For immediate release
February 27th, 2024
Contact: Madeline Jensen, Planner, Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System,
madeline.jensen@bactsmpo.org, (207) 974-3111

Penobscot Climate Action Releases Final Reports for Public Comment

Bangor, Maine – Penobscot Climate Action is a local initiative led by the Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System (BACTS), City of Bangor, and Town of Orono to strengthen the region’s people, infrastructure, and economy in the face of a changing climate.

The Penobscot Climate Action initiative has built out valuable resources and engaged the community to identify high priority and high impact strategy recommendations. This process sets up the region to rapidly begin implementation and competitively pursue federal and state resilience funding.

Phase 1 of the initiative, which ran throughout the course of 2022, focused on outlining local changing conditions and identifying what infrastructure and communities are at risk. A Regional Vulnerability Assessment and a Greenhouse Gas Inventory were developed during this period as baseline assessments to inform decisions in the second phase.

The goal of Phase 2 was to outline specific, actionable strategies which may be implemented to address the needs identified in Phase 1. In order to do this, it was highly important to engage local municipal staff, the public, and major stakeholders. Ultimately this outreach culminated in a suite of strategies curated to this region’s needs and vision for the future. The highest priority actions take the form of toolkits which give specific steps for implementation; identifies key partners; and outlines useful precedents, resources, and possible funding sources for each action. The goal of these resources is to assist municipalities and key stakeholders across the region with effective and efficient implementation of resilience efforts.

As Phase 2 draws to a close, we are looking for feedback on the final deliverables. We encourage people to review and comment on the draft Executive Summary, Appendices, and 10 Climate Action Toolkits found on our project website at: https://www.penobscotclimateaction.org/reportsandresources.

Comments will be accepted through March 5th, 2024.

For more information about Penobscot Climate Action, please visit the project website at: https://www.penobscotclimateaction.org or contact Madeline Jensen, BACTS Planner, at madeline.jensen@bactsmpo.org or (207) 974-3111.