Inventory conducted by GPCOG. Buildings, namely residential, were the biggest emitters. Passenger vehicles were second. Rehberg said that these findings were in line with statewide trends.<\/p>\n

And residents want action. In a survey conducted by GPCOG, more than half of responding Cape Elizabeth residents said they were either extremely worried or worried about climate change. In the same survey, 75% of respondents said the town should be doing something to address climate change.<\/p>\n

Some of these measures are costly, something that Cape residents are concerned about. In the community survey, cost was reported as the No. 1 barrier to reducing emissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis plan isn\u2019t telling people what they can and cannot do,\u201d Rehberg said. \u201cWe\u2019re not taking anything away from people. It\u2019s always recommendations.\u201d In her presentation before the council, she shared that $1 invested in resilience avoids $13 in damages and economic losses.<\/p>\n

This plan is meant to be a living document, something that can be updated each year as the town identifies and develops new goals, she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pond Cove in Cape Elizabeth during a December 2022 storm. (Dan King\/Community Editor) Cape Elizabeth is taking a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-147885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}