PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 18, 2023
To protect our civilization from the loss of a stable climate, we have to quickly slow the melting of the glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctic. Until the 1970s, the ice of the Earth’s poles provided enough of the planet’s natural reflection of the sun’s rays to keep our climate steady. We cannot maintain a stable environment without that reflective capability. It is being challenged by the warming waters. The most impactful way to keep the glaciers from melting is to keep fossil fuels in the ground. To do that, we have to stop financing fossil fuels. The proposed Fossil Free Finance Act would require major banks to end their fossil fuel investments in time to slow climate change. It is a painful solution but the alternative is deadly – both for Maine and for the planet. ~ Renee Givner, Portland