[link removed] [[link removed]]Dear John,
Happy 2022! We begin the year with high hopes for Congressional action on the Build Back Better agenda and voting rights, big expectations for Maine’s gubernatorial election in November, and deep awareness that the year ahead will be full of surprises. Whatever 2022 brings, we’ll gather on Fridays at noon to Lunch & Learn together!
In January, we’ll learn about the destructive impact of dams and the efforts to restore the Kennebec River; one proposal for reforming the Supreme Court with inspiration drawn from George Washington; the growing market for geothermal heat pumps; and how Maine’s BTS Center is working to address the spiritual roots of the climate crisis.
We hope to see you online this month!
--Will
[link removed] [[link removed]]Friday, January 7, 12-1 PM: A Tale of Two Rivers | Dam removal and fish restoration on the Kennebec
The Kennebec was once the most productive river in Maine, supporting Atlantic salmon runs in the hundreds of thousands, and runs of shad and river herring in the many millions. Today, the future of the Kennebec River is at a critical point. Atlantic salmon are on the brink of extinction, and their recovery depends on further restoration of the Kennebec. Four dams above Waterville, owned by the international energy giant Brookfield Renewable Partners, stand in the way of a free and healthy Kennebec, blocking access to many miles of historic spawning and rearing habitat in the Sandy River. This represents the only place in the US where we can restore unrestricted access for endangered Atlantic salmon to a large river—and to one that contains some of the highest value and most productive salmon habitat in Maine. Federal and state agencies have identified these dams as the key impediment to restoring the Kennebec and have called for significant action: the removal of dams to save endangered Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish. This year the Maine Legislature will consider a bill intended to prevent removal of these dams. Restoration on the Kennebec/Sandy is critical to meeting Recovery Goals for endangered salmon. Join Jeff Reardon, Maine Brook Trout Project Director for Trout Unlimited, and Sean Mahoney, Executive Vice President and Director of the Conservation Law Foundation in Maine, to learn more.
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[link removed] [[link removed]]Friday, January 14, 12-1 PM: Reform Through Resignation | Why Chief Justice Roberts Should Resign (in 2023)
Many proponents of reforming the Supreme Court have expressed support for adopting a system of eighteen-year staggered term limits. These proposals, however, are hobbled by constitutional constraints: Amending the Constitution to implement term limits is highly implausible and implementing term limits through statute is likely unconstitutional. These constraints appear to doom the otherwise desirable proposal to limit the Supreme Court Justices' terms of service. Professor Scott Bloomberg of Maine Law has recently published a law review article proposing an alternative path to Supreme Court term limits; one that would avoid those constitutional constraints. In Reform Through Resignation: Why Chief Justice Roberts Should Resign (in 2023) , Professor Bloomberg argues that Chief Justice Roberts is uniquely positioned to create a new norm of Justices resigning after serving eighteen years on the Supreme Court. Just as George Washington's decision to not seek a third term as President established a long-lasting presidential term-limit norm, the Chief Justice could establish the same for Supreme Court Justices.
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[link removed] [[link removed]]Friday, January 21, 12-1 PM: Heat without fire — using the power of the earth to heat and cool with home geothermal
Archaeologists trace human use of geothermal energy back to the earliest evolution of our species, when living in caves allowed us to take advantage of the relatively constant temperature of the earth to create comfortable homes. Today, geothermal technology for home heating and cooling is undergoing a renaissance as 'beneficial electrification' has become the most viable path to transition our buildings off of fossil fuels. For this lunch and learn, Heather Deese, Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Dandelion Energy, will talk about how geothermal systems heat and cool buildings without any combustion of fossil fuels. Geothermal is now a viable, affordable solution in parts of the U.S., and rapidly becoming more widely available. Heather will talk about the status today and the challenges and opportunities for geothermal throughout New England and in Maine.
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[link removed] [[link removed]]Friday, January 28, 12-1 PM: Spiritual Leadership for a Climate-Changed World
Environmentalist Gus Speth has written, “ I used to think that the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and climate change. I thought that thirty years of good science could address these problems. I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed, and apathy, and to deal with these we need a cultural and spiritual transformation. And we scientists don’t know how to do that. ” Allen Ewing-Merrill serves as Executive Director of The BTS Center [[link removed]] , a nonprofit foundation in Portland, building on the legacy of the former Bangor Theological Seminary. Although no longer a degree-awarding institution, today The BTS Center seeks to catalyze spiritual imagination, with enduring wisdom, for transformative faith leadership, by offering theologically grounded programs of continuing education and spiritual and vocational formation, with a particular focus on spiritual leadership for a climate-changed world. Join us for a conversation about the spiritual roots of the climate crisis — and the work The BTS Center is doing to advance a spiritual response.
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