August 25, 2015 — “If ocean temperatures go up 5 degrees, I might actually swim in it,” proclaimed Tom Doak, executive director of the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine.
I’d need at least 20 degrees, I responded. But Tom was making an important point about climate change: It’s not all bad.
Yes, there will be no skiing in Maine, but waterskiers will enjoy a long season. Farmers will have longer growing seasons, although some current crops won’t do well. As we plan for these climate changes, it’s important to include the benefits along with the bad impacts.
The June conference on Maine’s Economy & Climate Change, organized by Alan Caron and Envision Maine, was both fascinating and troubling. Last week, I told you a bit about the conference, and today I will focus on the three dozen people who spoke briefly, from 10 minutes to 1 minute.
“Eat Hake, not Haddock.” That must be our new slogan, said Andy Pershing of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Fish species are changing in the Gulf of Maine, he said, and hake eat cod. We’d like to eat cod too. But first, we must eat hake. And the real question is this: Will tourists eat hake? Just for the hake of it?
Read the full story at CentralMaine.com