Campus Compact, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the public purposes of higher education, recently announced that College of the Atlantic will serve as one of the nine inaugural host sites for its Campus Climate Action Corps program. Campus Climate Action Corps is a new AmeriCorps program from Campus Compact focused on building the capacity of campuses and their community partners to affect behavioral and technical change, leading to energy efficiency and improved at-risk ecosystems by implementing local solutions for underserved households and communities.
As a host site, College of the Atlantic will support a team of 1 full time and 4 part time AmeriCorps members who will contribute to sustainability efforts in the MDI community. The AmeriCorps members will host community environmental education events, conduct home energy assessments, including home energy assistance referrals, and implement low-tech home energy interventions to help advance public knowledge and increase motivation to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions.
“We are delighted to be launching the Campus Climate Action Corps AmeriCorps Program with such a diverse and dedicated group of host sites,” said Sally Slovenski, CCAC Program Director. “Climate change is an existential crisis facing our planet. To lessen the impacts of climate change and reduce human-induced carbon emissions, we need to do everything we can to mobilize higher education institutions as an important part of the solution. By leveraging the resources and expertise of higher education, there is huge potential to make a real impact on climate change.”
“We are committed to transitioning our campus off fossil fuels by 2030. Hosting Campus Climate Action Corps members will help us achieve this goal, and help expand our impact into the broader community to reduce energy use, carbon emissions and heating costs,” said COA Director of Energy David Gibson. “It is now possible for every home to eliminate fossil fuel consumption using off the shelf technologies that have been proven to work in Maine. CCAC members will lead community outreach to share successful practices to address climate change.”
COA will join eight other Campus Climate Action Corps host sites this year in implementing this program, including.
- Central Connecticut State University (New Britain, CT)
- Colby-Sawyer College (New London, NH)
- Lasell University (Newton, MA)
- Middlesex Community College (Bedford, MA)
- St. Lawrence University (Canton, NY)
- Stetson University (DeLand, FL)
- Southern Maine Community College (Portland, ME)
- University of Maine (Orono, ME)
Learn more at compact.org/ccac.