PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 20, 2024
The key takeaway from Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s recent greenhouse gas report should be that the state has a long way to go in cutting overall carbon pollution. Its optimistic conclusion that we remain on track is focused on net emissions, accounting for storing emissions in our trees and coastal wetlands. But this only works if today’s healthy forests and wetlands remain as they are for years. And we know that climate change threatens that stability — in fact, it’s happening right now via wildfires, devastating invasive species, droughts, storms, rapid sea level rise and record-breaking heat waves on land and sea. The report shows that we need to cut overall carbon pollution, not remain complacent with business-as-usual. ~ Dan Amory, Portland