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Building upon last spring’s highly successful Global Warming Symposium and Fair at CCHS, a free-standing organization has emerged to play a leading role in community efforts to address climate change. This organization, the Concord Climate Action Network (ConcordCAN), greets the New Year with some ‘green’ resolutions for 2008, and the launch of its monthly column, ConcordCAN!

Global warming is a serious threat that may appear overwhelming. ConcordCAN resolves, however, to communicate to all segments of Concord a positive theme: namely, that there is much that Concord can do to help protect our planet. In keeping with ConcordCAN’s mission, the organization intends to:

• Promote sustainability in Concord through local initiatives that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
• Advocate for environmentally positive policy and behavioral changes at the community and state levels, with an eye toward influencing national trends and decisions, and;
• Work in cooperation with local organizations, schools, churches and Town Departments to support a variety of community education programs.

ConcordCAN is a new chapter of the Massachusetts Climate Action Network (MCAN), a statewide organization “dedicated to halting the threat of global climate change” and spearheading efforts “to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, principally carbon dioxide (CO2), in our communities and state.” Working with the MCAN network, as well as through other local venues, ConcordCAN will bring the statewide Low Carbon Diet initiative to Concord’s residents, which is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from residences.

As ConcordCAN looks ahead to the New Year, the organization is committed to working with residents, officials, businesses, government representatives and beyond to address climate change. Several working subgroups have been formed to generate a variety of initiatives in specific areas, as follows:

Community Education and Outreach

Speaker/Film Series. Working closely with C-C Adult & Community Education, ConcordCAN is developing a rich Series that will bring outstanding presentations of scientific facts and theories about climate change, together with effective actions people and communities can take to reduce its negative impact. Keep your eyes open for new Adult Ed/ ConcordCAN offerings.

Low Carbon Diet Initiative. This keystone program is designed to:

• raise resident awareness of personal/household contributions to greenhouse gas emissions (“carbon footprints”);
• provide people with tools to measure their carbon footprints;
• motivate changes in personal habits and household energy practices to reduce these footprints;
• Provide concrete tools to accomplish these reductions.

The Low Carbon Diet can be used by single families, but emphasizes the value of bringing multiple individual/household participants together in groups in order to create a supportive environment that encourages behavioral changes. ConcordCAN has resolved to mobilize the whole community to form these groups. To accomplish this, our members are meeting this month with leaders from Town Government and many different community organizations to enlist their support and involvement.

Localization Initiative

Charged with reducing Concord’s dependence on fossil fuels and reducing the generation of greenhouse gases, this initiative will work to promote a local economy based on local agricultural products, energy and goods. By working with local farmers and merchants through existing local organizations (such as the Concord Agriculture Committee), and through community education about the environmental implications of buying choices, this initiative will prioritize “going local.” Failure to do so carries with it huge volumes of greenhouse gas emissions attributable to transportation of food and goods from distant places.

Advocacy Initiative

ConcordCAN will be keeping a close eye on what can be done at the local and state levels to legislate large scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and will advocate for the needed legislation with governmental bodies and officials.

ConcordCAN’s Steering Committee members bring a rich diversity of experience, talents and passion. The current members of the group are Bob Andrews, Hasso Ewing, Pamela Hathaway, Berni Jenkins, Mark Myles, Lori Pazaris, Andy Proulx, Emily Wheeler, Mary White, Carolyn Wilkins, and Roxanne Zak. This diverse group includes people with strong technical skills and an ample knowledge base in the energy field, together with people familiar in adult education or communication and organizational skills. Different local churches, community organizations, and energy businesses are also represented.

2008 Resolutions

The one thing global warming does not allow is the time for complacency; we must all act, and act now! We believe that Concord can be mobilized to make changes that will help reduce the threat to our planet. Therefore, ConcordCAN resolves to:

• Engage, educate, and enlist the community, pointing the way to actions that all of us can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Strongly encourage ‘going local’ for food and other goods to save on the financial and emissions costs of long distance transportation.
• Be advocates where we see a need for environmental considerations and collaborate with Town Government and other groups where we have common goals.
• Educate and inform the Concord community (via this monthly column) on all of our initiatives.