Opinion: We can reclaim control of the climate change fight

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 5, 2026

On Feb. 12, the Trump administration repealed the scientific finding that authorized the federal government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Quiet actions like this one strip away tools we’ll need for the next crisis. The repeal joined dozens of similar moves: agencies gutted, international commitments abandoned, clean-energy tax credits rolled back. Together, they explain why so many of us feel like we’ve lost control of the climate fight. That feeling doesn’t have to be permanent. Climate agency is the necessary solution to the biggest problem we’ll face for the rest of our lives. We already have plenty of it — scientific knowledge, technical solutions, and a clear understanding of what to do differently. What we’re not doing is closing the gap between knowing and doing. We are not helpless. The raw capacity to act — civic engagement, legal and political tools, consumer and investor influence, citizen and business leadership — is available but underused. We haven’t turned enough of that capacity into assertive power. ~ Tom Bateman, Rockport, professor emeritus, University of Virginia