Overhauling our Past for a Climate Tolerant Future
By Jennifer Ruggiero
It’s holiday season and along with the good cheer, delicious food, and twinkling lights comes a spike in energy use, travel, and overall consumption. There are many things one can do to reduce the impact. Compost waste from the many generous parties and dinners from October to the New Year. Use reusables when possible, opt for low energy bulbs, etc.
However, as we celebrate and do our part, there’s something laboring in the background to bring us the at-your-fingertip comforts we enjoy. And that is infrastructure.
Infrastructure Overhaul
It’s not sexy. It’s not fun. And it certainly isn’t easy. It’s also often overlooked as part of the climate solution. However, it sits as the foundation of our society, helping it run in a seamless manner.
The only time we really take notice is when it starts to inconvenience us: a broken water main, road construction, a blackout. And it’s not just the physical that we should consider, but also the soft infrastructure1, such as facilities, agencies, institutions, and industry that are a piece of the greater picture.
We can dream as much as we want about a brilliant future filled with renewable energy and carbon-negative options and sustainable harvests. But without the proper infrastructure, the dream will topple. Our cries for change require overhauls of old, often worn-down systems that were built for another time.2 It’s not as simple as standing up and declaring we need change.
One Climate Future
Portland and South Portland have come together to draw the map to help deliver this and prepare for climate resiliency while transforming the cities to meet climate goals. The plan is called One Climate Future (OCF), with aggressive actions to transform the cities into more than just “sustainable,” but as the Maine motto goes, make it “the way life should be.”
The OCF covers everything from energy to land use to waste reduction. But what’s the next step to bring this map to life? Infrastructure.
How do we overhaul the infrastructure? Besides thoughtful innovation and planning, it takes time and money. A Sustainability Fund3 could kick start an infrastructure transformation by allocating funds earmarked specifically for projects meant to advance early efforts to battle climate change and strengthen our societal foundation to prepare for a new future which is already at our doorsteps.
Citations
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructure
2 “The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future,” by Gretchen Bakke
3 “Portland’s Plan to Address Climate Change,” by Portland Climate Action Team
