Environmental Steward - Bar Harbor Climate Task Force

The Town of Bar Harbor created the Climate Emergency Task Force (CETF), whose responsibilities include reducing the Town’s carbon emissions. The mission of the Climate Emergency Task Force is to lead a community-wide effort which will aim to, with appropriate financial and regulatory assistance from state and federal authorities as well as support from external funding sources, end community-wide greenhouse gas emissions and initiate an effort to safely draw down carbon from the atmosphere by or before December 31, 2030.

 

The Town Council of Bar Harbor has developed goals to ensure that the Climate Action Plan is followed, that benchmarking energy usage in municipal buildings is continued and that the public gets information and has an opportunity to provide input on climate issues and actions concerning our community. The AmeriCorps Environmental Steward position will begin this work, first by updating and maintaining the benchmarking information, establishing relationships with department heads in the town to identify their needs and opportunities for reducing greenhouse gasses throughout the municipality. This will lay the groundwork for a rapid response to climate change in Bar Harbor. If the town votes to hire staff in the summer of 2022, the member’s focus could then shift to the education/outreach goals of the climate action plan.

 

Get oriented with Climate Emergency Declaration, task force work and Climate Action Plan.

Provide Town Council and Town staff with climate education materials and training.

Collate department head interviews regarding their needs to meeting goals and provide prioritized list of action items

Develop online climate “Public Service Announcements” series

Collaborate with the Communications Director to create a “climate emergency” page on Town’s website.

Utilize Police to gather input on Town-wide climate initiatives

Build climate-related partnerships between local educational institutions and the Town

Actively participate in community climate and sustainability events.

Help organize regular “Climate Town Hall Meetings”.

Keep the website up-to-date with task force work and climate initiatives.

 

 

·       Excellent communication, education and organization skills

·       Ability to put others at ease, group leadership skills

·       Positive work ethic and sense of humor

·       Excellent time management skills

·       Ability to self-start using the action plan as a guide

·       Ability to make/use spreadsheets

·       Ability to initiate conversations with department heads and town stakeholders

·       Comfort with public speaking and facilitating meetings

·       Experience and ability with computers and posting online

 

·       Experience with greenhouse gas audits and climate action planning

·       Experience facilitating meetings/public forums

·       Ability to manipulate and update a website

 

The ES will be serving mostly with Town employees, including, but not limited to, the Town Manager, the town planner, Public Works department head and others. Much of the service will be done inside in an office setting. The town is situated next to Acadia National Park, so there are lots of outdoor recreational opportunities during off hours.

·                 Service includes an indoor office setting to carry out correspondence and other office tasks

·                 Service includes some weekend shifts

·                 Service involves some physical labor, and hiking with gear and tools over difficult terrain

·                 Service involves use of a computer, tablet, GPS tools

·                 Service involves travel to nearby locations

·                 Service involves frequent communication to multiple parties, and may include electronic, telephonic and/or in-person communication