Kennebunkport Climate Action Plan

The Town of Kennebunkport is taking steps to reduce municipal and community-wide emissions, including purchasing solar energy credits, leasing electric municipal vehicles, and incorporating LED streetlights. 

Why Climate Change Matters to Kennebunkport

First incorporated in 1653, the Town of Kennebunkport has a long history as a shipbuilding and trade center and later as a summer tourist destination. The town consists of a number of small village areas, such as Dock Square, Goose Rocks Beach, and Cape Porpoise, surrounded by wetlands, forest, and sandy beaches. Bordered by the Gulf of Maine and tidal rivers, Kennebunkport is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as sea level rise and floodings from coastal storms.

The Climate Action Plan Task Force will work to create an action plan that focuses on adaptation and emission reduction strategies that address the real effects of climate change that threaten our coastal community. See the Climate Action Plan Task Force's town webpage.

Opportunities

Kennebunkport's Board of Selectmen approved local climate change goals and priorities in 2020, which can serve as a starting point for identifying climate action planning strategies. Additionally, Kennebunkport helped create the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission’s Regional Sustainability and Resilience Program in 2019 and joined the State of Maine’s Community Resilience Partnership in 2022, both which present opportunities for regional and statewide collaboration to achieve climate goals. 

Challenges

A recent regional economic resilience study found that 23% of all assessed property value in Kennebunkport could be impacted by coastal storm hazards as sea level rises 1.6 ft (the predicted amount of sea level rise by 2050 by the Maine Climate Council). Increasing coastal hazards like flooding and erosion put not only property but also people, businesses, natural resources, and the local economy at risk.

Climate action at the local level will require behavioral and systemic changes to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The largest source of community-wide GHG emissions in Kennebunkport is passenger vehicle fuel use, followed by residential heating fuel use, particularly heating oil use. Overall, the energy used by Kennebunkport residents, visitors, and business for transportation, heating, and electricity account for 93.4% of Kennebunkport’s total emissions.