We learned last week about the latest work of the Maine Climate Council, which received and presented to the public a detailed report about how elements of the state’s climate action plan must work for our most vulnerable communities.

This kind of thinking needs to undergird every ambitious statewide policy, and the Climate Council was absolutely right to commission the report, the product of outreach to about 2,500 residents.

Without robust buy-in at the local, municipal, state and federal levels, however, even the most noble goals may languish forever in report form. 

The high-priority demographic groups surveyed for the report included “the disabled, ex-convicts, climate front-line communities, low-income households, migrant farm workers, new Mainers, older Mainers, people of color, people in recovery, rural Mainers, the unemployed, veterans and young people.”

The report’s central conclusions seem to hinge on effective communication with people who are time-pressed, live rurally, live alone or do not speak English. It stressed the importance of public transportation in cutting emissions; where meeting basic living requirements is a struggle, an electric car rebate is a total irrelevance. Some of this is common-sense stuff; to have it in granular detail to guide the state’s pursuit of its climate goals is nonetheless beneficial. And yet.

News of another significant climate policy development last week reminded us of the some of the lengths the state must go to in order to get people “on board” with this urgent work. The appointment of Maine’s first green schools director, Glenn Cummings, was met with a mixed response.

Last year, the creation of the position itself was in some doubt. Citing “inflationary times,” some Republican Party representatives in Augusta argued against the role, which has an annual salary of $121,000. “It’s a laudable goal, but the payback time is long,” said Sen. Jim Libby, R-Cumberland.

Climate change is a very vexing reality. The stakes are existential more than they are financial. The “payback” time for the hard work of decarbonization and the improvement of air quality – here, via our schools – is, sure, relatively long. And the time available to us to make changes that will spare the world from further disaster and disruption to life and livelihoods is very, very short. We have no choice but to forge ahead based on a clear understanding of the second truth.

This editorial board has also been outspoken in making the case for even the most “unpopular” investment in Maine’s future now. Although recent months and years have certainly been trying for the average household budget, the same penny-pinching hasn’t been required at the state level; Maine is, and has been for some time, in the black.

The Maine Climate Council’s “Maine Won’t Wait” plan will always be too much for some parties, too little for others. To better ascertain local priorities and concerns, the council spent the past month holding public meetings with communities up and down the state.

According to a Sept. 9 report by the Portland Press Herald, different forces continue to push and pull on the public’s interest in mitigating climate change. The tens of millions of dollars in damage done to Maine by storms last winter seemed to recruit some previously unengaged people to the cause, according to Hannah Pingree, co-chair of the Climate Council. 

As we all know, however, and per the report: “While most Mainers know the climate is changing, some still believe humans aren’t to blame despite scientific evidence that links rapidly rising temperatures to increased burning of fossil fuels, Pingree said. Other critics argue Maine can’t stop climate change, so it shouldn’t waste tax dollars trying.”

Maine alone can’t stop climate change – there is no argument there. But a critical mass of us must understand that mitigating it is a necessarily collective effort.

The appointment of a green schools director sends an important message to the broader public; the work of that director will set the tone for a new generation of school buildings, bus routes, conscientious public servants and people. By the same token, the Maine Climate Council’s time-intensive consultation work is being done so that we can all work thoughtfully together. 

Starting small is fine. It’s starting at all that matters. Any forces that try to detract from these efforts – or, indeed, to deny or discredit them altogether – set us back.