Steve Erario '10

Office of Innovation
Maine Department of Environmental Protection
Augusta, Maine

January 2008

At the Office of Innovation, I worked on one of the eight programs, the Governor’s Carbon Challenge.  From the DEP website: “In 2003, Maine became the first state in the nation to set into statute the goals achieved by the 2001 Agreement among the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers to reduce greenhouse gases. These goals call for specific reductions to be made to 1990 levels by 2010, and to 10% below 1990 levels by 2020. Overall reductions of 75% to 80% from 2003 levels of greenhouse gases are to be achieved. “Part of Maine's Climate Change law directs the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to develop agreements with businesses and non-profit organizations [including municipalities] to accomplish these goals.”

As part of my work there, I helped set up the GCC to make a push to integrate a larger number of Maine municipalities into participation.  I created a step-by-step guide for Maine municipalities on how to participate in the GCC program.  This includes directions for setting up the institutions to carry out the carbon reduction process, how to create a greenhouse gas inventory, set a target, action plan, et cetera. In my work, I also created an easy-to-use inventory “software” with coefficients specific to Maine.  The software also automatically fills in the GCC reporting form for submission to the Maine DEP.  This may help many governments overcome one of the most significant barriers to entry in the climate action process; the most common software purchased for greenhouse gas accounting at the municipal level costs about $600. In addition to creating an alternative inventory tool, I constructed a guide for municipalities on how to transfer information from the most common software used by municipalities over to the GCC reporting form. I performed some limited municipal outreach and technical assistance, which I will continue once the software and guides have been peer reviewed and finalized.
Finally, I helped consult the DEP on other improvements they could make on their GCC program and various ways to expand and integrate operations across the state of Maine.

During my internship, I learned a great deal about what other northeastern states are doing to address climate change through energy and climate action committees.  I also established a great deal of connections within the Maine state government system, which will be incredibly helpful in my continued work with the Maine DEP and with the Waterville Sustainability Committee.