Cottage Industry
A single small home, lifted onto a foundation in Milbridge last month, could signal big housing changes ahead. Confronted with scant affordable housing and mandates to reduce carbon pollution, Maine needs to re-envision how...
Author: Marina Schauffler
Crises Demand Plans
The coronavirus tragedy in the U.S. holds a potent lesson about governance: Facing crises without a strategic plan costs lives. The floundering on display in recent months – with conflicting federal guidance, states forced...
Droughts and Downpours
“Never again will we have the climate system of the 20th century.” — Ivan Fernandez, University of Maine soil scientist and co-chair of the Maine Climate Council’s Scientific and Technical Subcommittee On a...
Ending Use of Chemical Weapons for Crowd Control
Braxton Winston, an at-large member of the Charlotte, N.C., City Council, vividly recalls his first encounter with tear gas at a peaceful protest four years ago. “Struggling to breathe. Skin burning. Vomiting. Trying to...
Tailpipe Living: Losing Federal Protections for Clean Air
Before getting new glasses this winter, I’d forgotten what it was like to see distant objects in sharp relief. The glasses improved my vision but far-off vistas remained hazy – until the pandemic shutdown...
Growing an Enduring Culture of Gardening
The current gardening boom has parallels to the widespread “War Gardens” and “Victory Gardens” grown during and after WWI, when the nation struggled with food shortages and the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed more...
Starting Anew
Last week’s storm decimated the trees in our yard, exposing raw tissue where limbs severed. Branches, graced by buds that will never open, lay scattered on the killing snow. Taking in the scene, I...
When Need Meets Need
Among the boundless concerns provoked by COVID-19, food supplies are top of mind for many Maine residents. The fear for consumers can be visceral: With store shelves emptying quickly, will there be enough to...
