High Summer in Camden
High Summer has certainly crashed into Camden, as it has to the entire Eastern half of the United States. A cool wet spring that was great for most plants – certainly the native ones that are accustomed to cooler times – gave way with a bang Tuesday to a heat dome. One commentator compared it to dropping a lid on a skillet just as you’re turning up the heat underneath. A hint of “onshore” breeze could be felt down at the harbor Tuesday, keeping the temperature at Lyman Morse/Wayfarer under 95℉ all through the morning. But those even a block or two inland had no such luck with the breezes.
If forecasters are to be believed – and a national poll out this week showed The Weather Channel as the most trusted news source in America for a fourth year running – this particular heat dome won’t hang around for long. But living on one of the most rapidly warming bodies of water in the world, the Gulf of Maine, we have to expect many more such events to come.
Perhaps we should also expect a lot of new folks to move up this way to escape the totally unbearable heat that is becoming common through much of the rest of the US, and indeed the world. My quote for the day Tuesday: “One of easiest ways to see climate change’s impact is in how it’s increasing the chance these types of heat waves will occur,” Climate Central climate scientist Zachary Labe told Bloomberg columnist Mark Gongloff. “By the middle of this century, these types of heat waves will be normal. The extremes will be even higher.”
The heat onslaught was dramatic enough to elicit mentions of what climate change is doing to us from other newscasters and commentators, as well. Unfortunately, most days that acknowledgement and discussion seems to have gone out of fashion.
Not at CamdenCAN, though! We continue to hold twice monthly “Camden Climate Conversations” in the Picker Room of our lovely, well air-conditioned Public Library, from 4-5 pm on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. These gatherings are open to everyone: residents, visitors, young and old alike. The idea is to help us get to know one another, find ways to talk about the climate crisis, and explore living in this remarkable period.
Upcoming Climate Events
Summer in Maine is the time to go boating, swimming, biking, hiking, or whatever your favorite may be among the many, many outdoor activities this area offers. But as the heat dome demonstrates so strongly, the climate crisis doesn’t stop for the summer, and neither do we and the many others in and around Camden who are seeking ways to both limit the damage greenhouse gas emissions wreak on our climate and adapt the community and its infrastructure to such change as fossil fuel use has made inevitable.
That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, though! This Thursday, June 26, CamdenCAN and Creation Care are jointly sponsoring a Camden/Rockport Community Climate Potluck from 6-8 pm at the First Congregational Church in Camden. Come celebrate summer, meet neighbors, and share a meal.
The program will include short talks by Tim Sheehy from Creative Care, Joline Blais from CamdenCAN, David Kibbe from the Camden Garden Club on “Edible Gardens and Bountiful Tables,” Jonathan Frost on the goals and activities of the church’s Anti-Poverty Group, Jean Matlack from Midcoast Maine Green Burial, and Amanda Dwelley on Rockport’s Social Vulnerability Assessment for Community Resilience. There will also be plenty of time for visiting and for asking questions of the speakers. You can bring a dish to share if you’re so inclined. Everyone is welcome.
July 9, Wednesday, 5 - 7 pm, Midcoast Villager Cafe, Camden. ClimateTech + Climate/Energy Jobs Happy Hour. Come learn and share how climate-friendly and green-energy businesses and organizations are growing in Maine. Also hear about programs and incentives from StartUp Maine, the Roux Institute ClimateTech Incubator. Organizers would appreciate people to RSVP at www.startupmaine.org/events, although they won’t be checking names at the door.
July 17, Thursday, Camden Middle School and Local Home Farms, “Edible Gardens and Bountiful Tables.” This inaugural “Garden Expo” put on by the Camden Garden Club will feature talks by two nationally famed food writers, Barbara Damrosch of Four Season Farm in Harborside and Camden’s own Nancy Harmon Jenkins. For more information, see camdengardenclub.org.
Climate Action Continues
It can’t be all play and no work, though! More “serious” projects also continue.
Camden and Rockport are jumping full speed ahead into the joint Climate Coaching and separate Emergency Preparedness Outreach programs for which the Rockport Conservation Commission, CamdenCAN, and the towns of Rockport and Camden recently received a two-year Community Action Grant from the Maine Community Resilience Partnership. The Town of Rockport will soon be formally seeking application for a paid, part-time position as Project Manager for both the Energy Coaching and Emergency Preparedness Outreach programs. The contract will be for two years. The solicitation should appear soon on Rockport’s website, https://rockportmaine.gov/
Camden’s Harbor Resiliency Planning effort is also advancing. Blake Sanford, project manager for Richardson & Associates, made a presentation to the Select Board June 17 on the Harbor Resiliency report Richardson and its partner WSP submitted to the town in April, following a series of consultations and working sessions with the public and directly interested parties over last winter. You can see a video of the Select Board meeting here https://www.youtube.com/TownofCamdenMaine and a summary of the report and other documents from the planning effort here https://www.camdenmaine.gov/departments/planning___code_enforcement/harbor_resiliency_planning_project.php
Camden officials are aiming for further outreach to private property owners around the harbor on the options open to them, and also working on developing the next steps in the public process related to town-owned harbor properties. You can be sure CamdenCAN will be there!