About CAB

Mission

Climate Action Brookline’s mission is to create a greener and healthier future by connecting Brookline citizens to ways they can reduce their carbon footprint at home, at work, and in the community.

Who We Are

Climate Action Brookline is an all-volunteer group focused on creating a greener and healthier future for Brookline. We help citizens make the choices and changes (both big and small) in their homes, businesses, transportation, and lifestyle that will increase energy efficiency and sustainability, and help Brookline meet its goal of net zero by 2040. We do this by

• producing and promoting educational material
• advocating for policy and infrastructure changes
• partnering with other climate-focused organizations in town

History

In April 2000, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to join the “Cities for Climate Protection” program of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and that May organized a public forum on climate change.

On June 15th, 2000 the first official meeting of Climate Action Brookline took place under the name of Climate Change Initiatives Action Group. We soon changed our name to Climate Change Action Brookline, and later simplified the name to Climate Action Brookline (CAB).

One of our first actions was to co-sponsor an event to raise funds for solar panels for the Brookline Health Department renovation. Since then, we’ve sponsored a number of Town Meeting warrant articles, including those that called for a Town Sustainability Director. We’ve conducted campaigns to encourage residents to choose green electricity, to install solar panels, and to lower their carbon footprint by making changes to their homes, their transportation, and the foods they eat. For 10 years we held an annual Climate Week event, bringing together a wide range of community partners, organizers and volunteers, all working together to engage and grow a town-wide climate movement.

CAB formally incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in 2011. Use this link to see the CAB ByLaws.

CAB’s Accomplishments

Over the years CAB has held over 60 events and canvassed almost 6,000 homes to inform residents of ways they could reduce their carbon footprint. Our signature “Climate Week” event brought the whole town together with events, book readings, art projects, panel discussions, and more each spring. We were an important partner as the Town developed its Community Aggregation program for Brookline Green Electricity; we advocated for a Sustainability Director; and we led the process for Brookline to become a participant in the Paris Climate Accords. We continue to work with others on the development and implementation of a Climate Action Plan for the town.

We hold monthly meetings that are open to all. We continue to host candidate forums prior to town elections and we regularly hold open sessions to review climate-related Warrant Articles that will be coming before Town Meeting.

We regularly participate in many town-wide and state-wide events and projects, and we actively collaborate with the Town’s Zero Emissions Advisory Board and Brookline’s chapter of Mothers Out Front.