By Stowell P. Watters
Staff Writer
    A pair of freshman science classes at Kennebunk high school are done with simply discussing the phrases carbon footprint, greenhouse gases and global warming – they are determined to do something about the alleged climate disaster by purchasing a solar thermal panel for the school.
    “Our class did a carbon footprint to calculate how much carbon dioxide we put in the air, after we filled in the information, we found out Kennebunk High School puts 850,044.24 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air yearly,” wrote April Yeung and Krysta Norris in a recent email to the Post. “We want to contribute to save us from global warming.”
    The teacher of the classes, Emily Flaherty, began the year by showing the students the movie “An Inconvenient Truth,” in which former vice-president and co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Al Gore explains the alleged climate crisis affecting the planet. In an age where students cannot open a magazine without being confronted with some sort of green issue, Flaherty said, the idea caught on quickly.
    “About half of all of my integrated science students, about 30 kids, have really taken this issue up,” Flaherty said. “And we are serious about the panel.”
    The solar thermal panel would be installed on the roof at a 45 degree angle, explained freshman Casey Taylor. In the Spring his class visited the solar home of Kennebunkport resident Bill Lord and took a tour of the house, which is completely powered and heated by the sun. Lord’s roof is constructed of half photo-voltaic panels – the panels that trap the sun’s energy for electrical use – and half solar thermal panels – like the ones proposed for purchase by Flaherty’s classes.
    “A solar thermal panel is essentially a thin sheet of black metal that is used to heat pipes of water passing just beneath it. The idea is to offset the amount of hot water used by the school therefore saving the oil we would have to burn,” Flaherty said.
    After visiting the home, watching the film and looking into myriad ways students could promote sustainability, Taylor said he was enthused.
    “We started looking at graphs in class that showed how much money we could save and how we could reduce our carbon footprint, and we just started to see it as a real idea, something we could do here at school,” Taylor said.
    The school, which annually spends an estimated $17,853 on gas and electricity bills and uses an estimated 7,500 gallons of oil, could benefit from the panel both monetarily and educationally, according to freshman Dylan Hopkins. Hopkins is one of the students in Flaherty’s science classes.
    “We can reduce the amount of harmful gases released into the atmosphere, that is a good thing,” Hopkins said. “It will be a tool for other kids to say ‘hey, that’s pretty cool.’”
    In November 2007 both Kennebunk and Kennebunkport’s town officials signed the “U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement,” a loose contract that charges towns with the duty of reducing greenhouse admissions. Originally created by Mayor Greg Nickels in Seattle, Wash. the agreement holds the towns accountable for the following, according to www.usmayors.org/climateprotection:
    - Strive to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities, through actions ranging from anti-sprawl land-use policies to urban forest restoration projects to public information campaigns.
    -Urge their state governments, and the federal government to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction target suggested for the United States in the Kyoto Protocol – 7 percent reduction from 1990 levels by 2012.
    - Urge the U.S. Congress to pass the bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation, which would establish a national emission trading system.
    In keeping with the spirit of that signing, Flaherty estimated the solar thermal panel will conserve energy by saving 96 gallons of gas annually. Currently, however, the classes are waiting for the word on pending grants to pay for the 40-foot, $3,000 panel, which will be purchased from The Solar Market in Wells.
    Flaherty is on Maine School Administrative District 71’s Energy Advisory Board. The 12-member board attends monthly meetings where they examine different possibilities in energy conservation within the district, Flaherty said. Typically her classes have been focused on negative environmental effects of auto-emissions, but because of that board more and more of her teaching has begun to revolve around sustainability, awareness and action.
    “We are working on an organic recycling project through the recommendation of the energy advisory board, we talk about saving oil and reducing our carbon footprint. Seeing the kids get so into this is really great,” Flaherty said.
    Taylor is excited by the project – so much so he is concerned about the lack of enthusiasm from the rest of the class.
    “Some kids just sort of nod it off, they think it is stupid or it isn’t going to happen, but this is a big deal. This is a way we can actually get involved in all this stuff we talk about,” Taylor said.
    During study halls and shop-class work sessions freshman Jordon Kalik has been building a model home that will be on display in front of Flaherty’s class. It will be adorned with fully functional solar panels and working inside lights, and he is hoping it will draw the interest of other students.
    “What we are doing is pretty cool, and I think kids will see that more as we finish up this model,” Kalik said.
    Along with ongoing fundraising events the classes will be holding a presentation at the Kennebunk high school auditorium Jan. 30 at 7 p.m., open to the public. They will detail their studies, findings and plans to bring a solar panel to the school. It will be followed by a streaming Web cast by scientist Stephen Schneider who will speak about global warming and discuss its solutions.
    To contact Stowell P. Watters, call 282-4337 ext. 219 or email news@kennebunkpost.com.