Key takeaways from Maine’s new climate action plan

Nov. 21—The Maine Climate Council is scheduled to release the state’s new climate action plan on Thursday, delivering an ambitious blueprint for how policymakers can accelerate the state’s transition to a clean energy economy and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

The plan, approved by the council at its October meeting, builds on the state’s original 2020 plan, Maine Won’t Wait. But the updated version focuses more than its predecessor on adaptations to the changing climate, building and industrial energy efficiency, and ensuring that all Mainers benefit from the climate actions outlined in the plan.

The plan doesn’t include many specific cost estimates, but notes that the cost of doing nothing would be much higher. It cites the $90 million in public infrastructure damage caused by last winter’s back-to-back storms, the kind of extreme weather events projected to become more frequent and ferocious due to climate change.

The report identifies potential sources of funding to implement its recommendations, including the state budget, federal grants from the Inflation Reduction Act, private investment in clean energy projects, green bonds to finance climate-related projects and even implementation of a carbon pricing mechanism.

The plan now heads to Gov. Janet Mills, who appointed the first Maine Climate Council and will be on hand Thursday for the report’s release, and the Legislature, which is likely to consider some of these proposals in the upcoming legislative session.

Here are the major takeaways of Maine Won’t Wait 2.0.

— Maine’s ambitious emission reduction goals are reaffirmed.

The updated plan lays out how the state can help prevent the Earth from overheating by sticking to its original greenhouse gas goals: cut carbon emissions by 45% from 1990 levels by 2030 and by 80% by 2050, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.

— The plan prioritizes the rapid expansion of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and hydropower, with an aim to reduce the state’s reliance on burning fossil fuels that create heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

It also maintains the state’s previous goal to generate 80% electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Maine is at 55% now.

— Maine will continue to promote the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, including cars, trucks and buses, to reduce transportation-related emissions. But the shift to electrified transportation would occur at a slower pace than laid out in the first climate action plan.

The state’s new goal calls for 150,000 light-duty EVs and 3,000 heavy-duty EVs on the roads by 2030. The 2020 plan called for 219,000 light-duty and 5,000 heavy-duty EVs, but the state has fallen short of those goals. Maine currently has 17,492 electric vehicles.

To reduce “range anxiety” — the concern that there is not enough charging capacity to support longe trips — the plan calls for creating 700 publicly funded fast-charging EV ports by 2028. Maine now has 273.

— The new plan emphasizes efficiency measures in buildings and industries to cut energy consumption. It encourages clean heating and cooling methods, such as a heat pump system, and adoption of new building codes and efficiency standards.

New goals include reducing commercial building energy demand by 10% by 2030, improving industrial process efficiency by 1% a year by 2030 and weatherizing 35,000 homes by 2030. Maine has weatherized 11,472 to date.

— While calling for measures to slow climate change, the plan also emphasizes the need to prepare for the inevitable impacts, including sea-level rise, extreme weather events, and coastal erosion, and the need to protect critical infrastructure, natural resources and communities.

It includes strategies to protect Maine’s coastal communities and the working waterfront from sea-level rise and storm surges, such as elevating infrastructure, restoring coastal ecosystems, the use of incentives and fast-track permits, and new flood control measures.

— The plan promotes carbon sequestration as part of the solution by recognizing the key role of Maine forests, wetlands and eel grass beds in trapping carbon and keeping the greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere. It promotes the purchase, protection and restoration of such carbon sinks.

— Equity and social justice will be factored into the state’s responses to climate change. The plan emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the benefits of climate action are shared across all communities in Maine and addresses the disproportionate impact of climate change on marginalized communities.

The plan includes a number of goals to achieve by 2030, including 40,000 heat pumps installed in low-income households, 10,000 low- to middle-income homes weatherized and the creation of 1,500 energy-efficient affordable housing units. It also calls for EV rebates, rooftop solar installations or community solar projects and resilience grants to be directed to less affluent households and communities.

— The plan identifies opportunities to create green jobs to spark economic growth through investments in clean energy, energy efficiency and climate resilience.

It sets a new goal to create 30,000 clean energy jobs by 2030. Maine has 15,557 now.

— More forests, wetlands and working farms would be protected from development to offset the state’s carbon emissions, provide wildlife habitat and clean water, and help the tourism and natural resource industries. Maine has struggled to fund land acquisition at the rate sought by the council.

The plan maintains the 2020 goal to conserve 30% of Maine lands by 2030. A little more than 22.2% of lands in Maine are protected now. Maine now conserves about 50,000 acres a year, but would need to protect 250,000 more acres a year if it hopes to hit that goal.

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