Recently, bigger ocean storms have knocked out hundreds of Maine lobster docks, intense rainfalls have kept the Androscoggin River well above flood level for many days in April and power was out for 10 hours to several days in parts of the Midcoast. Increasingly intense weather events are becoming the new norm, so many Maine towns are developing plans to accommodate and reduce damage from greater flooding, heat and wind damage.

The Town of Topsham is using state grant money to update its basic Climate Action Plan from 2012. FB Environmental is gathering natural resource data on Topsham’s fields, forests and 14 farms, which reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially when managed to add carbon to the soils. Money obtained by Topsham’s volunteer Energy Committee from the Governor’s Office of Planning, Innovation and the Future is paying for evaluation of town risks to infrastructure of roads, houses and power distribution lines, and gathering best ideas from you and other towns about reducing these risks.

Since these changes are of concern to the whole community, Topsham wants lots of participation from residents, business owners and people who work in town to let us know the changes you have seen due to increasing climate risks. What are you concerned about and have seen where you live and/or work in Topsham? Please fill out our Climate Action Survey at topshammaine.com/climate-action-plan. There are also paper copies inside the Topsham Town Office.

Topsham will also be hosting two public forums beginning in July offering in-person participation to hear what risks and resources have been identified, and you can let the town know which hazards you think Topsham should focus on preventing or mitigating.

How have hotter, wetter and winter weather with more freezing and thawing affected your outdoor recreation? I was greatly saddened that this winter for the first time ever neither Bath nor Brunswick was able to keep open their skating ponds. I got in two days of skiing all season, and even in colder Carrabassett Valley, cross country skiing this winter was poor quality and dangerous with ice following snow. How many fewer days were snowmobilers able to use Topsham trails this winter? Have increased numbers of mosquitos and ticks discouraged you from walking the many fine trails in town of the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, town and state?

Recognizing the rapid deleterious effects of warming and acidification on the fish and clams of the Gulf of Maine and on Maine forests and farms, the Maine Legislature has passed laws requiring Maine to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and become 100% carbon neutral by 2045. Carbon neutral means total fossil fuel use and emissions of methane and carbon dioxide in a town will be balanced by well managed farms, forests and wetlands that absorb and sequester the same amount of carbon emissions. Stores, cement making, transportation, building heat and fossil fuel–generated electricity are some of the greenhouse gas emitters. With your help, Topsham’s Climate Action Plan will highlight the changes residents want to make to lower our greenhouse gas emissions and protect our ocean-based resources of clams, oysters and mussels that can’t grow in estuaries made more acid by fossil fuel emissions. Please fill out the Climate Action Plan survey and come to summer meetings to tell our community ways to reduce climate caused risk that can damage town buildings, roads and infrastructure.

Maine already generates more than half of it’s electricity from renewable sources such as solar and wind that don’t produce greenhouse gas emissions. Several solar farms are being built and proposed in Topsham that will provide green electricity through Community Solar subscriptions for homes and businesses to reduce greenhouse gas. Topsham town buildings use green electricity from two community solar farms, saving money and lowering greenhouse gas.

Replacing town mowers, trucks and police cars with electric and hybrid models would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Brunswick has purchased several hybrid police cars, which improve air quality, are quieter and have excellent acceleration. The two electric cars we own have much lower operating costs of fuel and maintenance, since there is no engine to clean, repair or maintain. State rebates from Efficiency Maine and federal tax credits for electric cars and trucks reduce your initial costs.

Installing the Level 1 lowest-power electric-charging cord that came with our Ioniq 5 and Bolt allows us to charge one car 12 hours overnight, enough to commute 76 miles daily. This also maintains a 20% battery charge that will ensure the longest battery life. We have also installed a faster Level 2 charger, that cost $600 plus an electrician’s fee to install, to fully charge up from 20% to 80% in seven hours. Several new, highest-power Level 3 chargers are available throughout urban areas of Maine to give very quick charges near your workplace or home. Four hundred and fifty-nine public charging stations in Maine were working in 2023 and more have been added this year.

Please fill out the Topsham Energy Committee’s Climate Action Plan survey. Please tell us climate effects you have seen and what concerns you most. Energy Committee meetings are open to the public on the fourth Monday of each month at 4:30 p.m. in the Town Hall. We have an opening for another member, so come hear what we’re doing and join the fun.

Nancy Chandler studied Animal Behavior and Anthropology at Stanford University, then received her master’s in biology education in her home state of North Carolina at U.N.C. Chapel Hill. She is passionate about teaching energy conservation and hopes to get you thinking about how to use energy use efficiently to save both money and reduce greenhouse warming gases.

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