Mainers rally to curb carbon emissions

PORTLAND, Maine --From the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Bar Harbor to downtown Portland's Monument Square, environmental activists rallied across Maine on Saturday in a call for heightened efforts to curb global warming.

Organizers said events were held in more than 30 Maine towns and cities as part of a nationwide "Step it Up" campaign urging Congress to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

Events includes rallies, speeches, music and demonstrations in what was billed as the biggest day of citizen action directed toward global warming.

Amaong the participants was Gov. John Baldacci, who addressed a gathering near the State House in Augusta.

"The most important things that we have a responsibility to do in government are to prepare our children for a bright future and to preserve and protect our natural resources," Baldacci said. "Global warming is real. There is overwhelming scientific agreement that we are endangering the environment that sustains us."

The demonstration in Portland included a "New Coast Parade" from the Old Port district to Monument Square along the route where the city's new coast would be if there were a 20-foot rise in sea levels, an eventuality linked to climate change.

The first event of the day began around 4 a.m. when five students and one staff member left College of the Atlantic and hiked up the snow-covered auto road for a sunrise demonstration atop Cadillac Mountain.

"We chose Cadillac Mountain because it's the first place in the U.S. to get the first light rays, it's the tallest mountain on the eastern seaboard and it's our hometown pinnacle," said John Deans, 23, who's studying human ecology.

The summit was fogged in and windy, with visibility limited to 100 feet, but the hikers didn't let the conditions dampen their spirits. They posed with homemade signs demanding cuts in carbon emissions and let loose with a cheer that went, "Oooh, it's hot in here, there's too much carbon in the atmosphere."