PORTLAND—A regional “report card” released today by a coalition of environmental advocates in New England and Eastern Canada gives Maine a “B” for its actions to reduce global warming pollution over the last year. The report card evaluates the states and provinces against the specific commitments that they made in 2001. Maine received a “C” in 2004 and a “B-“in 2005. Maine has improved its grade—earning the highest grade in New England for 2006 and is only second to the Province of Quebec, which scored a “B+”.
However, significant emission reductions have yet to be seen across the region. “Maine’s progress has been good, but we need aggressive implementation of Maine’s Climate Action Plan to ensure real emission reductions to meet the agreement’s timeline and to avoid the worst effects of global warming over the long-term,” said Jennifer Andersen of Environment Maine.
The release of the 2006 Report Card on Climate Change Action coincides with the five-year anniversary of the signing of the 2001 regional climate agreement by the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers. The agreement outlines global warming policies that the states and provinces should be implementing and commits the region to the following goals:
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2010.
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10% below 1990 levels by 2020.
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75-85% in the long-term.
“The urgency to act aggressively on global warming has been increased by scientific discoveries made since 2001 in the Arctic and Antarctic about the speed of warming and the danger of feedback loops that could push us to a tipping point sooner than expected, “ said Dylan Voorhees, Clean Energy Director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
This year’s report card gauges how well the states and provinces are implementing global warming policies. It also adds a new grading category, based on whether the states and provinces are on track to meet the 2010 pollution reduction target. Maine, as well as every other New England state, received an “F” for the pollution reduction grade.
“Although Maine continues to be a leader on climate policy there is still a lot more we have to do to ensure emission reductions by: investing more in energy efficiency; increasing the amount of renewable energy we generate and use; developing bio-fuels; continuing the “cleaner cars” program and, expanding transit services in urban and rural areas including expansion of the Downeaster train service. The good news is that we still have time to meet these regional goals and with the continued support of Maine people and our state government, we will,” said Andersen.
”One of the areas that the Baldacci administration did well in was “leading by example”, reducing emissions from the government sector by increasing energy efficiency, using more hybrid cars, and mandating LEED-certified, green building standards for government buildings. With so many states dragging their feet, now it is clearly time for the Governor to strengthen his leadership, both in Maine and across New England,” Voorhees said.
The full Report Card can be downloaded at www.environmentmaine.org or www.nrcm.org
Who: Jennifer Andersen, Environment Maine and Dylan Voorhees, Natural Resources Council of Maine
What: Joint press conference to release Maine’s climate report card grade
When: Monday, August 28th at 2:30 p.m..
Where: Portland City Hall
State of Maine room
Second Floor
Portland, Maine
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Environment Maine is a non-partisan, non-profit environmental organization whose mission is to advocate for clean air, clean water and open spaces on behalf of our 3,500 statewide members.
The Natural Resources Council of Maine, with more than 9,500 members and supporters, is the state’s leading advocacy organization working to curb air and global warming pollution, protect and restore the quality of our rivers, reduce poisonous chemicals threatening the health of people and wildlife, and conserve Maine lands, now and for future generations.
