Sunday, April 15, 2007
Staff photo by Gregory Rec
Makail Tipton sits on George Cabot's shoulders at a rally Saturday in Monument Square.
Staff photo by Gregory Rec
More than 200 people marched through the Old Port on Saturday to illustrate where Portland's "new coastline" would be if global warming led to a rise in ocean levels. It was one of more than 35 events in Maine and 1,300 events held nationwide.
"We are calling on Congress to enact regulations that will cut carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent by 2050," said Christian McNeil, a Portland resident who rallied the crowd at the beginning of the noontime march and rally. "That's not impossible. That's the amount it was in 1950."
Even a relatively modest increase of 2 feet -- generally accepted as likely, given the current global warming data -- would leave Commercial Street underwater. At the more aggressive assumption of a 20-foot rise in seas -- chiefly a result of the Greenland ice cap melting -- much of Fore Street would be underwater and the inland Interstate 295 area would be swamped from Forest Avenue to the entrance of Back Cove, and as high as Somerset Street.
A United Nations report on climate change released earlier this month said ocean levels are projected to rise 4.3 feet by 2080. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report was written and reviewed by 441 scientists.
The nationwide rallies urging Congressional action on climate change were organized by "Step It Up 2007," spearheaded by a group of students at Vermont's Middlebury College, who used blogs, e-mail messages and word of mouth to spread the word.
In Augusta, Gov. John Baldacci addressed a gathering near the State House.
"The most important things that we have a responsibility to do in government are to prepare our children for a bright future and to preserve and protect our natural resources," Baldacci said. "Global warming is real. There is overwhelming scientific agreement that we are endangering the environment that sustains us."
The first Maine rally occurred at 4 a.m., atop Cadillac Mountain in Bar Harbor, where five students and a staff member left the College of the Atlantic and hiked up the snow-covered auto road for a sunrise demonstration. In Wiscasset, U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-1st District, and state Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, joined about 150 people at a global climate change "teach-in" at the Chewonki Foundation's Center for Environmental Education.
"It was really a special event," said Chewonki's Renewable Energy Intern Seth Silverman, who arranged workshops on local foods, "green campus" issues and how to make changes at home to mitigate climate change. "It seems like a hopeful day across the country."
Robyn Clay said she and her family went to the Portland rally because "it's such an important issue." Clay was pulling her children, ages 7 and 3, along in a wagon with pasted-on "waves" at the edges. "We wanted to expose the kids to this. We talk about it, and they relate to it mainly through what's happening to polar bears. That's their level."
McNeil and other speakers urged the sympathetic crowd to think about ways to change daily habits to help the environment, from carpooling and bicycling more to using less heating or air conditioning.
"A lot of it just involves being frugal. We need to get back to Yankee frugality," McNeil said.
Mixed in the crowd were people holding signs bearing slogans such as "Save Our Planet," "Fossil Fuels Are Not the Answer," and "Good Atmospheres Are Hard to Find," with some wearing snorkeling gear or carrying surfboards, alluding to the rising water.
"We can get angry and we can get upset -- and we should -- but it's important to do something about it," said Maine House Speaker Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, at the Portland rally, listing some of the state's activity in adopting environmentally friendly policies. "We will not be in denial about one of the most significant threats to our future."
"There are so many things we're going to have to do -- small things, big things," said state Rep. Jon Hinck, D-Portland, foreseeing an end to everything from idling tour buses to parents aimlessly driving young children around at night to get them to go to sleep. "But we're winning. It's slow, but it's happening."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Staff Writer Noel K. Gallagher can be contacted at 324-4888 or at:
Reader comments
Sort by: Oldest first | Newest First
"The overwhelming weight of scientific inquiry ... ?" What does that mean? That's not even coherent.
The planet is not warming faster than it ever has before. There are places on the planet where it is actually cooling.
This is a political issue, but not from a few people. This is a political issue started by none other than Al-"pay no attention to the man with three mansions, heated swimming pools, and who flys around in jets wherever he goes"-Gore.
There are no limits to the number of accomplices, including Hollyweird, the lame-stream media, and President Bush haters. This is all motivated by a desire to "stick it to Bush, and his oil-buddies."
Any scientist with any credibility at all will acknowledge that we don't have the capability to determine if the planet is warming due to man's influence. They have one or two computer models which show it's possible, but real scientists have stated that they need about 14-20 different models working together (which there is no computer powerful enough currently) to make any credible assessment.
The polar bears are not in danger. In fact, most of the 22 different populations (more than 16 of the 22) are either stable or are growing in size. This is something that doesn't fit the global warming moonbats agenda, so you don't hear this fact.
The Southern Hemisphere has not seen any significant temperature change in the last 20-25 years.
This is all about redistributing the world's wealth, and some Americans guilt for living in the most prosperous country in history.
This is about scaring the kids with lies and deceit and getting to them with the liberal agenda before they are smart enough to make up their own minds.
Show JUST ONE PIECE of concrete evidence that man-made C02 is causing global warming. YOU CAN'T.
Stop scaring the kids.report abuse
"There are an equal number of scientists on both sides of the issue."
This isn't anywhere close to being true. The overwhelming weight of scientific inquiry understands and supports the idea that the planet is warming faster now than it ever has been, and that carbon dioxide production resulting from human activity is one of if not *the* primary contributors to it. Scientists who disagree generally are sponsored by either the energy industry or the Republican party, or both. Take some time to learn about ice cores, or pH changes of the oceans, or glacier sizes, or flood plains, receding snowpacks in the Alps, or...
"It's cold in Maine, so bring on global warming/if it's getting so warm, then why is it snowing in April?"
The first part of this argument shows a glib, callous disregard that is appalling. It's also wrong. The Northeast U.S. (and places like England and Spain) have been relatively mild. This is because of the Gulf Stream, which, because of the gradient between warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico and cool waters in the North Atlantic, carries warmer water and air northward at a pretty good clip. As the planet as a whole gets warmer, the Gulf Stream loses steam, allowing cold fronts from the North to gain momentum and stay longer. So as paradoxical as it may sound, as the planet gets warmer, we're going to get longer, more severe winters. That's why "climate change" is a better term than "global warming" though in fact the planet's average temperature is and will be significantly higher.
This should not be a political issue, it should be a global security issue. It's the corruption of a few in power and the gullibility of their followers that make it political.
Gregg Easterbrook, a scholar no one could call a liberal, has an excellent piece on global warming here: http://brookings.edu/views/papers/easterbrook/20060517.htmreport abuse
"McNeil and other speakers urged the sympathetic crowd to think about ways to change daily habits to help the environment, from carpooling and bicycling more to using less heating or air conditioning."
Use LESS heating in Maine? I'd love to. Bring on the global warming.report abuse
Can you be any more general?
What makes your news sources any more legitimate than mine?
There is only one truth, and that is that you and the other liberals are scaring the kids with your doom and gloom.
Consider this; The global temperature rose more between 1874 and 1940, than it has since 1940.
And, up until about 1980, your scientists were warning of global cooling.
The planet warms and cools according to activity on the sun. It's been warmer on our planet than it is now. It's been cooler. Man's been around for 100,000 years. We've been tracking the temperature accurately since 1874. It goes up. It goes down. MAN HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.
North America set records for cold in February and March and the first half of April has been the coldest on record. That looks like global cooling to me.
Your guilt about being an American is getting the best of you. Stop giving away the store and scaring the kids.
report abuse
Show all 41 comments
You must be a registered user of MaineToday.com to post a comment. Register or log in.