On Thursday, Nov. 3, the University of Maine’s Multicultural Center hosted a talk with UMaine graduate student and Shoshone tribe member Jason Brough. The purpose of Brough’s discussion was to educate attendees about Indigenous identity and how ideas of race stemming from colonialism have impacted the consistent struggle for tribal sovereignty.

Brough addressed the various terms that Indigenous peoples have been called throughout history including the term “Native American,” which tends to be thought of as the politically correct way of addressing them in today’s society.

“There are some drawbacks to that in the modern context,” Brough said.

He went on to reference past legal instances where the ruling had been that anyone born on American soil is technically a “native.”

Although he made sure to note that he was not speaking on behalf of all Indigenous peoples Brough feels that the term “Indigenous” is generally the correct term to use when addressing an Indigenous person, rather than “Native American” or other titles that tend to have negative connotations and stereotypes.

Many tribes tend to prefer to be called by the name they call themselves in their unique language which greatly depends on the area they are located in. Various tribes around the U.S. do prefer the legal term Indian as it appears this way in the terminology of the country’s court system. According to Brough, the favorable approach is to learn about the region one is referencing when determining how to address Indigenous peoples in a respectful way.

Brough noted that oftentimes in archaeology Indigenous peoples are wrongfully referred to as primitive, meaning they are viewed as less evolved in a variety of ways.

“The term primitive is one of those things in anthropology that just needs to be done away with. We need to stop using it because it’s detrimental to Indigenous communities today. It gives the perception that we didn’t have enough intelligence to be able to live with our environments or to be able to handle modern changes that have taken place due to colonialism and climate change,” Brough said.

He believes this notion has been used as justification for the atrocities that have been committed against Indigenous peoples throughout history.

“What we call people, and how we see and perceive them, has direct implications down the road,” Brough said.

Here in Orono legislation and its enforcement in regard to the local Wabanaki tribes have been described as subpar.

“It’s not anywhere near where it should be,” Brough said.

Brough referenced the university’s land acknowledgment as part of this weak response, as the words within the statement may sound nice, but do not actually do anything to benefit the Indigenous community.

“They [the university] don’t have to give up power, prestige or the land back,” Brough explained.

Although he feels this is a decent first step, Brough concluded his talk by stating that there is more to be done in response to the prevalent issue of the university’s location sitting on tribal lands.

On Tuesday, Oct. 25, the University of Maine welcomed the state of Maine’s current governor, Janet Mills, during a rally in front of the Fogler Library steps facing the University Mall.

Mills was joined by Maine State Senate candidate Mike Tipping, Representative Laurie Osher and former State Senator Emily Cain, who is now the executive director of the Democratic political action committee Emily’s List.

This rally was held to encourage UMaine students to get out and vote in the upcoming election, as the Maine Democratic Party seeks to hold onto both the gubernatorial position and its majority in the Maine State Legislature.

The UMaine College Democrats President, Maredyth Waters, kicked off the event by reiterating the importance of exercising one’s right to vote, especially toward the young generation of students in attendance.

“You guys have the power to sway this election; you have to use it,” Waters said.

Candidate Mike Tipping followed Waters’ introduction by crediting a majority of the success he has found thus far to the university’s political action clubs and students who have dedicated countless hours going door to door in order to get the word out about his presence in this year’s election.

Tipping has been heavily involved in fighting pollution in the nearby Penobscot River. In early October, the lawsuit he had been a part of for 14 years that dealt with the dumping of 12 metric tons of mercury into the river by the chemical company Mallinckrodt has now reached a satisfactory settlement to fund cleanup efforts. This milestone, Tipping noted, is now known to be the largest ecosystem-like cleanup that citizen action has ever forced in this country.

Mike Tipping has also served as spokesperson for the Minimum Wage Referendum, which successfully raised the minimum wage requirement in Maine to nearly $13 an hour.

“Change happens when communities of people come together over time and refuse to give up,” Tipping stated.

Representative Laurie Osher took center stage next to discuss her involvement with climate change efforts in the state, specifically through finding ways to store carbon. She also encouraged UMaine students to register to vote in Orono, even if they may have roots in other states.

“Almost 80% of the people in this district… are 35 and under. Almost 40% in this district are 25 and under,” Osher explained.

