PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 12, 2023
The climate crisis is global. The effects, however, will be overwhelmingly local. We won’t always be so lucky. As humans struggle to reduce, much less eliminate, the use of fossil fuels, every additional bit of carbon pollution put into the atmosphere makes it more likely life in Maine will be made worse – by events both near and far. The fires in eastern Canada are just the latest example. Maine has broken records for wildfires in recent years, and is on pace for another big season in 2023. That is the new normal. The damage caused in Atlantic Canada last year by Hurricane Fiona, the most costly extreme weather event ever recorded in the region, should also make Mainers reconsider what’s possible here. Every bit of carbon pollution that is kept out makes things just a little bit better.