Crises Demand Plans
The coronavirus tragedy in the U.S. holds a potent lesson about governance: Facing crises without a strategic plan costs lives. The floundering on display in recent months – with conflicting federal guidance, states forced...
Category: Pollution/Waste
Ending Use of Chemical Weapons for Crowd Control
Braxton Winston, an at-large member of the Charlotte, N.C., City Council, vividly recalls his first encounter with tear gas at a peaceful protest four years ago. “Struggling to breathe. Skin burning. Vomiting. Trying to...
Tailpipe Living: Losing Federal Protections for Clean Air
Before getting new glasses this winter, I’d forgotten what it was like to see distant objects in sharp relief. The glasses improved my vision but far-off vistas remained hazy – until the pandemic shutdown...
Leading the Charge
Our family just joined the one percent in Maine: not the wealthy elite, but the select few who own plug-in hybrid or all-electric vehicles (EVs). Now we’re wondering how to invite others along. Since...
Maine in 2040: Can You Imagine It?
Instead of relying solely on models and charts, what if we tried to visualize just how different our lives might be in a climate-altered Maine two decades hence? What follows is an imaginative portrait...
Facing a Reckoning
Ironies, like onions, come in layers and can make you cry. As I stared at a graphic showing an outline of Maine symbolically shifting down the East Coast (see bottom figure), I had an...
Dimming the Lights
A boundless dome of darkness overhead – lit only by crystalline stars – is one of Maine’s most imperiled natural assets. The Milky Way visible above Acadia National Park cannot be seen with the...
Trouble Underfoot
In Louise Penny’s engaging mystery series, chief inspector Armand Gamache often launches an investigation by asking his team, “Tell me what you know.” It’s an effective strategy when assembling clues following a suspicious death....
