A recent Press Herald editorial (“Our View: We can’t get used to climate change,” July 12) suggested that if we allow ourselves to accept as normal new weather patterns of protracted heat or precipitation, we do so at our peril. The editorial described in detail the awful flooding in Vermont, lamented our tendency to see the climate problem as remote and suggested that we do this at our peril since the next climate-related weather crisis may happen right here at home. It advocated for a new national phase of constant climate change mitigation and resilience.
Missing was any notion that readers could individually or in groups have some influence on the global heating problem. And, yes, the climate does seem out of control. Worldwide emissions are still increasing, and often we find ourselves wondering if we can make any difference. So it’s important to remember that there are tens of millions of people, many of them right here in Maine, working worldwide on this problem in thousands of different ways. Not to acknowledge their hard work and their contributions is a disservice and may leave many readers feeling helpless and unable to see the important role they can play to get us off fossil fuels.
“Agency” is that state of acting or exerting power that has made changemakers throughout history successful. Without sensing they have agency on climate change, individuals are left feeling like pawns of their government’s policies and the victims of Mother Nature’s whims, so alarmingly portrayed by movies that sell doom and gloom. The Press Herald has the opportunity to write about agency, but newspapers generally tend toward darker points of view. Without a sense of agency, one is left to depend on the whims of others and misses out on that important feeling of expectation and desire for good things to happen called hope.
But if we look around, Mainers have plenty of agency and hope regarding global warming. Here are just three examples – of course, there are many more.
Tens of thousands of residents and businesses here are reducing their fossil fuel use by insulating their buildings better, going solar and purchasing electric vehicles. Efficiency Maine is rebating a heat pump on average every 5-6 minutes, and nearly one in ten heat pump hot water heaters sold in the country is installed here. The Maine Climate Council, “an assembly of scientists, industry leaders, bipartisan local and state officials, and engaged citizens”, leads the way, having developed a four-year plan to build resilience and put Maine on a trajectory to reduce fossil fuel emissions by 45% by 2030 and at least 80% by 2050.
The Maine nonprofit WindowDressers is planning 48 community builds this fall, as part of which roughly 11,000 insulating window inserts will be assembled in communities across Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Over a quarter of them will go free to low-income participants. A typical sized insert saves an average of 8.5 gallons of heating oil per year. Since its inception, WindowDressers volunteers have built more than 58,000 inserts. The cumulative amount of heating oil potentially saved by the use of these inserts since 2010 totals more than 2,688,000 gallons – nothing to sniff at.
Nonpartisan Citizens’ Climate Lobby volunteers from across our state were in Washington, D.C., in June joining in the annual national effort to meet with members of Congress and their staffs to advocate for policies like urgently needed clean energy permitting reform and putting a price on carbon. Fair, effective and sustainable solutions like these will help our country and indeed the world cope with the climate challenge.
It’s important not to lose sight of the important role Mainers are playing and could play to get off fossil fuels and enable a more resilient future. Agency and hope will be key to our future success.
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