Maine’s Mount Desert Island aims to go 100 percent renewable by 2030. From solar panels to bag bans, here’s how they’re making it happen.

In Maine, some believe the solutions will come, not from laws, but from neighbors

The power of the individual and the potential for very real and tangible change has not been lost on this small, east coast island community.

When I read this next paragraph, I could have so easily been reading about Juneau!

What Mount Desert Island has achieved so far is partly a product of who they are: Mainers. Born of land known for its dark, cruel winters and blustery Nor’easter storms, they’re tough, resourceful, and self-sufficient. (It’s these characteristics that earned them their independence from Massachusetts in 1820, a political battle that took 35 years to win.) They’re also fiercely protective of their coastal home, which roils in glorious beauty come spring. Even as Americans grow to accept climate change as a threat, progress seems maddeningly slow for those experiencing its effects directly. Mount Desert Islanders are convinced that solutions will come, not from leaders making policy from above, but from small communities cohesive enough to approach big problems with a collective spirit.

Source: This small island is taking on a big problem – climate change
Experience Magazine