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Erin Victor is a doctoral student at The University of Maine. This column reflects her views and expertise and does not speak on behalf of the university. She is a member of the Maine chapter of the national Scholars Strategy Network, which brings together scholars across the country to address public challenges and their policy implications. Members’ columns appear in the BDN every other week.
“That’s my rain drop!” my two year old exclaimed. While she enjoyed splashing in puddles and claiming raindrops, not everyone shared her enthusiasm for the record-breaking precipitation levels in Bangor last July.
Unreliable blueberry crops, an uptick in tick-borne illnesses, and bitterly cold days are the “new normal.” Warning signs for the more severe storms, power-outages, heat waves, drought, and crop failures to come.
“The entire world is telling us, each and every day, that the biggest problems we face have individual solutions, from masks to carbon footprints. And of course it feels overwhelming, because none of us is capable of fixing the world.” Dr. Jacquelyn Gill, associate professor at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, recently tweeted.
We need a different kind of climate action.
While countries negotiated combating climate change at the Conference of Parties in Glasgow last October (COP26), I was taking the class called Human Dimensions of Climate Change as part of my doctorate program.
My fellow classmates and I had worked on sustainability and climate-related issues professionally for the last decade. But we were shocked to learn scientists have raised concerns for years about overreliance on market-based solutions and technological “fixes” that worsen climate injustices. There was clearly a disconnect between what scientists know about climate change and mainstream climate action.
We decided to act. In an open letter (signed by 75 students, faculty and staff from the University of Maine) we asked U.S. delegates at COP26 to keep three questions in mind during negotiations: Who was missing from the table? What were the underlying assumptions in the models used to inform their decisions? And who were they there to protect?
In the end, COP26 was heralded as a great success by some and a death sentence by others. Personally, the Glasgow Climate Pact did not help me sleep any better.
This experience stressed that we cannot sit idly by for someone else to act for us. We can come together and fight for more just and effective climate action.
Climate action must go beyond individualized, market-based solutions like buying electric cars or installing solar panels. Studies suggest that collective local action is essential for effectively reducing further environmental and societal harm and adapting to our uncertain future.
Not sure where to start? Here are a few examples of ways we can work together to protect the well-being of the people and places that make Maine — well, Maine:
Keep resources local: Local Buy Nothing communities have made receiving and gifting items easier than ever. Save money, reduce carbon footprints, and build stronger community ties all at the same time by keeping items circulating locally.
Support the right to self determination: Calling you representatives to support efforts such as LD 1626 that recognize the sovereignty of the Wabanaki peoples can help center equity and justice in our transition towards a more sustainable future.
Promote local resiliency: Speak up for investments in public assets such as ambulance services in rural Maine communities that make our communities more resilient when the unexpected flood or power outage comes.
I chuckled as my toddler insisted that the rain drop was hers. But why not? If her generation is going to inherit the worst of the climate crisis, then why should I stop her from claiming that particular water droplet? They say that you fight for what you love.
I love watching my child splash in puddles with friends in this beautiful community we have found here in Maine.
I hope you will fight alongside me.
And when that next big storm comes, we can weather it together.