Quincy Climate Action Network is a group of Quincy residents and others taking action against climate change. Knowing that we must act locally to meet this global challenge, QCAN has been monitoring our city government’s progress towards greater energy efficiency, working to put more solar panels on city rooftops, and empowering Quincy residents to lower their electric bills — among many other activities.

Please join us in our effort to be the Cleaner, Greener Community we know we CAN be!

Mission Statement: Quincy Climate Action Network acts locally to fight climate change by promoting climate-friendly practices among residents, businesses, and government.

Values Statement: QCAN strives to be:

• Effective: We promote evidence-based strategies to fight climate change.
• Collaborative: We work with community members, government, and businesses to advance our shared goals.
• Flexible: We are open to multiple approaches to reduce the impact of climate change.
• Open-Minded: We recognize learning as key to who we are as an organization.
• Committed: We respect our place in nature and in history by thinking long-term for Quincy and beyond.

Background: Quincy Climate Action Network came together in early 2012 in response to two events: the city’s abandonment of plans for a 1.5 megawatt wind turbine and a draft ordinance that would severely restrict residential solar energy in the city.

Since our founding we have made our views known in the media and in numerous meetings with city officials. Many QCAN members serve on the mayor’s Climate Change Committee, finding ways to reduce fossil fuel usage and increase the production of clean renewable energy in our city.

We welcome Quincy residents and others to our monthly meetings. We’re always eager for new members, and we welcome guests, so come and bring your energy and ideas! For more information or to join, contact info@QuincyCAN.org.

In just a few years we’ve done all of the following and more:

• Successfully lobbied the city of Quincy to hire a qualified energy manager, resulting in substantial reductions of energy use by city government.
• Successfully lobbied the city of Quincy to install a total of 2 megawatts of solar panels on the rooftops of fourteen city-owned buildings.
• Helped the city apply (three times) for a grant under the Solarize Mass program, and provided 90%+ of the volunteer energy once we won the grant; results: more than 600 kilowatts of solar under contract for rooftops of city houses and commercial buildings.
• Sent a delegation, and the QCAN banner, to the 2014 People’s Climate March in New York City.
• Cosponsored the Kill-a-Watt program, which has put this home energy-use assessment tool in the hands of many dozens of Quincy library patrons.
• Cosponsored the well-attended showing of the film Chasing Ice at the Thomas Crane Public Library.
• Cosponsored the well-attended showing of a film on Rhode Island’s Deepwater wind turbine project, also at the library.
• Cosponsored, with the library, a well-attended lecture on climate change by Stephen Young, a Salem State University geographer.
• Organized a forum for candidates seeking city office.
• Signed 100 Quincy residents up for home energy assessments.
• Cosponsored, with the library, a lecture on renewable energy technologies by the Harvard physicist Mara Prentiss.
• Cosponsored, with the library and Fore River Residents Against the Compressor Station, an SRO lecture by Curtis Nordgaard, M.D., on the likely health effects of the proposed Fore River compressor station.
• Cosponsored, with FRRACS and the library, another SRO lecture, on clean alternatives to natural gas infrastructure by Boston University researcher Prof. Nathan Phillips and the Acadia Center’s Tyler Soleau.
• Cosponsored, with FRRACS, the library, and Massachusetts Climate Action Network, a well-attended screening of the award-winning film Merchants of Doubt, about the fossil fuel industry’s richly funded climate change denial campaign.
• Cosponsored, with the library, a second talk by Stephen Young, the Salem State geographer, on his research into snow pack and its relation to climate change.
• Cosponsored, with the city, an Earth Day celebration, including talks by local groups and a screening of the film Ocean Frontiers.
• Cosponsored a screening of the documentary film Wasted: The Story of Food Waste.
• Cosponsored a screening of the documentary film Reinventing Power.
• Cosponsored a lecture on biological solutions to climate change by Boston University Prof. Charles Delisi.
• Worked with city councilors to pass unanimous resolutions that could pave the way for green municipal electricity aggregation and curbside pickup/composting of food waste.

Environmental Justice:
Environmental degradation, including the effects of climate change, disproportionately harms disadvantaged communities, especially communities of color. QCAN is committed to fighting for these communities’ right to a safe and healthy environment and to making our organization as inclusive as possible.

Quincy has two environmental justice communities: Germantown and Quincy Point. QCAN supports action, including state legislation, that empowers these communities and gives them a voice in local environmental decisions. We also stand with Fore River Residents Against the Compressor Station and the City of Quincy in defending our EJ communities against the harm posed by the Weymouth compressor station.

Current Officers:
Sarah Belfort, Board Member
Joe Murphy, Board Member
Gina Favata, Board Member
Keith Johnson, Board Member
Fay Strigler, Board Member
Chris Mullin, Treasurer
Susan Entin, Secretary

Past Officers:
Patti Keville: Founding Chair
Rebecca McWilliams: Past Chair
Martha Plotkin: Past Treasurer, Past Board Member
Dick Leonard: Past Board Member
David Reich: Past Chair
Robert Baker: Past Board Member
Sarah Belfort: Past Treasurer
Susan Kane: Past Board Member
Sarah Montague, Past Board Member
Fay Strigler / Ida Del Vecchio, Past Secretary

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