AUGUSTA - Environmentalists, attorneys and business owners - about 100 in total - attended a hearing on a bill aimed at reducing pollution and greenhouse gases, which was heard by the Legislature's Natural Resources and Utilities and Energy committees Tuesday.
Under the bill, advanced by Gov. John Baldacci, Maine would join nine other Eastern states to help reduce greenhouse gases using a European-style cap-and-trade system to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
The proposal seeks to limit pollution from large power plants and create financial incentives for energy producers to cut emissions.
Generators that burn fossil fuels would pay for the right to release heat-trapping carbon dioxide. The money they pay the state would then be given out in grants to promote energy efficiency and conservation.
The bill's proponents said it was unusual that environmental leaders and commercial leaders could come to agreement on the bipartisan effort.
"It will prepare Maine for participation in a likely national program within the decade," testified Ted Koffman, D-Bar Harbor and lead sponsor of the bill. "In the process of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, we will reduce other pollutants that impact health and the environment, and we will become less reliant on imported fuel."
Global warming has had a negative effect on the winter sports industries. Bill Brown of Sunday River and Sugarloaf ski resorts testified on behalf of the bill as well, although the bill could increase electrical costs.
"We are dependent on a healthy environment for the long-term viability of the ski industry and support legislation that has the goal of reducing global warming," Brown testified.
David Allen of Central Maine Power testified in opposition to parts of the bill, although the company is supportive of the overall goals, he said.
"There is no doubt that the cost of the carbon credits will be passed on to customers," Allen said. "Not only will the direct costs to these particular plants get passed on, but, because of how the New England bid stack works, if these plants get their costs covered, every single other plant selling energy at that time, including hydropower and wind plants - will also receive a price that reflects the cost of these carbon credits."
There were several other opponents with similar testimonies.
Bill Cohen of Verso Paper, based in Jay and Bucksport, was one of many who showed up representing Maine industry.
"Our reasons are much more than the fact that two of the six power plants included in this legislation are ours. Our two mills have combined cycle collocated gas generation plants. This means our two mills have, what some have described, as the two more efficient facilities in the United States."
He later added that the legislation "supports manufacturing and at the same time encourages power plants that are among the most efficient and environmentally friendly known today."
The Natural Resources Council of Maine was one of the environmentalist organizations supporting the bill. Dylan Voorhees, energy director, said passing the measure is one of the most important steps in combating global warming.
"(Federal) government regulations are coming ... therefore better to prepare now," Voorhees told the committees. "If Maine joins this trend today, instead of being forced to by the federal government in four to five years, we will be positioning ourselves to compete in the new, emerging global economy."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
