Want Your Community To Take Action On Ambitious Climate Goals? Follow What Maine Does

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I reside in Florida, the place the governor has banned talking the phrases “climate change” — properly, no less than in the case of governmental affairs. In response, a neighborhood meteorologist has vocalized his dismay. We on the bottom know what’ll occur subsequent to Steve MacLaughlin — he’ll be out on his ass. It’s the way it works right here in Florida, the Sunshine State that’s drowning as a result of coastal and septic flooding. Maine, then again, now provides climate-related, interdisciplinary professional development for native schooling suppliers to use to accomplice with a community-based group.

What a distinction 1500 miles makes.

A metropolis in Maine is within the course of of building a local weather fund that can draw from renewable vitality credit on its photo voltaic initiatives. The State of Maine has labored with the feds to offer sensible siting for offshore wind to guard proper whales, launched a super-sized battery storage facility, checked out harnessing tidal energy for island communities, promoted battery storage for its electrical grid, and put in increasingly more warmth pumps in residences and companies than most wherever.

And that’s solely the beginning for Maine and its local weather agenda. Florida Governor DeSantis, disgrace on you.

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Maine Local weather Motion NOW! (MCAN) fashioned in early 2019 to extend the influence of Maine’s main local weather motion organizations. In 2020 Governor Janet Mills introduced Maine’s Climate Action Plan. It consists of all kinds of suggestions to create new jobs and scale back air pollution, together with sharp will increase in electrical autos (EVs) and residential warmth pumps, extra help for renewable vitality initiatives, help to enhance group resilience, and applications to guard pure and dealing lands throughout the state, which act as vital carbon sinks.

Here’s a sampling of the local weather actions wherein Maine is presently engaged. It’s fairly inspiring.

Local weather fund: Portland, Maine desires to help its local weather objectives, however sustained funding is crucial to fulfill these targets. A proposed ordinance in Portland would set up a brand new 2025 local weather fund utilizing cash primarily from the sale of renewable vitality credit, or RECs, from city-backed photo voltaic initiatives comparable to on the Portland Worldwide Jetport and on the previous metropolis landfill. Proceeds from the sale of RECs would quantity to about $300,000 to $400,000 a 12 months — a great begin on many local weather actions. As reported by native unbiased journalist Annie Ropeik, Portland’s fund might be used to pay a guide to jot down grants that might herald federal funding. The cash might assist pay for consulting work on emissions-cutting or resiliency initiatives, local weather grant-related prices or native matches, group micro-grant applications for climate-friendly enhancements, or different bills for town sustainability workplace.

Power storage: Houston-based Plus Energy is beginning construction on the Cross City 175 MW/350 MWh battery storage set up on the Gorham Industrial Park. When accomplished by mid-2025, it will likely be one of many largest vitality storage amenities in New England. The $100 million-plus mission will characteristic 156 containers unfold throughout 5 acres with lithium iron phosphate batteries inside. One use for this battery storage is to alleviate congestion on southern Maine’s constrained electrical grid by absorbing and storing extra vitality as extra photo voltaic and wind comes on-line.

Warmth pumps: As soon as the individuals of Maine realized they might save a substantial sum of money by switching to a heat pumpthey started putting in them in file numbers. In actual fact, Maine blew by its authentic goal of 100,000 warmth pumps by 2025 two years forward of schedule, and now Maine has set a brand new goal, one which plans to see one other 175,000 warmth pumps put in throughout the state by 2027. Warmth pumps are able to go mainstream throughout the US to interchange the fossil gas techniques ​“that we’ve used for the last 100 years,” mentioned Michael Stoddard, government director of Efficiency Maine.

Siting for offshore wind with proper whales in thoughts: The Remaining Wind Power Space (WEA) recognized for potential offshore wind growth within the Gulf of Maine is essentially situated away from habitats of upper significance to endangered North Atlantic proper whales. This sensible siting determination will assist the trade advance responsibly on this new offshore wind area. That is necessary as a result of offshore wind growth must keep away from and reduce harms to marine mammals and different species throughout growth, together with via mitigation measures that scale back the danger from vessel strikes, noise air pollution, and habitat disturbance. Offshore wind is one hazard to proper whales: they’re are also being stressed by underwater noise air pollution and experiencing common malnourishment, unwell well being, and impaired copy, all whereas preventing to adapt to local weather change.

Power resilience: Eastport, Maine, sits 7 miles off the coast. The bridged island, linked to the mainland by a single causeway, faces highly effective Atlantic Ocean winds and is vulnerable to disruptive energy outages. Unstable energy and excessive vitality prices have been among the many energy resilience challenges that introduced Eastport to the Power Transitions Initiative Partnership Mission (ETIPP) in 2021. ETIPP researchers analyzed the potential for incorporating tidal vitality and photo voltaic arrays to generate microgrid energy and the battery vitality storage system necessities to retailer this renewable vitality. Funding from the US Division of Power’s Energizing Rural Communities will help the set up of extra renewable vitality sources and a regional microgrid in Eastport.

Local weather schooling: The state says that local weather schooling is a vital element of supporting Maine’s local weather initiatives and objectives. Maine is satisfied that local weather schooling can foster a technology of Mainers who’re able to tackle the world’s challenges and help all its communities. This pilot program might be awarding grants for high-quality skilled growth designed and carried out in partnership with community-based nonprofit organizations. Grant awards will be accessible to all native schooling suppliers all through the state for pre-Okay via grade 12, with this system giving precedence to functions that serve traditionally underserved by local weather schooling communities.

Remaining Ideas About Maine & Its Local weather Motion Management

Peyton Siler Jones, the Portland-based interim director of sustainability with the Nationwide League of Cities, mentioned inventive approaches are important to creating long run funding streams for native local weather work. “Figuring out how to have those savings not just go to the general fund, but go to a special climate fund to continue to implement climate projects, is one example of an innovative solution,” she informed native reporter Ropeik. “It’s exciting to see that being something that can be scaled and replicated in smaller communities.”

A lot has occurred in just a few years. Mills signed an executive order calling for a “clean transportation roadmap” to realize the state’s local weather plan purpose of accelerating the variety of EVs on the highway in Maine by 2030. Climate Pollution Reduction Grant functions closed final month; recipients will implement greenhouse fuel emission discount and sequestration initiatives with awards starting from $2 million to $500 million. On Earth Day, 2024, White Home representatives visited Scarborough and introduced $10.5 million in federal grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation that can fund initiatives in York, Cumberland, and Washington Counties, together with $1.4 million for marshes, that are a pure barrier towards storms however want room emigrate.

It took the help of key legislative leaders in Maine for MCAN and its associates to carry local weather motion actuality to the state stage and get essentially the most progressive local weather laws handed by any state at the moment. Many constituent teams are working alongside Mills’ administration to make Maine vitality unbiased and web zero by 2030.