Water Resource Protection | Climate Change
State Climate Change Action Plans
New England Governors
Connecticut
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New York
Rhode Island
Vermont
Connecticut
- The Adaptation Subcommittee of the Connecticut Governor’s Steering Committee on Climate Change (GSC) produced a report on the impacts of climate change on Connecticut agriculture, infrastructure, natural resources and public health (www.ctclimatechange.com ). The Subcommittee is currently working on a report of adaptation strategies to address the impacts identified in the first report and will be gathering public comment in February and March 2011.
- The CT Department of Environmental Protection and ICLEI, through the EPA’s Long Island Sound Study and Climate Ready Estuaries Programs, has received funding to launch/create “ART”, an Adaptation Resource Toolkit and has already formed a steering committee to guide what ART should be to be useful to all communities in CT. The newly launched Connecticut Climate Network has started to bring together CT municipalities to see what their adaptation and mitigation needs are, as well as to share what might be useful to contain in ART. The first meeting in November was well attended and received, and more are planned to assist communities in supporting and building on each other’s climate initiatives.
- For information on Connecticut’s Global Warming Solutions Act and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategies visit: http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2684&q=322070&depNav_GID=1619
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Maine
- Maine's state-level climate adaptation planning is guided by a legislative resolve in 2009 directing the Department of Environmental Protection to convene stakeholders to "evaluate the options and actions available to Maine people and businesses to prepare for and adapt to the most likely impacts of climate change." Over 75 organizations, agencies, businesses, and public interest groups participated in a 35-member coordinating committee, or on one of four working groups that carried out initial assessments of Maine's vulnerability in the natural, coastal, built, and human/social environments. Baseline information came from a published report, Maine's Climate Future: An Initial Assessment, produced by the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine.
The Department delivered a report, People and Nature Adapting to a Changing Climate: Charting Maine’s Course on its findings, together with 65+ recommendations, in February of 2010. The Report charts the state's course toward a more comprehensive plan. Many of the recommendations are currently being acted on by state agencies, municipalities, and the academic community, such as developing climate change awareness materials for municipalities, initiating local planning processes, or identifying key natural system disruption thresholds for monitoring, using existing resources.
http://www.maine.gov/dep/oc/adapt/
http://www.maine.gov/dep/air/greenhouse/
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Massachusetts
- The Global Warming Solutions Act, passed by the Massachusetts legislature in 2008, required that the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs convene an advisory committee who would be responsible for evaluating climate change adaptation strategies and preparing a report. EEA and its agencies were actively involved in coordinating with the advisory committee and its subcommittees. Several other agencies, including the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Transportation, the Division of Insurance, the Office of Travel and Tourism, and the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development actively participated in the process. Working in six subcommittees --- Key Infrastructure, Human Health and Welfare, Natural Resources and Habitat, Local Economy and Government, Coastal Zone and Ocean, and Land Use --- the committee reviewed the science to describe "predicted climate change," identified vulnerabilities that could occur with predicted climate change, and evaluated strategies that could address these vulnerabilities. Each committee wrote a report that was to be converted into a chapter of an overall report which will be submitted to the legislature. The draft report is undergoing final review, editing, and design at EEA and should be available to the public in 2011. http://www.mass.gov/dep/public/committee/ccaac.htm
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New Hampshire
- The NH Coastal Adaptation Workgroup (NHCAW) developed and offered two workshops in 2010. The first was Hazard Mitigation Plans and Climate Adaptation Workshop at the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association designed to educate professional planners on how to incorporate climate adaptation planning into Hazard Mitigation Plans. The second was Water, Weather, Climate and Community Workshop at the Hugh Gregg Coastal Conservation Center GBNERR which was the first in a series of workshops that will cover a wide variety of topics that will provide municipalities the science based information and tools to adapt to a changing climate.
- A NH coastal climate assessment is nearing completion by Carbon Solutions NE and GBNERR, titled Climate Change in the Great Bay Watershed: Past, Present and Future. This report and follow-up materials will provide specific decision support information regarding climate for state and municipal decision makers. The report is being drafted now and should be complete by the spring 2011 when a workshop will be offered.
- The NH Department of Environmental Services in conjunction with the NH Department of Health and Human Services received funding from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) through the Centers for Disease Control to initiate a needs assessment to determine the state public health system’s ability to respond to Climate Change. Members from the state public health system (SPHS) attended a series of focus groups to assess the climate change capacity of the SPHS. The resulting Needs Assessment was then used to create a Public Health and Climate Change Strategic Plan. With additional funding from ASTHO, the implementation of the Strategic Plan will begin in 2011. The work of this group will be incorporated into an overall state-wide Adaptation Plan.
- NH Climate Change Policy Task Force and Climate Action Plan http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/air/tsb/tps/climate/action_plan
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Rhode Island
- The Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) in January 2008 adopted a new section in the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Plan entitled “Climate Change and Sea Level Rise” that includes findings based on best available science and policies to be implemented within the state coastal zone.
- The CRMC adopted the Ocean Special Area Management Plan in October 2010 to facilitate the siting of a utility-scale offshore wind farm to mitigate for and offset fossil fuel consumption in the production of electricity.
- “RI StormSmart Coasts” website with URI Coastal Resources Center & RI Sea Grant: http://stormsmartcoasts.org/
- “Rhode Island Climate Risk Reduction Act of 2010,” will require comprehensive community plans to include adaptation provisions for sea level rise and climate change, as well as the creation of a Climate Change Commission.
- Climate Change and Rhode Island: http://www.dem.ri.gov/climate/index.htm
- Rhode Island Green House Gas Process: http://righg.raabassociates.org/index.asp
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