While I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the Walk the Working Waterfront event (June 8), I couldn’t help but notice a glaring omission in your coverage: a concrete call to action against climate change. The Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s prediction of sea levels rising by up to 3 feet by 2050 is alarming. This is not just a statistic. It is a forecast of a future fraught with loss and suffering. If this trend continues unchecked, our beloved Portland Harbor will be inundated, drastically altering economies, ecosystems and ways of life.

Sure, the well-designed displays and demonstrations on sea level rise are important, but we cannot remain passive spectators of our own demise. I am afraid we will become inured to these nuanced warnings with high production values. Tom Meyers’ sobering comment on adapting or retreating didn’t go far enough. We need aggressive policies to mitigate these impacts from happening in the first place. The GOP’s presumptive presidential candidate hopes to reverse all renewable energy initiatives. We cannot afford to gamble our waterfront – indeed, our entire planet – on anyone’s short-sighted political gains. If we love Portland, we must fight for real, systemic change now, before it’s too late. Our future depends on it.

Norah Dooley
Royalston, Mass.