We Have Work To Do
And We Know How To Do It
Tough Times for Democracy and the Planet
The results of the presidential election are in and it doesn’t look good for democracy or the planet, but we’ve all lived long enough to know there’s no use in sulking and looking for someone to blame. Our work is more urgent than ever. To quote Winston Churchill, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Let’s give ourselves time to mourn what might have been. Then, let’s pick ourselves up and get back in the fight.
Remembering Chuck Spanger
We at Third Act Maine are saddened by the untimely death of our cofounder, Chuck Spanger. Chuck loved organizing and was responsible for expanding Third Act hubs to four cities beyond Portland. He forged alliances with Maine Climate Action Network, Environmental Priorities Coalition, Divest Maine, and Maine Youth for Climate Justice. He served as co-facilitator for our first two years and then led the Legislative Committee.
With his twinkly eyes, Carhartt pants and can-do spirit, Chuck inspired climate activists in Maine and beyond. He not only shepherded the creation of Third Act Maine but stood out in bitter cold and sweltering heat and everything in between, protesting the continued use of fossil fuels.
The best thing we can do to honor Chuck's legacy is to keep making good trouble--with hearts full of love for the planet and a belief that the future can be better, to urge a speedier transition to solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal and to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for the damages wrought by climate change. In lieu of flowers, Chuck’s family has requested that people make donations to Third Act Maine or Maine Youth for Climate Justice. His full obituary can be found here.
Keeping the Pressure on L.L. Bean
The weather might be getting cooler, but we’re keeping the heat on L. L. Bean, continuing our standouts protesting Bean’s credit-card partnership with Citibank. After a standout at Bean’s corporate headquarters, several Third Act Mainers gathered to plant a tree in memory of our cofounder, Chuck Spanger.
Turn Black Friday Green
Stand out with your fellow Third Actors on November 29, at 1:00 pm at L.L. Bean’s flagship store in Freeport. Remind all the Black Friday shoppers that L.L. Bean ain’t so green. Traveling for Thanksgiving and can’t make it to Freeport? There’s still time to make your voice heard by signing our petition of Mainers protesting L.L. Bean’s continued use of a Citibank credit card. Let’s get at least 200 signatures! Sign here.
Where: L.L. Bean, Freeport When: November 29, 1:00 pm, weather permitting
Get Out the Vote Extravaganza in Brunswick
Tom and Kathy Mikulka attended "A Cautionary Tale: Get Out The Vote Extravaganza” with 60 others at Kathy Bradford’s Studio in Fort Andross, Brunswick, on October 4. The Artist's Rapid Response team (ARRT) led by Natasha Mayers displayed numerous colorful activist paintings. Tom and Kathy gave their stump speech on the role that big banks and L.L. Bean play in funding climate chaos.
Focus on Democracy in Farmington
Western Mountains Third Act has dedicated the last two months to registering voters on the University of Maine at Farmington campus. The response has been uplifting, with many students expressing thanks for elders providing the materials and information they need to make their voting plan. The Western Mountains hub also sponsored a competition for the dorm with the most voters. Their efforts to pressure TD Bank to stop funding fossil fuel projects continue.
What If We Get It Right?
Third Act Maine tabled before the zany and wonderful “Climate Variety Show” that heralded Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s new book, “What If We Get It Right?” at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. Far from a somber affair, the evening featured song (with one of Prince’s guitarists, Wendy Melvoin), a dance competition (which sent text messages to climate activists reminding them to vote), and a hula hooping scientist who simultaneously expounded on the remarkable sex feats of a variety of ocean and land animals— and much, much more! Laughter helps so much! Listen to NPR’s interview with Johnson here.
On the Brink of Irreversible Climate Disaster
The 2024 State of the Climate Report: Perilous Times on Planet Earth begins with this simple declarative sentence: “We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster.” Published by renowned climate scientists early in October, the report documents the causes of the climate chaos we have all witnessed: devastating hurricanes and typhoons, ravenous wildfires, deadly heatwaves, mudslides, and flooding - all attributable to human-caused global warming. The report is a dark and depressing read.
Irreversible disaster. Those should be alarming words for all of us and particularly for the industry responsible for fueling this disaster, but how is the fossil fuel industry responding? According to Reuters, BP has scrapped its target for cutting oil and gas output by 2030 and instead is investing in expanding production of oil and gas. Chevron is engaging in classic greenwashing by sponsoring Politico’s "Power Switch” climate reporting. The reports include ads for Chevron’s new “Anchor” project which drills to record depths beneath the sea floor to access enough oil to produce millions of metric tons of CO2 emissions. It’s clear the fossil fuel industry has no intention of stopping until every single drop of oil and gas has been extracted from deep within Mother Earth, irreversible climate disaster be damned.
Encouraging News from the Developing World
Meanwhile… there appears to be a quiet, hopeful solar revolution happening in the developing world. While governments and large institutions have been far too slow in transitioning to renewables, individuals and small businesses in the developing world have been quick to take advantage of the rapidly decreasing cost of solar panels. Bill McKibben writes, “… in just six months, Pakistan imported solar capacity equivalent to 30% of its total electricity generation capacity - an absolutely staggering amount.” A similar phenomenon is occurring in many African nations where those most in need of electricity are bypassing large and often unreliable utilities and installing their own solar panels. Read McKibben’s blog, “The Crucial Years” for more on this encouraging revolution.
Small Kindnesses
I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk
down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs
to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you”
when someone sneezes, a leftover
from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying.
And sometimes, when you spill lemons
from your grocery bag, someone else will help you
pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.
We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,
and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile
at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress
to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,
and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.
We have so little of each other, now. So far
from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange.
What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these
fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here,
have my seat,” “Go ahead—you first,” “I like your hat.”
Danusha Laméris, published in The New York Times (9/19/2019)