The four-year action plan, Maine Won’t Wait, saw some major updates to its goals, including getting more electric vehicles on the road, installing more heat pumps and making the transition to clean energy by 2030.Gov. Janet Mills joined the council at Morse High School in Bath to announce the changes. There are specific numerical goals outlined in the 191-page document. For example, getting the total amount of electric vehicles on the road to 153,000 and installing more than 1,000 electric vehicle charging ports.State law has required Maine to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% since 1990. According to the plan, the state has reduced it by 30% so far, and by 2030, they are aiming to get that number to 45%.Mills said that the Trump administration taking office will make meeting the goals more difficult, but she is confident they can forge ahead.”Well, we started with the Trump administration. This is not simply a matter of money, of federal funds. It’s a matter of courage, common sense and creativity,” she said.The Climate Council released its initial action plan in 2020, with the intention of updating it every four years based on new technology and climate challenges.Mills said that storms this past winter and spring have led towns and cities to use $60 million in storm relief funds from the state and $26 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She said the new climate plan addresses the challenges of facing those storms.“This is more urgent than we ever thought before. Although we’ve taken it seriously for six years, we have to take it even more seriously. All of the communities around Maine are taking it seriously. Hardly any town in Maine was left unharmed by those storms in December and January and April,” Mills said.
The four-year action plan, Maine Won’t Wait, saw some major updates to its goals, including getting more electric vehicles on the road, installing more heat pumps and making the transition to clean energy by 2030.
Gov. Janet Mills joined the council at Morse High School in Bath to announce the changes.
There are specific numerical goals outlined in the 191-page document. For example, getting the total amount of electric vehicles on the road to 153,000 and installing more than 1,000 electric vehicle charging ports.
State law has required Maine to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% since 1990. According to the plan, the state has reduced it by 30% so far, and by 2030, they are aiming to get that number to 45%.
Mills said that the Trump administration taking office will make meeting the goals more difficult, but she is confident they can forge ahead.
“Well, we started with the Trump administration. This is not simply a matter of money, of federal funds. It’s a matter of courage, common sense and creativity,” she said.
The Climate Council released its initial action plan in 2020, with the intention of updating it every four years based on new technology and climate challenges.
Mills said that storms this past winter and spring have led towns and cities to use $60 million in storm relief funds from the state and $26 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She said the new climate plan addresses the challenges of facing those storms.
“This is more urgent than we ever thought before. Although we’ve taken it seriously for six years, we have to take it even more seriously. All of the communities around Maine are taking it seriously. Hardly any town in Maine was left unharmed by those storms in December and January and April,” Mills said.
