Climate Action Net

About us:

CAN is an association of island and peninsula neighbors who accept the consensus of our climate scientists that we are in a climate emergency and advocate for science-based climate policy. Our commitment is to keep climate concerns at the forefront of local public conversations, be they town meetings, church social justice groups, schools, civic meetings or informal social gatherings. CAN works closely with Rob Shetterly of Americans Who Tell The Truth who has helped to shape and present a number of climate events. Every effort is being made for CAN to be of an inter-generational nature. How grateful we are for our CAN high school and college climate interns!

 

History:

CAN’s roots are in the ecological initiative of Reversing Falls Sanctuary (RFS) which remains its fiscal sponsor. More than a decade ago (primarily through the efforts of Ralph Chapman and Rob Shetterly), RFS convened the Shelter Energy Livelihood Food or SELF Conference, which focused on local resilience. This was followed by a series on the Transition Town model of community sustainability which, in turn, was followed by a six-part symposium on climate change (now labeled climate crisis or emergency), titled Caring for the Earth. CAN has offered many climate presentations and conducted several climate actions over the years in response to the climate emergency. In addition to the programs noted above the major events include:

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- Will Children Save the Environment (Our Children’s Trust, Juliana vs US)

- Climate Convergence Conference

- Climate Open-Mic at Tinder Hearth

- Solarizing the Peninsula

- Bringing Window Dressers to our area

- The GreenHouse Project

- Building the Brooksville Elementary School Greenhouse

-The Deer Isle Stonington High School Paintings Project

-Black Friday Rally for Reducing Consumerism

 

 

Structure:

The CAN Council, Steering Committee, Coordinator and the ongoing youth Climate Empowerment Project involving CAN High School Climate Interns are the primary units of CAN. The interactions among these units generate climate-action projects such as those listed above. The projects often require a large number of volunteers, many of whom come from the Reversing Falls Sanctuary (RFS) community. One such project, The Climate Convergence Conference was only possible because 70+ volunteers participated in its production. The WindowDresser builds also gathered close to 100 volunteers: some participating in the fabrication of the window inserts, some bringing breakfast and lunch each day of the build, and some providing live music.