I support Gov. Mills in the push forward she announced in her recent address (“Mills sets goal to fight climate change: 100% renewable electricity by 2050,” Feb. 28) to help Maine communities adapt to changes in the climate. She is right to work in concert with other states.

As many people are aware, the problem of global warming goes beyond the borders of one state or one country or even continent to be global and planetary. As a resident of an African country (Burundi) currently living in Maine, I have experienced first-hand the adverse effects of climate change through droughts and famines, on the one hand, and sudden brutal, out-of-season downpours that inundate crops, on the other hand.

Observing these new climatic hazards led me a few years ago to set up an organization called Africa Action against Climate Change, as a framework to sensitize the people of Africa to the changes in mental outlooks needed to adapt to climate change.

Here in Maine, I have joined other U.S. climate change organizations such as Citizens’ Climate Lobby, through which I am learning about lobbying strategies to advance the implementation of policies that constitute viable solutions to climate change. These include the adoption of carbon fees, the creation of a carbon market and others that will achieve the overall goals of the Paris agreement.

I encourage Gov. Mills to move forward with an action plan so that the state of Maine moves to the forefront of the fight against climate change and serves as reference for other states. I will ensure that my organization, Africa Action against Climate Change, will take responsibility for echoing and disseminating to African countries the good solutions developed here.

Adolphe Wakana

Portland

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