Hope and Climate Change

Hey,

I have been delving into some of the new general readership books on the climate change crisis along with following the news and opinion pieces on this subject.  If you are not convinced climate change is an unprecedented crisis, read a little of  this short piece from the New York Timesby Wallace-Wells.   Personally, however, I don't need any more reason to panic;  I need some hope and something to do.

People taking action in Washington County include the members of 350maine.org/Downeast.  This group, led by Mark Brown (dr.maineblackfly@gmail.com) works with Window Dressers and Washington County residents each year to provide insulating window inserts for almost any type of window.   Contact Mark to get involved!

Something we can all do is talk about climate change, as describe in this TED talk:  https://www.ted.com/talks/katharine_hayhoe_the_most_important_thing_you_can_do_to_fight_climate_change_talk_about_it.

One book that gives me hope is A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow Hardcover – January 8, 2019  by Joshua S. Goldstein  (Author), Staffan A. Qvist (Author), Steven Pinker (Foreword). I include the foreword by Steven Pinker here--well worth the read.   

The news coverage, editorials and pending legislation related to climate change also give me some hope.

This editorial in the Washington Post lays out a plan that seems to have a reasonable chance of success as an alternative to the vaguer, broad Green Deal.  (There are also some good links at the bottom of this article.)  Basically the Post plan is: put in a very aggressive carbon-tax and fill in the gaps after that.  This is essentially the same plan advocated for by Citizens Climate Lobby who advocate carbon tax with the feeding the tax revenues fed back to people, either directly, or indirectly, in support of other goals, such as increasing home energy efficiency or reducing dependence on oil for home heating.

Finally, see our recent post describing what is going on in the Maine State Legislature on climate change.  Here is another chance to get involved upfront as we figure out how to meet this challenge.

Civil comments welcome!

M. Eachus

April 23 Public Hearing / Bills Related to Climate Change before 129th Maine State Legislature

Hi Washington County,

With the current political environment around climate change in Washington D.C., states are stepping up to the plate to pass legislation aimed at slowing down the release of carbon dioxide into the environment and reducing some of the worst risks of global warming.

Maine is one of those states.  The 129th Maine State Legislature has a lot of activity focused on climate change. 

Here's a link to a Google spreadsheet listing the 33 bills before the 129th Maine State Legislature directly related to increasing our energy independence from fossil fuels.  These bills are all before currently before the Energy, Utilities, and Technology Committee.  (The second tab of the spreadsheet lists ALL of the 78 bills before the EUT committee.)

Some more good news.  Many of the proposed measures will ultimately help our pocketbooks here in Washington County.  The proceeds of carbon taxes on fossil fuels would be used to reduce electricity supply costs and/or to fund measures to improve energy efficiencies of homes.  In the long term, one might reasonably expect that self-sufficiency with regard to energy produced from renewable resources will cost less than energy produced from fossil fuels.

Many of these bills are pretty vague at this point, along the lines of "Let's Make Plan."  One of those bills is LD 1282, A Green New Deal For Maine, presented by Representative Chole Maxmin  (D) of Nobleboro.  The Federal Green New Deal bill has a variety of detractors, but don't let that put you off this Maine State green new deal bill.   It is definitely on the vague side right now and that is by design.  We all have the opportunity to participate in shaping this bill.  Your next opportunity is on April 23 at a public hearing in Augusta.

Event: A public hearing by the Energy, Utilities, and Technology Committee on LD 1282, A Green New Deal For Maine
Time: Tuesday, April 23—1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Place:  Cross Building (Room 211), Maine State House, Augusta

If you wish to present written testimony on this bill, you can by writing to Abben Maguire abben.maguire@legislature.maine.gov 

You can also contact your Maine State legislators directly.  Find your representative's contact information at:  http://legislature.maine.gov/house/house/MemberProfiles/ListAlpha vvFind your senator's contact information at:   https://legislature.maine.gov/senate-home-page/find-your-state-senator

Finally, you could write a Letter to the Editor.  In local papers, these are widely read, and this is another way to influence your representatives.  Here is information on submitting a letter to various local papers.

That's all for now.  All civil comments welcome!

M.Eachus

Welcome to our Blog!

Hi,

Elections are finally over for a while. Now we have a chance to breathe, take stock and consider how we are doing as a community and where we need some improvements.

We can keep the parts of Washington County Life that we love and change the parts we don't by watching and working with our Local, State and Federal government representatives. 

On this site, in a non-partisan manner, this blog aims to highlight key issues for Washington County and provide information on how our elected representatives are working on our behalf and how we can help improve life for ourselves and our families in our favorite part of Maine.

Please feel free to comment on posts.  How can we improve life here in Washington County?  What are your ideas?  What messages should we be delivering to our government representatives?  Let's keep comments civil and relevant.  Once a comment is screened for civility and relevance, it will be published with your initials and a number.  Thank you for engaging in this blog! 

M.Eachus