Dear John,

 

If you are in Southern Maine, I hope you are enjoying the early peonies and are as relieved as I am by the rain this weekend. I appreciated this piece from Dennis Camire, an adjunct professor at Central Maine Community College. Camire implores Maine’s newsrooms to “encourage your personnel to smile and wax poetic when rain is in the forecast. Educate them about how the beauty of Maine would pretty much all be eliminated if it weren’t for the blessing of the 40 to 46 inches of precipitation we receive each year.” Good advice for us all. 

 

This month’s Lunch & Learn calendar includes a conversation with Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, a deep dive on best practices for community engagement for clean energy projects, including offshore wind, and two programs on how we can make our communities more resilient in the face of the climate crisis. 

 

We hope to see you at one or all of our online events this month!

 

--Will

Friday, June 4, 12-1 PM: A Conversation with Congresswoman Chellie Pingree

 

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, from Maine's First Congressional District, will join us to share her priorities and insights and will talk about what we can expect to see from Congress on issues ranging from climate action to land conservation to getting America back to work. As the House Appropriations Committee's Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Chair, Congresswoman Pingree oversees spending for the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, US Forest Service, and several agencies related to the arts and humanities. She is a long-time climate and clean energy champion, and we’re excited to hear about her priorities.

Friday, June 11, 12-1 PM: Community Resilience and Climate Change

 

Communities leading the way on building climate resilience are an important part of Maine's efforts to fight climate change. Join Brian Ambrette, Senior Climate Resilience Coordinator in the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, to learn about the state’s new community resilience pilot project and Governor Mills’ recent proposals for supporting and funding local climate action.

Friday, June 18, 12-1 PM: Planning for Sustainability | From Vision to Implementation

 

Join Christine Grimando, Director of Planning & Urban Development for the City of Portland, for an overview of how the city will implement its climate and sustainability goals. Many of the standards and policies that shape the built environment in Maine are adopted locally, community by community. Portland is in the process of a major initiative, ReCode Portland, to have its regulations better reflect the vision reflected in its comprehensive plan as well as the goals of the recently completed One Climate Future, with implications for housing, equity, climate resilience, transportation, and more. 

Friday, June 25, 12-1 PM: Understanding Fisheries Conflict and Coexistence with Offshore Wind Energy

 

Offshore wind energy is rapidly becoming a near-term climate solution throughout the northeast. However, this has generated significant concerns about how wind energy will affect current and future use of ocean space, including for fishing. Join Dr. Alison Bates, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Colby College, to learn about how scientists and policy makers are addressing conflict among fishing and offshore wind, and discuss the challenges, and opportunities, that lay ahead. 

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