2009 Unity College Commencement Address by Senator Susan M. Collins

May 9, 2009

President Thomashow, Chairman Glidden, trustees, faculty and staff, family and friends, and, of course, graduates, I am delighted to join you on this special day and honored by the degree Unity College has bestowed on me today.

I would say I am left speechless by this award, but that would make it very difficult for me to fulfill my role as your commencement speaker.

I am grateful that this honor comes from a school with such an outstanding record of accomplishment and dedication. For 44 years, Unity College has produced graduates ready to meet the demands of today. Unity graduates have a reverence for the past, but more important, they have a vision for the future. The Great Law of the Iroquois – that we must assess every action we take in terms of its impact on the seventh generation – is the guiding spirit of this great school. The people of Maine are proud to be home to America’s Environmental College.

United States Senator Susan Collins

To the Class of 2009, you have learned a great deal during your time here. You have learned not only from books and lectures but also from your interaction with your broader environment. Your hiking boots have been as essential as your laptop in your journey to this day.

And you have learned, I hope, that knowledge must be translated into action. Sitting on the sidelines cannot be an option. Your community and country need your active involvement.
That’s why I am pleased that a group of students is presenting me with a letter advocating action on climate change legislation. That demonstrates an understanding that everyone has a role to play in resolving the vital challenges facing our nation and, indeed, our world.

Twenty years ago, Bill McKibben, a Unity College honorary degree recipient and award-winning environmental writer, published his book The End of Nature. It is considered to be the first book for a general audience about global climate change.

Two decades later, climate change is the most significant environmental challenge facing our country and our planet. In the United States alone, emissions of the primary greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, have risen more than 20 percent since 1990. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, increases in greenhouse gas emissions have already raised global temperatures, and likely contributed to extreme weather events such as droughts and floods. These emissions will continue to change the climate, causing increased warming in most regions of the world, and likely even more weather disasters.

In addition to dramatic changes in wildlife habitat, climate scientists predict an escalation of malaria and other insect-borne diseases as tropical ecosystems expand. Hotter air combined with unabated pollution will aggravate respiratory illnesses, such as asthma, sending more people to the hospital and putting more lives at risk. The disruption of agriculture will lead to food insecurity, malnourishment, famine, and violence. While climate change itself may be fairly gradual, many of the impacts may be sudden and catastrophic.

I have observed firsthand the dramatic effects of climate change and have been briefed by the preeminent experts in this field. In 2006, on a trip to Antarctica and New Zealand, for example, I saw sites in New Zealand that had been buried by massive glaciers at the beginning of the 20th century, but are now ice free. Fifty percent of the glaciers in New Zealand have melted since 1860 -- an event unprecedented in the last 5,000 years. It was remarkable to stand in a place where some 140 years ago, I would have been covered in tens or hundreds of feet of ice, and then to look far up the mountainside and see how distant the edge of the ice is today.

The melting is even more dramatic in the Northern Hemisphere. In the last 30 years, the Arctic has lost sea ice cover over an area ten times as large as the State of Maine, and at this rate, will be ice free by 2050. In Barrow, Alaska, I witnessed the melting permafrost that is causing telephone poles, planted years ago, to lean over for the first time ever.

I also learned about the potential impact of sea level rise during my trips to these regions. If the West Antarctica Ice Sheet were to collapse, for example, sea level would rise 15 feet, flooding many coastal cities. In its report, the IPCC found that due to gradual melting of ice sheets, the average predicted sea level rise by 2100 will be 1.6 feet, but could be as high as more than three feet. Here in Maine, such a rise in sea level could cause the loss of 20,000 acres of land. It could swamp 100 acres of downtown Portland, including busy and historic Commercial Street.

We must develop reasonable solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That is why last year I co-sponsored far-reaching climate change legislation. Unfortunately, this bill failed to get the votes needed to proceed further to the Senate floor. I remain committed, however, to working to advance effective climate change legislation.

While Congress must take meaningful action to respond to climate change, it must be a balanced approach that mitigates the impact on our economy and involves other nations since China’s contributions to greenhouse gas emissions are growing at a faster rate than any other country. As President Thomashaw stated in a blog entry earlier this school year on the economic crisis, “What’s crucial is that we balance vigilance and creativity, risk and opportunity, analysis and intuition, patience and urgency.”

During these challenging economic times, too many renewable energy companies that could help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions cannot find the capital to go forward with their projects. The America Recovery and Reinvestment Act – the stimulus bill that I helped lead through the Senate – provides some new financing mechanisms to address this problem, and I am hopeful will spur investment in clean energy.

Now, I’ve talked about the problem and the need for congressional legislation, private sector investment, and global action, but what does that mean for you? Well, since we all contribute to global warming, you can and should make choices that reduce your personal impact. The President’s house here at Unity is a great example of that. But you can do more. So, here’s a challenge for you, a specific cause that you may want to take on.

While carbon dioxide is the leading contributor to greenhouse gas emission, recent research shows that common soot – called black carbon – may account for 18 percent of our planet’s warming. The good news is that this source is what scientists call the “low hanging fruit” of climate fixes.

A major source of these emissions is the simple cook stove common in developing countries, such as in villages in Africa. An international effort to replace primitive stoves with modern versions that emit far less soot would be relatively inexpensive, could be done quickly, and would directly benefit some of the world’s poorest people. It is an action that we could pursue right now that would give us some much-needed breathing room while we tackle the more difficult challenge of curbing carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels.

The point here is that your personal involvement can make a difference as we work to solve seemingly insurmountable challenges. This low-hanging fruit is all around us – in every home, every community, every state, and every nation. The knowledge you have gained here at Unity and the determination you have shown in pursuing your studies will help us bring in this harvest.

Thomas Edison once said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Seizing the opportunities before us to address climate change will require a great deal of work.

Seizing opportunity allows each of us to make a difference. As leaders of the sustainability movement on American college campuses, Unity graduates already know that the key to making a difference is getting involved. Building networks with other students is excellent preparation for the work that must be done in order to build an innovative green economy and an environmentally responsible future.

You are in the vanguard of a movement to chart a new course for our country. Whether you apply your commitment to the environment in public service, in business, in education, or in the sciences, the impact of your actions will make a difference today and for seven generations to come. Congratulations, graduates, and good luck. We are counting on you!