(Still) Making the Climate Everyone’s Business

It’s been, as usual, a busy and exciting string of months for CA-CP’s business program. One big piece of news—CA-CP signed a formal agreement with The Poland Spring Company – Hollis Maine Bottling plant to help develop a strategy to reduce their CO2 emissions. In addition to committing to begin a comprehensive GHG inventory of their newest facility, the company, a division of Nestle Waters of North America, is considering an energy audit which would identify of low-hanging fruit--that is, efficiency projects that will have a quick financial payback.

On another front, the prognosis is good in terms of work with our first non-profit health care provider. In the nine months since signing a Memorandum of Understanding with York Hospital, the 79-bed facility, located in one of the state’s fastest growing communities, has signed a contract to purchase renewable energy through the Maine Power Option program, has begun collecting data for their emission inventory, and is close to making a decision on greening their vehicle fleet.

In other business news, our Communications department is working closely with representatives of Shaw’s Supermarket to develop a successful follow up to last year’s Climate Change slide show. In recognition of Earth Day, CA-CP produced a series of images of New England locations that could be significantly impacted by Global Warming, that were displayed on the check-out monitors at Shaw’s stores across the region. Look for them at a supermarket near you in the coming months. The captivating photos by award-winning photographers Jerry & Marcy Monkman of Portsmouth, NH, are also featured on our website.

Committed as ever to climate action leadership, the Timberland Company is wrapping up work on its latest round of energy efficiency initiatives. Under our two-year-old partnership, the outdoor clothing and footwear retailer has upgraded to more efficient lighting in its New Hampshire headquarters; completed a comprehensive emission inventory; and purchased green tags, to offset the carbon from its retail stores. Timberland’s most recent project focuses on reducing the amount of electricity consumed at two major US distribution centers.

And finally, we chose the December 9th forum in Westborough, MA, Solutions to Climate Change: Business Stepping Up to release our latest case study. The five-page report details the extensive efforts by Verizon Communications to rein in an annual energy bill of almost $500-million. After creating an executive level team to focus on consumption and strategies to provide affordable, dependable backup power, Verizon invested in energy efficiency projects that have resulted in annual savings of close to $20-million, while enlisting a cadre of employee volunteers to identify additional areas for improvement. While making the connection between energy and the environment the telecommunications giant has earned a number of awards, while becoming a role model for the industry through its research into the use of fuel cells and geothermal energy and its ground breaking work with the State University of NY on the future of telecommunications equipment control centers. (To learn more, you can check out the case study at http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/information/pdf/verizon.pdf.)

—Bob Sheppard