Where Do Our Climate Actions Fit In the Grand Scheme of Things?
Apr 09, 2024
Monday’s solar eclipse was a profound reminder of the power of alignment, distance, and perspective. Witnessing the moon blot out the powerful sun—however briefly—reminded us how fortunate we are to live in this particular place at this particular moment in time.
That’s an odd statement as Camden faces an unprecedented climate emergency. The storms of the past four months, the winter-that-wasn’t, the days of last summer where the sky filled with western smoke, all are testaments that Camden sits at a place on Earth where we can’t escape the warming of our planet and all the attendant consequences.
We’re in for a ride as rainstorms intensify, temperatures gyrate, and our weather whiplashes. It’s an amazing force to behold. We’ve stood in the lashing wind and rain of the last storms—all of them carrying wind gusts over 40 mph—and it has been terrific, as in the archaic definition of the word: frightful, “of a formidable nature.”
We’re living on the cusp of so, so many changes. Climate scientists themselves are alarmed at the rapidity of the rises in temperature—of the air, of the oceans.
We can choose to freeze, with no action, or we can put on our rain gear and step outside to fully face the storm.
Let’s take nature’s force as our wakeup call—instead of falling into despair.
We’d like to encourage anyone reading this to take at least one climate action during Earth month, adding your household to the invisible, but critical, roster of Camden climate actors working to address the current climate—and other—imbalances on planet Earth.
We’re behind regarding climate action. That goes for Camden, and it goes for the world. That won’t change unless we push—ourselves, our neighbors, and our select board—to act.
Once you’ve acted we’d love to hear about it so we can build momentum.
Here’s a list of actions any one of us can take:
- Examine your reliance on fossil fuels and make a vow to cutback: cut out trips in your car; turn down the thermostat in your house; switch to earth-friendly appliances; redirect your investment portfolio out of fossil fuels.
- Commit to joining a climate event on a regular basis: a climate conversation (4/17 or 4/18 a Camden Public Library—see here); a climate potluck (CamdenCAN’s on 4/25—see below—or host your own); or view a meeting to learn more about Maine’s Climate Council.
- Rethink your yard, making a commitment not to rake or mow it until June (“No Mow May”); commit to turning part of what is now mowed in your yard into a pollinator garden. Or a vegetable garden. Mow less frequently and ditch the gas mower—use a hand- or electric-powered mower.
- Review the Watershed School’s climate action plans for Camden (there are several: here, here, and here). Once you’re familiar with what was requested, ask the select board what they intend to do about climate action in the open agenda portion of their next meeting (April 16—see here). Ask them about public EV chargers, cutting Camden’s emissions, weatherization funds for residents, community solar, or hiring a sustainability coordinator instead of the FY25 proposed communications person.
- Read Camden’s comprehensive plan, especially the sections on climate change as it relates to emissions reduction (pages 51 and 151), housing (page 87), harbor (page 94), Snow Bowl (page 101), fiscal capacity (page 117), capital improvements (pages 156-160), opportunities and problems (166-167), town governance, (page 168-173), and the 10-year capital improvement plan—which includes solar energy (“install as opportunities arise”) and recommendation to buyout Sagamore Farm (last 8 pages of document). Consider what work you want the town to undertake and email the select board (tocselectboard@camdenmaine.gov) and ask them to execute. (And reading other town’s comprehensive plans is a great exercise…have a look at Belfast’s, Rockland’s, or this page which takes you to links for much of the rest of the state.)
- Email the select board (tocselectboard@camdenmaine.gov) and ask them to invest the $178,000 we need to buy our solar array at Sagamore Farms so we can reap over $500,000 in savings over the next 35 years (the estimated longevity of the array). (You can hear this recommendation to the select board in the 4.2.24 meeting, at minute 1:04:24 listen here.) Perhaps with the savings here we can build out more municipal solar.
- Join or subscribe to these Maine-based climate-rich newsletters: Maine Climate Action Now (MCAN) ; Third Act Maine; Center for an Ecologically-Based Economy (CEBE)—then pass the word about the excellent climate change work going on around our state.
