April 23 Public Hearing / Bills Related to Climate Change before 129th Maine State Legislature

Hi Washington County,

With the current political environment around climate change in Washington D.C., states are stepping up to the plate to pass legislation aimed at slowing down the release of carbon dioxide into the environment and reducing some of the worst risks of global warming.

Maine is one of those states.  The 129th Maine State Legislature has a lot of activity focused on climate change. 

Here's a link to a Google spreadsheet listing the 33 bills before the 129th Maine State Legislature directly related to increasing our energy independence from fossil fuels.  These bills are all before currently before the Energy, Utilities, and Technology Committee.  (The second tab of the spreadsheet lists ALL of the 78 bills before the EUT committee.)

Some more good news.  Many of the proposed measures will ultimately help our pocketbooks here in Washington County.  The proceeds of carbon taxes on fossil fuels would be used to reduce electricity supply costs and/or to fund measures to improve energy efficiencies of homes.  In the long term, one might reasonably expect that self-sufficiency with regard to energy produced from renewable resources will cost less than energy produced from fossil fuels.

Many of these bills are pretty vague at this point, along the lines of "Let's Make Plan."  One of those bills is LD 1282, A Green New Deal For Maine, presented by Representative Chole Maxmin  (D) of Nobleboro.  The Federal Green New Deal bill has a variety of detractors, but don't let that put you off this Maine State green new deal bill.   It is definitely on the vague side right now and that is by design.  We all have the opportunity to participate in shaping this bill.  Your next opportunity is on April 23 at a public hearing in Augusta.

Event: A public hearing by the Energy, Utilities, and Technology Committee on LD 1282, A Green New Deal For Maine
Time: Tuesday, April 23—1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Place:  Cross Building (Room 211), Maine State House, Augusta

If you wish to present written testimony on this bill, you can by writing to Abben Maguire abben.maguire@legislature.maine.gov 

You can also contact your Maine State legislators directly.  Find your representative's contact information at:  http://legislature.maine.gov/house/house/MemberProfiles/ListAlpha vvFind your senator's contact information at:   https://legislature.maine.gov/senate-home-page/find-your-state-senator

Finally, you could write a Letter to the Editor.  In local papers, these are widely read, and this is another way to influence your representatives.  Here is information on submitting a letter to various local papers.

That's all for now.  All civil comments welcome!

M.Eachus