LEWISTON - Ray Sirois didn't always take the threat of global warming
seriously. That was before he was forced to make changes to his
personal lifestyle, like losing weight and watching cholesterol, and he
realized that one person's effort can make a drastic difference.
Not long ago, he began researching global warming and he reached similar conclusions - individuals can make a difference.
Now, Sirois is one of about 1,000 lecturers who are working to spread
Al Gore's warnings about climate change. He brought the former vice
president's message to Bates College Wednesday night in a talk at
Carnegie Science Hall.
Sirois, who is an information technology manager for a Topsham
engineering firm, delivered a detailed lecture based on training he
undertook recently in Nashville by The Climate Project. The talk
covered information in Gore's Academy Award-winning documentary film,
"An Inconvenient Truth."
Global warming issues have evolved into concerns about climate change, Sirois said.
"Finally, its time has come," he said, adding that Maine is a leader in addressing the issues.
The impact of carbon dioxide emissions from power plants was the focus
of the presentation. Sirois noted that most of those emissions come
from coal-burning plants, and most of them are in states outside of
Maine.
The biggest contributor to carbon dioxide emission in Maine is transportation, he said.
An audience of about two dozen people, mostly students, heard Sirois'
lecture. It was a fast-moving program punctuated by attention-grabbing
PowerPoint graphics.
Although it was heavy on charts, graphs and statistics, Sirois was adept at pinpointing the key data and its significance.
Current initiatives before the Maine Legislature also were covered by
Sirois. He summarized details of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
which, in two measures before the legislators, provides rewards and
penalties to industry through a system of buying, selling, trading and
auctioning rights to emit carbon dioxide.
Those
provisions are in L.D. 1090, which Sirois called the "more aggressive"
measure, and a soon-to-be-introduced governor's bill.
As
Sirois related scientific evidence of climate change and ocean
temperature fluctuations, he emphasized that "this is an issue with
teeth."
He showed many examples of rising emissions and effects such as
receding glaciers, sea-ice losses and land-based ice melt. Bringing
that information down to local terms, he showed satellite photos of
Wells Harbor with overlays of land losses with a possible ocean rise of
2 feet in this century.
Sirois also said there is evidence that Maine will see more events of heavy downpours in coming years.
Advice to increase the use of biofuel (burning wood) is sometimes
questioned by people who think it adds carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere, Sirois said.
He explained that biomass burning is "carbon-neutral," and he said "it's an OK thing."
He concluded with a list of actions people can take that included
switching to fluorescent light bulbs, eliminating electric water
heaters in favor of tankless hot water, and using energy-efficient
appliances.
"We all need to reduce our carbon footprint," he said.
The Bates College lecture was sponsored by state Sen. Peggy Rotundo and
state Rep. Richard Wagner, both of Lewiston, and by Environment Maine
and the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
