PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 29, 2024
Maine now has a state commission focused on storm communication and preparedness; this is the body tasked with leading work on many of the elements called for above. Its first report focused on short-term rebuilding priorities and storm preparation. A second report will outline a long-term plan for climate disaster, and it’s about time. Long-term planning requires the confrontation of hard truths about where we live and what we’re about to be living through. Homeowners, businesses and municipalities, instead of asking themselves when they can rebuild, need to ask themselves whether they should be rebuilding at all. That’s an uncomfortable conversation to have. Until we start having these conversations, however, nothing much will change.