City of Charleston details Climate Action Plan progress as sustainability director Katie McCain announces departure

Katie McCain, the City of Charleston’s director of sustainability, told the Resilience Committee that she is leaving the city and moving to Denver, and that this meeting would be her last. “I am actually, leaving the city. I'm moving to Denver to be closer to my family, so this will be my last meeting, so very bittersweet for me,” McCain said.

McCain led the committee through a progress report on the city’s five‑year Climate Action Plan, adopted in May 2021 and scheduled for full implementation by the end of 2026. She said outreach has been a major focus: the city reached “over 10,000 residents” in 2024 through more than 39 events and expanded youth‑focused work with libraries, including a recent “train the trainer” session attended by 30 librarians.

On waste and composting, McCain reported the city exceeded its annual goal: “We crushed our goal of 200 tons. We got to 228,” and said the program now serves about 3,000 households. The regional eCompost program expanded into North Charleston this year; the city and partners are up to eight regional partners and 23 drop sites, with three new drop sites added (North Charleston opened the day of the meeting and an Eastside site at Martin Park was noted).

Transportation and fleet measures were also discussed. McCain said the city installed 28 new charging ports this year, doubled charging capacity at existing garages by adding dual ports, and expanded charging to a fourth parking garage and the tech center. She reported a $195,000 award from an Energy Efficiency Conservation grant to support a Fleet Transition Plan and said Matt Althoff will lead that plan. McCain also said the city has funding pending for an EV pickup from the U.S. Department of Energy and that a regional application led by the Berkeley‑Charleston‑Dorchester Council of Governments had won “over 6,000,000” to install EV charging focused on disadvantaged communities; she said the city expects to be included with about 20 ports in that regional application.

McCain highlighted partnerships and grants aimed at disadvantaged neighborhoods: the Charleston Climate Coalition was said to have been “recently awarded $40” to help revive the Charleston Rainproof Program (amount notation in the transcript was unclear), and Clemson Extension will help implement rain garden projects and provide maintenance support and outreach in targeted neighborhoods.

On buildings and codes, McCain said the region won a U.S. Department of Energy technical assistance award (Southeastern Energy Efficiency Alliance) that will help the city update its building‑energy practices and workforce training. She stated the city currently operates under an older energy code (“we are on the 2009 energy code, which is actually the same as the 02/2007 energy code,” as spoken in the meeting transcript) and that improving code and compliance capacity requires more staffing in inspections and energy compliance.

McCain said some Climate Action Plan items remain unfinished because they depend on larger processes (for example, facility renewable‑energy assessments that hinge on federal grant negotiations) and urged the committee to begin planning the next five‑year cycle. She described an internal transfer plan for several sustainability programs: the compost program is positioned to move from the sustainability office into Public Works (assigned to Matt Althoff), while outreach functions would continue to rely on sustainability staff and new Charleston County sustainability coordinator Allie.

Committee members and attendees thanked McCain for her leadership. Dorothy (full name not specified in the transcript) and others recalled the Climate Action Plan’s origins and noted the plan was developed largely in‑house and adopted in May 2021. Multiple attendees urged that McCain’s successor be a subject‑matter expert and that the city prioritize staffing to maintain the program’s momentum.

McCain closed with a practical note: the Climate Action Plan checklist included links and actions residents can use to contribute, and she encouraged use of libraries, volunteers and partners to maintain program reach.

Ending — Next steps and staffing The committee did not take formal votes on the Climate Action Plan at this meeting. Members directed attention to staffing and program handoffs: Public Works staff were identified as the receiving department for the compost program, Matt Althoff was named as lead for the Fleet Transition Plan, and Charleston County’s new sustainability coordinator Allie was identified as a partner for regional outreach. The committee and public speakers urged the city to prioritize a qualified replacement for the director of sustainability and to preserve institutional knowledge during the transition.