PORTLAND, Maine — Representative Chellie Pingree visited the Urban Farm Fermentory in Portland Monday evening to talk about climate change.
Members of Citizens Climate Lobby's were pleased to see Pingree supporting greener solutions for the planet.
"We're very excited because Rep. Pingree is one of our first four D.C. lawmakers to co-sponsor the energy innovation and carbon dividend acts."
H.R. 763 is a bi-partisan act that would place a fee on the carbon content of fuels, encouraging companies to move toward cleaner and cheaper options. The money collected from that fee would be paid out monthly at an equal rate to the American people.
"The ocean here in the Gulf of Maine is warming at a rate 99 percent faster than the rest of the world," Pingree said. "And the only way you can deal with that is to keep carbon from ending up in the ocean, which means less use of fossil fuels."
Rep. Pingree says she believes the bill would help to make eco-friendly living more accessible and affordable.
"A Mainer would love nothing more than not paying an electric bill because they have solar panels on their house," Pingree said. "We just have to make that happen."
Urban Farm Fermentory and Citizens Climate Lobby agree that supporting the bill is important -- but they also think people should find ways to make a difference in their own communities.
"Big picture is, like, how do we come together to understand climate change better and engage it," said an Urban Farm Fermentory spokesman. "But then on the grassroots level, it's like, 'What do we go out and do?'"
"There's one planet, and if we don't save that one planet, no matter what political persuasion we have, it doesn't matter because we're not around any longer," members of Citizens Climate Lobby added.