Governor Janet Mills and the Maine Climate Council announced their updated climate plan Thursday at an event at Morse High School in Bath. The sweeping plan includes policy recommendations for state to reach a goal of achieving 'carbon neutrality' by 2045.
Dubbed 'Maine Won't Wait 2.0,' the non-binding plan sets goals and benchmarks for the next four years of climate policy, with some recommendations extending through 2030.
The main pillars of the plan are transportation, housing, clean energy, green jobs, environmental protections, and building up storm and disaster resiliency in Maine communities.
Climate Council Co-chair Hannah Pingree said there have been gains on 'every goal' set in the initial plan four years ago.
"We're on the right trajectory. Some places, we're doing great. We are ahead of schedule on heat pump deployment. Others, we're still making progress. We have a long ways to go, but there's every part of this plan has seen movement and progress," Pingree said.
Efficiency Maine stopped offering financial incentives for most single-unit heat pumps last year, after research suggested most were used inefficiently for supplemental heat.
New goals in the plan include installing 275,000 heat pumps by 2027, with a focus on whole-home heat pumps for low-income households. Increasing the number of EV chargers and electric vehicles on Maine roads is another top priority.
Mills points to the 200 local municipalities that have voluntarily joined the Climate Resilience Partnership as proof that Mainers can make progress on their own.
"This is not simply a matter of money or federal funds. It's a matter of courage, common sense and creativity. And what we heard today were a lot of creative ideas and actions on the part of local people, and that is happening all across the state of Maine," she said
Mills said a change in the White House won't stop Maine from preparing for the realities of climate change, or meeting the Paris Climate Agreement on its own.
"We the state of Maine and the U.S. climate alliance will continue on our goals to fight climate change, because it's the way we support the health, life and safety of our people," Mills said.
Pingree adds that, for now, some federal funding already exists — and that climate resiliency can sometimes find support on both sides of the aisle, especially here in Maine.
"The bipartisan infrastructure law was passed. You know, Senator Collins, many Republicans voted for it, and we will continue to work to implement using federal funds," she said.
Though the plan spans a four-year period, only two years of Mills' term as governor remain. Mills has made climate and clean energy policy a cornerstone of her tenure as governor. She said her team will prioritize their efforts on transportation and housing, Maine's two biggest carbon-emitters, and efforts to build up resiliency in the face of future storms.
Mills said severe weather events in Maine and across the nation serve as a wake-up call to the current consequences of climate change.
"I mean, it took some storms to bring it home for some people, but those storms have not stopped. You saw last night today, half of Seattle, I think, is out of power. Bomb cyclones. I mean, I never heard of this before. Rivers in the sky," Mills said.
"This is extraordinary and unprecedented," she added. "And it's happening in red states, green states, blue states. It doesn't matter who's in the White House. It's happening, and we know it, and we're going to be dealing with it. We are dealing with it now."
Maine Public’s Climate Desk is made possible by Androscoggin bank, with additional support from Evergreen Home Performance, Bigelow Laboratory, & Lee Auto Malls.
