Eyes on the Future
Donors join Maine's efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change
Maine has more allies in the battle against climate change and the quest for carbon neutrality – and they’re ready to help where tax dollars fall short or when institutions need resources.
They are philanthropists from foundations large and small, fundholders, and individual donors, all inspired to support the state’s quest to reduce the impacts of climate change on residents, communities, industries, and ecosystems.
Alexander “Sandy” Buck, president of his family’s Portland-based Horizon Foundation, worked with the Maine Community Foundation to establish the new Maine Climate Leadership Fund. The fund will enable donors to deploy dollars directly to the state’s Maine Climate Council and also support pilot projects that demonstrate benefits of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and community resiliency.
Buck serves as a philanthropic representative to the Maine Climate Council, which will prepare an action plan by December 1, 2020, with ways to achieve a carbon neutral economy in the state by 2045. He’s been a longtime champion for Maine’s environment and was an early member of the Environmental Funders Network founded by Bo Norris, his co-leader of the Maine Climate Leadership Fund.
Buck is also a grandfather who knows the joys of growing up with woods and streams in a state that drew him here as a child, for college, and then back for good. He doesn’t want his young grandchildren to someday ask him, “Why didn’t you do anything?”
“I think that we all have a responsibility to do something,” Buck says, “even if it’s just basic conservation.”
More than 25 funders have embraced climate change efforts with Buck and committed time to learn where their dollars can be most effective, whether they are directed to rural towns for solar projects, resilience efforts to help communities prepare for climate-related challenges, or messaging support for the climate council’s work.
“This is the time when philanthropic dollars can really make a difference; this public-private partnership can really happen,” he says. “Why not seize that opportunity for the public? Foundations are looking for a way to have an impact – this is the perfect way to have an impact.”
“Funders in Maine have proven to be very collaborative, particularly on environmental issues,” adds Jennifer Southard, MaineCF vice president of donor services and operations. “The Environmental Funders Network is one example of how a small group of people can make a difference over time. Collaborative leadership by people like Sandy Buck matters when you try to tackle such a large issue.”
Private funding also has the potential to position Maine as a regional leader, which could attract additional support from large national foundations as it did two decades ago for conservation efforts.
“This will mark the beginning of change – a break from the past – where there’s an aspirational future that was brought into shape by a public-private partnership,” says Buck. “Let’s look forward. There are ways to grow our economy and sustain our planet. It’s not either/or. It’s both.”
Photo: Sandy Buck, president of the Horizon Foundation, is joining forces with other funders to help further the state’s climate change initiatives. Photo Yoon S. Byun
How you can help
The Legislature has appropriated $250,000 per year through 2021 to support the Maine Climate Council. This funding is essential, but not sufficient to cover all of the council’s needs. Maine foundations and individuals generously responded to the request for additional support with an in-kind contribution and $450,000 for staff to support community resiliency, data analysis, and cost-benefit modeling. The Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future continues to raise funds for communications and early energy and resilience demonstration projects.
While the Maine Climate Council had planned public meetings to provide information and invite feedback prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it now hopes to hire a communications firm to assist in development of presentations, webinars, a website, and social media to engage a broad range of state residents – including those without broadband service.
