In the 32 years Susan van Alsenoy lived in Antwerp, Belgium, she watched the port city grow into having the second highest number of petrochemical plants in the world.

“It degraded the environment in the city and the surrounding areas,” she said.

In the late 1980s, product development engineer Marty Fox began learning about climate change.

“I realized that that was a reality, and to me, denial is based on profits and greed,” Fox said.

The two Wiscasset residents came by their environmental consciousness differently, but on Dec. 6, 2014, it brought them to the same place — a conference that Sierra Club Maine and 350 Greater Portland put on at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.

Conference organizers later grouped attendees by zip code and sent out contact information so that participants from the same area could consider forming climate action teams, Fox and van Alsenoy said July 9 at Fox’s home off Willow Lane.

“And they left it up to us to do whatever we thought we might want to do,” said van Alsenoy, who serves on Sierra Club Maine’s executive committee.

She, Fox and two other area residents became the Wiscasset Sun CATs. The group now stands at eight members, seven from Wiscasset and one from Edgecomb.

The group’s name stems from one member’s email that addressed fellow members as sun cats, van Alsenoy said. “CAT” stands for climate action team.

“Wiscasset Sun CATs” immediately caught on as the group’s name, van Alsenoy said. “It separates us from other groups.”

The name has also helped generate interest in the group. “People ask the question, ‘What are they,’” Fox said.

A $500 grant from Sierra Club Maine has funded posters, handouts and other expenses. Money remains for future costs which may include renting space for public events. The town donated the use of space at the town office for a talk the group held in June featuring energy expert Paul Kando, Fox said.

The Sun CATs met with Wiscasset selectmen July 7 and informed them that, at the local polls on June 9, 156 Wiscasset residents signed a statement to selectmen. The statement read: “We ... urge you, our elected leaders, to investigate the costs and benefits of installing solar power generation on Wiscasset municipal buildings.”

Also during the presentation, the group introduced the board to a representative of ReVision Energy, a solar energy systems contractor. A packet from ReVision Energy proposed that the company would own and operate systems on the town office and public works buildings, and that the town would buy the electricity. After six years, the town could annually consider buying the systems at fair market value, the packet states.

Fox said later that he was encouraged by how the discussion went. The board members’ questions showed that they were interested, he said.

Selectmen’s Chairman Ben Rines Jr. on July 9 said the solar energy idea will be explored further.

“If it turns out to be economically feasible, I’m all for it,” Rines said. “We’ve got to look into it, and that’s where it’s at at this point.”

If the board pursues a project, the contract would go out to bid, he said.

Asked about the Sun CATs’ efforts to gather information and share it with the board, Rines said, “I think that’s really good. They’ve put a lot of time and interest into it.”

In addition to the idea of bringing solar energy to the town’s buildings, the Sun CATs would like to share information and advice with other area groups; and this spring Fox told the Maine Legislature in written testimony that the group supported a bill to increase access to solar energy.

Some Wiscasset residents have expressed an interest in solar farms — groups of homes, or homes and businesses, powered by solar energy — so the group is also looking into those, Fox said.

For more on the Wiscasset Sun CATs, contact Fox at martythyle@hotmail.com or van Alsenoy at 207-380-7716.