Our History
A Climate to Thrive got its start in the fall of 2015 when a group of Mount Desert Island residents began gathering over potlucks to plan climate action rooted on Mount Desert Island and focused on transitioning the island off fossil fuels while building local thriving. As such, ACTT grew out of the shared vision of a diverse group of community members.
ACTT formally launched in January 2016 at a public event with over 200 participants. Community members came together to plan initial projects focused on renewable energy, transportation, building performance, zero waste, food systems, and public policy. ACTT formalized as a nonprofit, 501-c3 organization in 2017 (after operating under fiscal sponsorship from the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund).
ACTT Impacts
Elevenfold increase in locally-owned, responsibly-site solar production on Mount Desert Island
Over 150 home energy audits focused on improving home energy efficiency
Installed a corridor of electric vehicle charging stations throughout Downeast Maine and on the Blue Hill Peninsula
Tremont municipal solar array on capped landfill
Long Pond Community Solar Farm established in partnership with ReVision Energy with ownership model
Over $350,000 obtained for Mount Desert Island towns through state grant programs to support community climate action and resilience building
Tremont Community Resilience Plan
Mount Desert Climate Action Plan
Over 70 public educational programs focused on building local knowledge and leadership
Over 50 youth internships hosted
ACTT in the News
A Climate to Thrive featured in two stories on Maine Public’s Climate Driven Series
Bangor Daily News article on the Climate Ambassadors Program
The problem with solar energy isn’t investment. It’s location. Story through National Public Radio/WAMU’s 1A featuring A Climate to Thrive in first segment
Maine network mentors activists working on clean energy transition in both Energy News Network and the Maine Monitor
Co-op advocates push for more community-owned solar farms, a piece about cooperative solar ownership featuring ACTT's work and ACTT's Solar Coordinator, Beth Woolfolk.
Three years of Local Leads the Way program, supporting community-driven climate action initiatives throughout Maine with monthly meetings and trainings as well as individual mentorship to cultivate collaboration, resource-sharing, peer-to-peer support and reduce duplication of effort
Recipient of two prizes through the Department of Energy, including one of 25 selected out of over 1,000 applicants for the SOLVE IT prize
Over 60 graduates of the Climate Ambassadors Program, many of whom are now leading climate action initiatives in their communities
Participant in the Department of Energy’s Energy Transition Initiative Partnership Project through which ACTT is bringing technical assistance, provided by Sandia National Laboratories, to MDI, including analysis of social burden related to prolonged power outages and initial resilience hub microgrid design
ACTT Executive Director served on the Maine Climate Council’s Energy Working Group for the 2024 Maine Won’t Wait update, bringing community-driven and equitable energy transition priorities to the plan update