Many people dislike the solar arrays being installed on the I-95 interchanges in Augusta, but I think they’re wonderful. The project gives me hope that the state of Maine is serious about making the substantial changes required to combat climate change, and there will be more to come. Kudos to MaineDOT for thinking outside the box with this innovative project. People also worry about solar arrays taking over viable farmland. Well, then, putting solar panels on land unusable for anything else, like highway interchanges and parking lots, is a perfect solution.

The climate is changing. Faster than we expected. The weather patterns our civilization has relied on for thousands of years are no longer stable. Whole ecosystems are in peril, as is our food supply. Extreme weather is becoming ever more frequent and intense. Last month’s report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns of a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for humanity. It’s not a far future scenario we can ignore as we have for decades, it’s happening now and it’s dire.

Those of us who are over 60 have a choice. We can pretend nothing is changing and refuse to change ourselves and yell “Not in my backyard!” Or we can step up and help solve the problems our generations largely caused, as younger generations are begging us to do. I joined Third Act Maine in Portland last month to participate in a national day of action demanding that big banks stop investing in the expansion of fossil fuel production — and it was a blast! It gave me hope to spend time with fellow Mainers of all ages determined to change the world for the better. Interested? Check out thirdact.org.

Deb Fahy

Hallowell

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