In sharing these statistics, Osher said that in order to have the voices of the youth in Maine heard in the legislature, they should highly consider registering to vote right here in Orono.

Emily Cain was the last guest speaker before Governor Mills took over for the remainder of the rally, and she used this opportunity to endorse Mills for re-election.

“[Mills] thinks about the whole state of Maine every time a problem comes her way… I have seen her work through the night to do the right thing for Maine people, whether it’s on budgets, whether it’s on climate… on job creation, on public education, on all of it. Our governor is holding the line for us every single day,” Cain said.

Cain also spoke on the importance of being able to make one’s own healthcare decisions, which is an ongoing issue that will appear on the ballot this November. Maine currently has safe access to abortion, which has the potential to change if the Democrats lose the governor’s seat. The young voters at UMaine hold great power in ensuring this healthcare right is maintained by exercising their right to vote.

Mills spoke heavily In regards to climate change efforts, and she reflected on the efforts of the Climate Action Council, which she helped create soon after taking office. A key goal of Maine’s plan to fight climate change is to become carbon neutral by 2045, which Mills said may happen sooner due to the state’s current track record.

Mills also discussed expanding healthcare in the state. Former Governor of Maine Paul LePage attempted to block the majority will of the Maine people in this regard during his time in office.

Mills’ personal efforts to expand healthcare access to all Mainers began shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. In the aftermath of these unprecedented times, she noted that Maine has experienced the 11th-highest economic recovery in the country and that the Commonwealth Fund awarded Maine some of the highest marks for how it has fared through the last few years. The governor credits Maine’s pandemic response to the state’s CDC, which she praised for its willingness to be open and honest with all citizens even when its officials were unsure of what was to come.

Before ending her speech, Governor Mills urged all to consider what key issues are at stake this November before hitting the polls.

“Think about healthcare. Think about climate change. Think about abortion. Think about our economy. Think about democracy. We can’t go back,” Mills said.

All attendees were then invited to participate in a group photo with the governor as the rally concluded.

Same-day voter registration will be available on the UMaine campus at the New Balance Field House and Memorial Gym on election day, Nov. 8. For more information regarding the general election, visit Maine.gov.

On Monday, Oct. 17, the Senator George J. Mitchell Center hosted a talk on the Biden administration’s agenda regarding climate change and justice as part of its ongoing Sustainability Talks series.

The center, located in Norman Smith Hall on the University of Maine campus, welcomed honorary guest speaker David Cash, who serves as the current regional administrator for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) New England. Cash has devoted his career to working with state governments, communities and the private sector to create policies around the U.S.His work aims to combat climate change, achieve environmental justice and other related areas that pose some of the most significant issues in today’s society.

In his highly informative discussion, Cash explored how the current presidential administration is approaching the looming threat of climate change through recent legislation.

“The EPA is a steward of about $100 billion dollars that’s going to go to states, tribes, communities and the private sector to get to the greenhouse gas neutral place that we need to be,” Cash said. “It will grow the clean energy economy that will provide leading jobs, and it will do it in a way where we center justice.”

When analyzing who to disburse funds to, it’s important to remember who we need to protect the most. There are many underserved, diverse communities around the U.S. that have been historically overlooked and left to struggle in times of need. Climate change affects everyone, and it is the goal of the administration to prioritize low-income, diverse communities that often benefit from intervention the most, yet their needs are disproportionately satisfied.

In November 2021, President Biden signed an infrastructure bill that would bring $40 million this year to the state of Maine alone. Cash noted that these funds are to replace lead pipes and build drinking and wastewater systems that will be resilient to climate change.

An additional $20 million in funds has been granted to the state through the EPA to be used to clean up old industrial sites in many southern Maine communities to make way for economic development on these lands. The selected sites will be redeveloped as commercial and residential spaces.

“Maine has done a really good job of converting these horrible risks to communities into assets,” Cash said.

Federal funding through the Inflation Reduction Act is also crucial as the United States moves toward a more aggressive approach to combating climate change. New investments will promote offshore wind, electric vehicles, heat pumps in homes and more. Cash reiterated a key goal of this act, which is to focus on environmental climate justice that will especially benefit the nation’s diverse, underserved communities. For example, a five-year program has been implemented to convert old school buses to electric buses so that children can ride to school without diesel emissions.

