PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 27, 2021
From the damages to our rocky coastline caused by rising seas and more severe storms, to the impact of hotter seasons on our traditional farming and iconic fishing and lobstering industries, Maine’s bill for climate change is adding up fast. We ordered none of this, and the tab is still open. It is time that Mainers made clear that we refuse to foot the bill alone. It is simple to trace our climate crisis to a single industry: fossil fuel. Corporations that extract these fuels from the earth and sell them to us have known for decades that the emissions from their products would cause widespread and irreversible damages. Their executives decided to fight against cleaner energy policies in order to protect their own profits – forcing the rest of us to pay the price for their pollution. There is a storied history in environmental law: the “polluter pays” principle. Corporate polluters knowingly brought this mess to our collective table. It’s only fair that they be the ones to clean it up and pay the tab. The time-honored way to make that happen is through the courts. ~ Anthony Moffa, University of Maine School of Law