- Commit to taking advantage of the incentives offered by Efficiency Maine, and the Federal Inflation Reduction Act—see this great resource put out by the Maine Climate Council. You can save on appliances, solar, EVs, heat pumps, and more, for home or business.
- Share this newsletter.
- Talk about climate change. These podcasts might help if you’re feeling uninformed: Climate One, Outrage and Optimism, Volts, The Great Simplification, Communicating Climate Change.
- These Maine-based climate/conservation podcasts are also inspirational: Maine Sierra Clubs’ Redefining Conservation; The BTS Center’s Climate-Changed; Natural Resource Council’s Frontline Voices.
- Make a commitment to permanently eliminate food waste in your household. You can enroll with Scrap Dogs, or build your own composting bin, as a start.
Hurricane Event Rescheduled
Last Thursday’s nor’easter knocked our Camden Talks Climate lecture—“Hurricanes In Mid-coast Maine: Past, Present, and Future”—with Kerry Emanuel off the schedule until Thursday, October 3, 2024. We’ll hope the weather cooperates—but Mother Nature has her ways.
Upcoming CamdenCAN Events
4/17 at 5 pm and 4/18 at 1 pm, Camden Public Library. Climate Conversation Circles. Read more about these here.
4/25/24, Thursday, 5:30-7:30 pm, First Congregational Church, CamdenCAN Climate Potluck. Come celebrate Earth Week, meet other climate-concerned neighbors, and share a meal. Come learn about climate action initiatives presented by local non-profits, including green burials, SEA, municipal solar, and home gardening initiatives, to name just a few.
5/16/24, Thursday, 6:30-7:30 pm, Camden Public Library, Camden Talks Climate with Blake Sanborn on designing for harbor resilience. Details to follow.
Other Climate Future Events
4/10/24, Wednesday, 6-7 pm, Rockport Public Library, Seed Swap with Charlie Costello.
417/24, Wednesday, 6-7 pm, Rockport Public Library, “Achieving a Clean Energy Transition: Challenges and Solutions to Going Solar in Maine.” Lindsay Bourgoine of Revision Energy will delve into the policies surrounding clean energy in Maine and explore the factors influencing the transition to clean energy. Additionally, she’ll discuss the solar opportunities available to Rockport residents. Community solar stands out as a crucial tool in bringing tangible economic and environmental benefits to all Mainers, ensuring an equitable electric future.
4/25/24 (note change of date), 4:00-5:30 pm, Thursday, Camden Snow Bowl Lodge. The Town of Camden welcomes the public to an open house to discuss an ongoing trails master planning for the Ragged Mountain Recreation Area. This is a drop-in event—please come at your convenience and prepare to spend 15-30 minutes learning about the project and providing valuable insights. Representatives from the Outdoor Sport Institute, professional trail consultants partnering with the Town to develop this plan, will be on site to answer any questions.
Concluding Thoughts
Camden doesn’t occupy a very large part of the universe. Yet actions in Camden—and the rest of the Western world—have had an oversized impact on global warming.
The good news is we can take action now to reverse our climate-threatening course. We’re hoping that this newsletter spurs you in that direction.
Why should we bother?
Because on the other side of the emergency we’ll stroll in a quiet, clean downtown with no diesel or gas fumes, fresh salty air wafting in on the afternoon sea breeze; harborside parks will have been rebuilt to absorb the regular king tide flooding; the deep blue harbor sky will be full of terns and eagles, enticed back by the diversity of fish thriving in our finally-clean harbor. Bees and butterflies will flit about the pollinator gardens all around town.
And we’ll see our neighbors, smiling, laughing, enjoying our little corner of the universe.
It’s not too late to get Earth back on course, in alignment, atmospherically balanced.
Taking action now also offers you the opportunity to look back in 20 years—the year of the next viewable solar eclipse in NA—with pride at the work you did to get Camden back on a climate-friendly course.
Camden 2044 needs you.