Other focuses on renewable energy, especially offshore wind, are expected to greatly benefit the northeast by creating a need for manufacturing and job growth. Cash demonstrated that Maine has a lot to look forward to in the near future as it receives increased support from the federal government to do its part in combating climate change while also reaping the economic benefits that can arise from long-term investments.

To view a recording of Dr. Cash’s talk or to receive more information about this fall’s upcoming Sustainability Talks, visit https://umaine.edu/mitchellcenter/.

Dr. Laura Rickard’s Department of Communication and Journalism Colloquium welcomed guest speakers from the University of Maine’s student accessibility, advising and counseling centers on Monday. This weekly series is for graduate students as they experience their first few months of teaching on campus. It is important for student teachers to know what approach to take if they notice any one of their students might be struggling for a variety of reasons, which could range from constant absences to mental health crises.

Sara Henry, UMaine’s director of student accessibility services, first explained the concept of accommodations and the necessary steps students must take to receive these adjustments that will remove barriers in order to put every individual student in a position to excel. In order to be granted accommodation, students are required to self-identify their impairment and provide documentation to demonstrate the need for an in-class adjustment. The office will then pass on this information to each professor in every class a student is enrolled in to ensure that the student is properly taken care of without having their personal needs disclosed in front of the rest of their classmates.

John Mascetta, the director of the Advising & Academic Services Center and the explorations program, and Miriam Cohen, a second-year student in UMaine’s student development in higher education master’s program, talked about the CLAS Advising and Academic Services Center. Mascetta works primarily with undecided undergraduate students. However, he expressed his willingness to take on any other type of student who may be struggling and even thinking about dropping out of college altogether, as he is here to aid students in understanding their options both on and off campus.

The final speaker of this week’s colloquium, Angela Fileccia, the director of the Counseling Center, addressed the significant presence of anxiety and homesickness among students this semester. Students can go to the center for short-term, solution-based counseling. Fileccia responded to questions about what to do if they encounter someone who has expressed psychological distress. She advises reaching out to either the counseling center, UMPD or even student life to at least open the door to conversation regarding an incident.

UMaine students are fortunate to be able to walk into the counseling center to talk whenever they feel the need. The university also provides free access to the Silvercloud app, which is a mental health tool that aids in treating mild or moderate issues like anxiety and depression. All of this week’s panel speakers were in agreement that if it is unclear if a student truly needs assistance it is always best to reach out anyway to avoid further problems.

Visit umaine.edu/counseling or call (207)581-1392 for more information on the services offered at the university’s counseling center and for access to free online mental health tools.

Peter Ellis, the global director of natural climate solutions science at the Nature Conservancy based out of Portland, Maine, visited the University of Maine campus on Sept. 21 to present at the school’s fourth annual Libby Lecture in Natural Resource Policy.

When thinking of the Amazon Rainforest, descriptions like beautiful or tropical might come to mind. However, there is a specific concept that has become a key topic in a majority of discussions on the Amazon and other tropical forests around the world. Deforestation, which eliminates millions of acres of trees each year, is a prevalent climate change issue as it leads to the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Forests are cleared away for a variety of reasons, such as to obtain wood for fuel use, but forester and ecologist Ellis recognizes the need for change in the industry.

“RIL-C practices [can be used] to avoid damage and sustain timber production,” Ellis said.

The Nature Conservancy developed Reduced-Impact Logging for Climate (RIL-C) as a way to maintain the necessary level of timber production while limiting forest damage. It also meticulously measures the apparent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from this approach.

Ellis explained that there are other ways to keep carbon stored in forests, including the practice of harvesting wood less frequently, establishing reserves that are free from logging or focusing on enhanced growth.

However, RIL-C is the primary solution he advocates for. Through the implementation of reduced-impact logging, Ellis estimates that one-third of a gigaton of climate mitigation could be saved per year in tropical countries. There could also be a decrease in wood waste if the effort is made to avoid cutting down hollow trees and to recover the wood from all trees that are already chopped down. Another benefit includes having a smaller hauling footprint due to limiting the size of log yards and the roads used to transport wood to what is absolutely necessary.

It might be beneficial to understand the context surrounding the issue of typical logging practices in order to see why Ellis and other environmental advocates are pushing for sustainable development.

