Jon Reisman

At the heart of green liturgy is the holy concept of sustainability. Everyone wants to be sustainable, but actually defining it in practice has proven wholly unlikely. Sustainability is often explained with the saying, “Don’t eat the seed corn,” or managing our resources in a manner that doesn’t reduce the opportunities of future generations. As a practical policy matter, what is or is not sustainable depends on baseline and future assumptions about technology, human behavior, and the planet/nature.

In late February I got the following invitation from Jeff Marks, of the green climate clergy:

“We’re excited to invite you to the ClimateWork Maine Sustainability Council’s meeting on Monday, March 17th, 2025, from 5:00-6:30 PM at Hannaford Offices in Scarborough. This meeting will focus on Carbon Emissions Reduction Strategies.  We hope you’ll join us as we work to integrate sustainable practices into our operations, projects, products, and services.

“We’ll kick off the meeting with an introduction from Mike Vail, President of Hannaford Supermarkets, followed by a roundtable discussion moderated by Jeremy Pare from the University of New England and Duke University. Our guest speakers, George Parmenter, Health & Sustainability Lead at Hannaford, and Brian Wehmeyer, Business Development Manager at Amerex Energy Services, will share valuable insights and strategies for reducing carbon emissions within company operations. We will then open discussion for attendees to learn from our experts and each other about sustainability initiatives and financial benefits.

I quickly responded to Jeff: “Thank you for the invitation...wish it was also on zoom. It’s a four plus hour carbon spewing drive from Cooper.”

Jeff wrote back: “Thanks for letting me know, Jonathan. We’re trying to see if we can provide a Zoom link to the meeting and will let you know.”

I never heard from him again. I forwarded the invitation to my friend and climate policy ally engineer/entrepreneur Jim Labrecque, who attended the green confab. His account on the inability of the Sustainability Council to answer basic questions about power costs and climate benefits can be heard at the following links:

• https://www.wvomfm.com/episode/rewind-03-19-jim-labrecque-cms-a-1400/

• https://www.wvomfm.com/episode/rewind-03-19-jim-labrecque-cms-b-1400/ 

All this sustainability sashaying reminded me of a parody I wrote some years ago: 

It’s Just Sustainability (to the tune of The Bare Necessities)

It’s just sustainability; Simple Sustainability.

Forget about your profits and your life.

It’s just sustainability; Old Mother nature’s recipe

That brings sustainability to life.

Wherever I wander, wherever I roam

I couldn’t be fonder of my big home

The Greens are buzzing in the tree

Makin’ regulations just for me.

When you look under the rocks and soil

Dig Deep and drill for oil.

And maybe try nukes too…

Sustainability of life will come to you.

It’ll come to you!

It’s just sustainability; Simple Sustainability.

Forget about your profits and your life

I mean sustainability; It’s why a Prof can rest at ease,

With just sustainability for life.

Now when you’re trading carbon

Fightin’ climate change

And you offset carbon

It might seem strange

Don’t offset the climate change by trades

Fighting climate change

Is all the rage

You need to think outside the cage.

When you’re fighting carbon and global change

Have I given you a clue?

Sustainability of life will come to you

It’ll come to you!

A rendition with the author and the legendary Gene Nichols is available starting at 49:25 at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgj7rFSdxV8. It’s Just Sustainability is preceded by

Distance Ed (with apologies to Mr. Ed)

A course is a course, of course, of course,

And some folks can’t walk to a course, of course

That is, of course, unless the course is the famous Distance Ed.

Go right to the course and ask the source.

He’ll give you the answer that you’ll endorse.

He’s always on the blackboard course.

Blog with Distance Ed.

Professors yakkity yak a streak and waste your time of day

But Distance Ed will never speak until he has something to say.

A course is a course, of course, of course,

And this one will talk til his voice is hoarse.

You never heard of a hybrid course?

Well listen to this.

I am Distance Ed.

Jon Reisman is an economist and policy analyst who retired from the University of Maine at Machias after 38 years. He resides on Cathance Lake in Cooper, where he is a Selectman and a Statler and Waldorf intern. Mr. Reisman’s views are his own, and he welcomes comments as letters to the editor here or to him directly via email at [email protected].