Launching a Sustainability Accelerator
As the Maine Climate Council concluded work on its climate action plan last November, one legislator issued what Sen. Anne Carney (D-Cape Elizabeth) recalled as a “plaintive plea: ‘We have to figure out how...
Category: Sustainable Practices
Ending the ‘Silent Spring’ on Commercial Forest Lands
In timber operations, like this one in Allagash, herbicides are typically applied after clearcutting to kill emergent hardwood species and foster growth of planted forests. Photo by Hilton Hafford. At a public hearing...
Conserving Land to Save Our Future
The ethereal refrain of the white-throated sparrow runs through memories of childhood. My own children have rarely heard its call. Bird populations in the U.S. have plummeted since 1970, with 1 in 4 birds...
‘Time for Boldness:’ Acting on climate at every governmental level
It was a strange scene to encounter on a January night, sitting in my car among more than 100 other parked vehicles, all populated but dark, at a drive-in town meeting. Townspeople had gathered,...
Cultivating Innovation: Supporting Agroforestry
Agroforestry, an age-old concept, could provide a path to Maine’s future. Part of the regenerative agriculture movement, it involves an integrated approach to cultivating trees with crops and – sometimes – livestock. These diversified...
“All We Can Save” Anthology
I can’t recall reading a book I so wanted to recommend to others as the new climate anthology, edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K. Wilkinson, “All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and...
This Year’s Silver Lining
It is the eve of Winter Solstice, the nadir of a harrowing year. Ordinarily, holiday gatherings would buoy our spirits and tide us through this season of brittleness, when hope itself can seem dormant....
Much to Gain — or Lose
The Maine Climate Council’s 15-month process preparing Maine Won’t Wait: A Four-year Plan for Climate Action was a refreshing affirmation of constructive, nonpartisan policymaking. Roughly 230 working group volunteers and many more citizens weighed...
