An Ambitious Climate Action Plan Makes Progress in Maine
Maine has finalized its Climate Action Plan. Now, the work to implement the goals outlined in the plan and get Maine on track to slash emissions before 2030, begins.
Maine has finalized its Climate Action Plan. Now, the work to implement the goals outlined in the plan and get Maine on track to slash emissions before 2030, begins.
“The court saw right through the Trump Administration’s naked attempt to throw a lifeline to dirty outmoded coal plants,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell. “Decimating critical emissions standards would have resulted in the deaths of thousands of Americans by the EPA’s own estimates. It’s fitting that an administration solely focused on destructive environmental rollbacks has been handed a resounding defeat on its last day in office.”
Massachusetts legislators overwhelmingly passed critical climate and justice legislation. But Governor Baker vetoed the bill – choosing not only to ignore sound science, but also to let decades of racist policy targeting low-income, Black, and Brown communities go unchallenged.
The multi-state Transportation and Climate Initiative falls well short of its potential. Here’s what needs to happen to make it a powerful tool for redressing inequities in our communities and cutting climate-damaging emissions.
Nearly half of all homes in Massachusetts rely on gas for heating, which contributes significantly to the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Ending this reliance on a climate-damaging fossil fuel could take decades. That’s why the work must start now, especially if the Commonwealth is going to meet its 2050 targets for cutting its overall carbon emissions.
We can still avoid the worst impacts of climate change if we reach net-zero carbon pollution before 2050. We need strong climate laws in every New England state to hit that mark.
UPDATE: Today, Maine’s Climate Council released its report, “Maine Won’t Wait, A Plan for Climate Action.” This climate action plan is a critical step towards slashing climate-damaging emissions across the state.
On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the Baker administration announced that Massachusetts will make reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 legally binding under the state’s Global Warming Solutions Act. However, the state’s landmark climate law still needs a clear path forward to reach that goal.
Nothing the Trump administration does to undermine our climate or the environment surprises me these days. But while the U.S. is dropping out of the Paris Agreement, the rest of the world is clearly committed. So are we here in New England.
These days, the scariest monster I can conjure wears a tailored suit and sits behind the desk of a dirty oil or gas company deliberately blocking climate action. Runner up is another man in a suit – a legislator too scared to stand up to that fossil fuel executive and protect the people who voted him into office.