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Climate Change is here now. This Monday, Feb. 28, the second in a series of three phases of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report came out. The focus is on the impacts of climate change. Our country and our communities are just not prepared for what is going to happen, and what is already happening. What needs to be done has not been done.
One takeaway in the report is how many responses have been maladaptive. Governments and corporations attempting to address the issue (without listening to the science) end up increasing emissions by a lot. I’m getting tired of hearing pretty words like “bold“ or “ambitious” or “net zero” all really signifying delay, delay, delay. In response to the IPCC, former Vice President Al Gore tweeted, “The impacts of the climate crisis demand urgent action to deploy solutions massively and quickly.”
President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better act includes a lot of positive steps forward before they made Swiss cheese of it and then still wouldn’t vote for it. Where is Sen. Susan Collins on this?
Unfortunately the whole world doesn’t have a task force like our Maine Climate Council. And emissions don’t stop at the border. So it looks like our local communities will be once again left holding the bag when it comes to climate impacts. But we can’t let that deter us. It’s time to take action together.
Haydee Foreman
Member
Climate Action Net
Blue Hill