“Less than 20% of tropical forests are selectively logged for the timber we use,” Ellis said.

This means that trees are carelessly cut down and often wasted. It is also expected that up to 9% of forest biomass is eliminated, with only about 2% successfully harvested as a result of the outdated approach to logging.

A key focus of this year’s Libby Lecture was the Family Forest Carbon Program’s plan to increase climate-focused forest management on small ownerships, which is being tested here in the U.S. after receiving $35 million in funding from the United States Department of Agriculture.

In collaboration with the American Forest Foundation, this program plans to create a new, dynamic approach to carbon accounting and forestry management methodology that collaborates with small forest landowners. Ellis estimates that this research will be released in the near future, as it is currently under review, and he hopes that it will be widely adopted around the U.S. as efforts to combat climate change persist.

For more information on the topics covered in this year’s Libby Lecture in Natural Resource Policy, visit https://www.nature.org or https://www.forestfoundation.org .

On Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, the American Security Project (ASP), the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) and the University of Maine’s School of Policy and International Affairs collaborated to host a public panel discussion in the Buchanan Alumni House. This hour-long talk, “Consistent and Compelling: Maine’s Model for Mitigating Climate Change” addressed the current efforts underway in the state of Maine to combat the looming consequences of climate change, as well as the national security concerns that an increasing number of climate-related disasters present.

Panelists included Capt. James Settele, USN (Ret.), the executive director of Graduate School of Policy and International Affairs at UMaine. He is joined by Rear Adm. Jamie Barnett, USN (Ret.), representing the APS Consensus for American Security; Hannah Pingree, the director of Governor Mills’ Office of Policy Innovation and the Future and Jessica Olcott Yllemo, a senior fellow for Climate Security on the American Security Project. These panelists shared extensive knowledge of climate efforts within the state of Maine and nationally, along with some positive steps to take as an increasingly climate-conscious society moving forward.

The Maine Climate Council has a four year climate action plan titled “Maine Won’t Wait.” The one-year progress report on the action plan revealed that 45% of Maine’s grid now uses renewable energy. Pingree also noted that the primary goal of the council’s plan is to reduce the state’s emissions, which can be achieved through measures such as electrifying Maine’s transportation and heating systems, both of which require the implementation of clean energy. Solar and on-shore wind are the current leading producers of renewable energy in the state.

Pingree explained how the recent passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has three elements that are particularly important for Maine moving forward. These relevant aspects include investing in the innovation of clean energy, lowering the costs of solar and energy-efficient technology as well as offering tax credits on solar energy, wind energy and transmissions. Moves toward cutting energy efficiency costs and providing tax credits are a step in the right direction toward Maine’s goal to aid its people, especially those in the low to moderate income range.

Settele stated that the well-being of all people is in part due to whether or not they are energy independent, which also reduces the demand for oil. It is crucially important that the state of Maine can reduce its own oil demand.

“We are the most heating oil-dependent state in the country. We are by far an outlier. We have 60% of our families relying on heating oil to heat their homes. The national average is 4%,” Pingree said.

Yllemo highlighted Maine Senator Angus King when discussing the significant actions the Department of Defense (DOD) has taken in paving the way for climate action in the United States. Senator King is specifically credited as a co-sponsor of the in-progress Military Fleet Electrification Act, which requires 75% of non-tactical vehicles purchased by the DOD to be zero-emissions automobiles.

“The Department of Defense, believe it or not, has been on the leading edge of climate change research and development,” Settele said. The IRA legislation looks to follow the DOD in its mobilization of climate change impact.

The average Mainer may wonder what they can do to help the state meet its current goal of mitigating climate change. The panelists provided some noteworthy advice for those who wish to join the fight and make a positive long-term impact on the environment. The importance of leading by example was reiterated many times by all panel members, but what does this really look like?

The recommended first step is to get out and vote for those who support climate change efforts and environmentally friendly legislation.

Other practical steps could include switching to heat pumps and adopting energy-efficient methods within individual households. Although effective climate change efforts will take a lot of time, effort and money, the panelists expressed their excitement for the future. Federal and state governments are recognizing the problem that continued climate change presents and are beginning to take the necessary measures to limit future consequences.

For more information on the National Resources Council of Maine and how to get involved in conserving Maine’s environment today, visit nrcm.org.