Find out more about global warming and what you can do to make a difference.
NRCM's radio ads about global warming pollution in Maine. Click on each person's name below to hear their ad.
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- Where does global warming pollution come from?
- What impact do I have on global warming?
- Why should I care about global warming?
- What can I do about global warming?
- Transportation and global warming
- Residential energy use
- How does what I do here in Maine affect the planet?
- What is Maine doing about global warming?
Where does global warming pollution come from?
Global warming pollution comes from our cars, factories, homes, and power plants when we burn fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and gasoline. The result is a blanket of pollution that traps heat around the earth, which causes global warming.
What impact do I have on global warming?
Each person in the United States is responsible for the release of approximately 20 tons of global warming pollution each year. That is enough global warming gas to fill 15-20 hot air balloons, 30 feet across, per person! In fact, the United States has only 5 percent of the world’s population but emits 25 percent of all global warming pollution - more than any other country!
Why should I care about global warming? 
Maine already is seeing the warning signs of global warming, with sea level rise, beach erosion and increased temperatures. Maine’s cold weather sports such as skiing and ice fishing, our forests, our fishing industry, even our maple syrup industry are at risk. For more information check out NRCM’s publication, “Global Warming in Maine: Warning Signs, Winning Solutions” at: Global Warming in Maine.
What can I do about global warming?
You can reduce your use of fossil fuels, use energy more efficiently, and switch to cleaner and non-polluting sources of energy to reduce your contribution to global warming.
Transportation and Global Warming
The largest source of global warming pollution in Maine comes from the cars and trucks we drive. For every gallon of gasoline we use, we release 20 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Other types of global warming pollution are also produced from the air conditioning system and other components in cars and trucks.
To reduce global warming pollution from our cars and trucks, we need to drive less, drive “cleaner” cars, carpool, vanpool, telecommute, and take public transportation when possible.
Go to our Cleaner Cars page to see our “Maine Buying Guide to Cleaner Cars,” information on hybrid vehicles, and our recent report, “Driving Global Warming: Commuting in Maine and its Contribution to Global Warming.”
Residential Energy Use
A large source of global warming pollution in Maine comes from the energy we use to heat our homes, heat our water, and run appliances and lighting in residential buildings. We can make our homes more energy-efficient by weather proofing; using more efficient appliances and light bulbs, and by purchasing renewable energy.
Go to our Energy Efficient Products and Tips for the Home page for more information on how you can save energy, money and reduce your global warming pollution.
How does what I do here in Maine affect the planet?
Global warming pollution knows no boundaries. It enters the atmosphere, spreads across the globe, and traps heat around the earth for 50-200 years after it is emitted. That is why we need to reduce global warming pollution now, because our children, and their children, will still feel the effects of global warming for years to come. Currently, the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are at their highest levels in hundreds of thousands of years.
What is Maine doing about global warming?
Maine was the first state-in-the nation to pass global warming legislation codifying global warming pollution reduction goals in order to help combat global warming. Maine has committed to reducing global warming pollution to 1990 levels by 2010, 10 percent below those levels by 2020 and by a sufficient amount to avert the threat of global warming over the longer term, which will most likely be 75 percent. Maine has also adopted a Climate Action Plan with 54 statewide specific measures that need to be adopted in order to reach these goals. NRCM has been working with a coalition of Maine organizations over the last three years to support adoption of these measures.
Check out our Global Warming Pollution page to see Maine’s “Climate Action Plan”, the Maine Global Warming Action Coalition and more.