I learned to swim in the clear, cool water of Maine’s lakes. When I was a little girl, I could see the bottom so clearly, that the logs that sunk on the old log drives were easily visible. Generations of my family learned to swim by climbing on the rocks and jumping off. The water is still clear, but nutrient runoff and warmer temperatures have changed things. Those rocks now have a thin layer of algae on them that make them slippery and hard to climb on without a firm grip.
Many of us have stories like that, changes that we’ve
seen over something as short as just a generation. We are lucky in Maine,
though. We have one of the most beautiful, pristine environments anywhere and
we benefit greatly from it. It is part of our Maine “brand” and makes Maine
particularly special. People come from all over the world to enjoy Maine.
Tourism is one of our biggest industries, with almost 34 million tourist visits
in 2015.
Visitors spent about $5.5 billion and tourism employs
about 90,000 Mainers. If we want to keep and attract new residents, one of our
best selling points is our quality of place, our quality of life. Our clean
natural surroundings offer other important benefits.
Our fisheries and our agriculture, with iconic Maine
products like blueberries and lobster, and each depend on the purity of our
environment. A lot of that is under threat though from outside our borders.
Climate change is already impacting things here. Our average temperature has
risen 3 degrees Fahrenheit since 1895, and we are seeing fewer shrimp, more
ticks and mosquitos, and more severe storms. Continued warming of the Gulf of
Maine will pose a greater and greater risk to our lobster industry.
These impacts can cause secondary problems, too. More
storms bring more erosion of our shoreline: more gully-washers that carry more
silt and other runoff into our lakes and rivers. These pose threats to both
fish habitat and water quality. More bugs aren’t just a nuisance problem; they
mean greater risk of contracting Lyme disease, West Nile virus and other
serious illnesses.
Another threat from outside comes from Washington. Much
of our efforts to protect our natural resources here in Maine are funded by
grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but the federal budget,
proposed by the Trump administration, calls for cutting EPA funding by 31
percent. While no one at this point knows exactly where these possible federal
cuts will end up, the results could be very problematic for Maine. Cuts in
funding will impact a wide variety of programs, including funding for the
important research that drives good environmental policy.
Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord is dangerous,
not just for Maine, but for everyone. The actions laid out may well be
the last best hope for preventing the earth’s temperature from rising to a
critical, catastrophic point.
Maine has historically recognized the importance of our
environment and worked hard to protect it. Concerning combatting climate
change, we were early adopters of a “cap and trade” system, which seeks to
lower carbon emissions through market forces. The system, the Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative (REGGI), started in 2008. In addition to the carbon
reductions that come directly from REGGI, the money it generates goes to fund
Efficiency Maine, which further lowers emissions by increasing the energy
efficiency of Maine homes and businesses. Maine is also moving toward greater
use of cleaner fuels, like natural gas, and renewable energy sources, such as
solar, wind and biomass.
All of this means, despite changes in Washington, that
Maine at least is doing its part to meet the goals of the Paris accord. We need
to do more, though. We need to build on structures like REGGI, where we work
with other states to collectively do all we can to reduce emissions and stay
within the goals of the Paris Accord.
We also need to do more at the state level to prevent
pollution here if the proposed EPA cuts come to pass and Maine should lose that
funding. We need to build a strong clean energy industry here in Maine and make
clean energy a part of our Maine brand. And we must keep up the pressure on our
federal representatives to reverse the U. S. withdrawal from the Paris Accord,
and to maintain EPA funding that is critical to Maine. Maine’s environment is
integral to our way of life and who we are. I am determined to do all I can to
protect it, now and for the future.
Fay is serving her first term in the Maine Legislature
and represents part of Casco, part of Poland and part of Raymond. She
serves on the Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
