The planet may not be spinning out of control, but it sure feels that way. 

The first month of this brand-new year has already bid farewell. Another passage of what is into the realm of what was. In what’s become a more and more fleeting appreciation of the present, life today seems indeed a proverbial treadmill where we keep running in place through a world over which we have less and less influence. So much of everything is so overwhelmingly and immediately displaced by what’s next in competing for our increasingly impatient attention. Multitasking’s now a self-imposed taskmaster. E-pervasiveness has no downtime. E-dependence dominates our lives, our politics and our economy. E-reality races past in an ever-accelerating blur of tiresome eventfulness. 

The landmarks of time used to be far more momentous and memorable, if only because they stood out in an otherwise routine and familiar existence. Now every week, sometimes every day, brings on yet another wave of media hyper-hyped watershed moments to flood the bandwidth of how much we can actually absorb. 

Too bad the winter of our discontent can’t really be made a glorious summer by viewing idyllic Google screensavers depicting faraway tropical climes. Clicking on “Like what you see?” only invites us down yet another E-Wonderland rabbit hole. Despite that discontent’s ongoing e-exacerbation we continue e-distancing ourselves from the reality that planetary survival depends on the very low-tech solution of weaning ourselves from our insatiable energy consumption, even if supposedly “sustainable.” Some say we have 12 years to accomplish that. One month of that timetable just passed. 

Whether radiating sunshine or providing the less warmly greeted gift of falling snowflakes, environmental appreciation remains a constant and trusted means of staying grounded in a runaway digitized world absent nature’s profoundly innate and inclusive correctness. 

As I write this it’s raining outside my window, 6:30 a.m., and the porch thermometer displays an awesome 45 degrees. Forty-eight hours earlier the temp was 5 Fahrenheit, dropping to zero by midday. The most amazing part is that there are still those convinced that climate change is a false-science conspiracy undermining our deserved way of life. 

Yesterday, Bath’s public works took advantage of the thaw to hurriedly dig out my street from what the last snowstorm left frozen in place. The battle against the elements was carried out by an impressive organization of men and machinery. In short order the sidewalks were plowed. Snowbanks were pushed to the center of the road, swallowed by a gigantic snow blower and carted away by massive dump trucks. All of the equipment was obviously most serviceable. One exceptionally large truck looked as if just purchased. None of them, however, appeared to be electric or hybrid vehicles. Efficient as the cleanup had been, I couldn’t help wondering how much of a carbon footprint had been left behind in maintaining this just one of the many thoroughfares throughout the city. 

That the snow was being removed before an impending rainstorm could cause flooding wouldn’t have been an oddity if it were nearer springtime. That the fossil fueled means of removal contributes to that oddity likely doesn’t escape the attention of those in public works. The rub is that our municipality is caught between the rock of an ecological imperative and the hard place of budget limitations. If money was no object, I’m sure the city would replace all of its infrastructure with more eco-friendly alternatives. As it is, Bath is a cool little city that remains eco-unfashionable in most regards. Aside from a cursory recycling program and the recent banning of some retail plastic bag usage, any significant adoption of solar energy generation remains a rarity in the private sector and minus any public profile. BIW has stepped up to the plate in adopting some sustainable practices, but its Great Green Wall and expansive rooftops remain idle in exampling what should be a perfect site location embrace of clean energy provision. Given its closeted partnership with a later abandoned wind turbine enterprise, maybe it has yet unrevealed pending implementation of more progressive energy consumption. Given its energy needs that would seem a bottom-line business basic. Given its product line’s ultimate environmental harm, perhaps connecting some seemingly obvious dots just isn’t part of its corporate culture. Unlike the City of Ships, Maine’s major shipbuilder certainly has the resources to invest in major environmental leadership. 

As to Bath’s soon to be built new high school, the motto of “Bath Built Is Best Built” will hopefully be reflected by an educational campus that’s state-of-the-art in its environmental example. The mega incomprehensible environmental carnage of its site preparation doesn’t bode well in that regard, but my fingers remain crossed that the project’s completion will convey a far more elevated eco-awareness to both attending students and the public at large. 

Having recently gained the distinction of being Maine’s hardest hit community for unrealized property value due to projected sea level elevation in the coming years, Bath needs to get some seriously proactive environmental mojo working some serious overtime. All the e-savviness in the world won’t quell a rising Kennebec. 

Gary Anderson lives in Bath.