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Global Warming
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Executive Summary
Transportation is responsible for just under one-third of Maine’s contribution to global warming – and the trips state residents make to and from work are a major contributor to the problem. Just over a quarter of all vehicle miles nationally are driven on trips to and from work. To reduce global warming emissions from cars and trucks – and to meet the state’s climate protection goals – Maine must find ways to reduce the global warming impact of commuting.
In order to find the right policy options for confronting global warming pollution from commuting, it is necessary to know who is commuting where and by what mode of transportation. A review of data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau identifies which towns in the state are responsible for the greatest amount of commuting-related emissions of carbon dioxide (the leading cause of global warming) and suggests ways that the state can effectively reduce emissions.
Commuters living in bedroom communities in southeastern Maine produce the state’s highest levels of per-commuter emissions – three to seven times greater than those of workers living in the state’s largest cities.
• Per-commuter carbon dioxide emissions are largely a factor of the distance that commuters travel to work. For example, the average commuter from Waterboro, Naples, and Limington travels 17 to 19 miles to work and produces over 7,000 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution annually; while the average commuter from Bangor, Portland and South Portland travels 4 to 6 miles and generates less than 2,500 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution per year.
The explosion of sprawling residential development in formerly rural areas poses a major challenge to the state’s efforts to reduce global warming emissions.
• Sprawling development dramatically increases the length of commuting trips. This is a worrisome trend given that the 3 percent of Maine commuters who travel at least 30 miles to work produce a disproportionately large share – around 15 percent – of the state’s commuting-related carbon dioxide emissions.
• Many of Maine’s fastest-growing communities are located on the extreme fringes of the state’s metropolitan areas and in formerly rural areas where perworker emissions are very high.
Shifting commuting away from drive-alone trips, developing an expanded transit network, fostering non-vehicular commutes, and encouraging homebased work can significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transportation.
• Throughout Maine, 78 percent of all commuters drive alone to work. However, towns with a high reliance on alternatives to drive-alone commuting – regardless of their location within the state – tend to have lower-per worker emissions of carbon dioxide.
Maine should take a series of immediate and longterm actions to reduce global warming emissions from commuting. Among other actions, the state should:
• Implement vehicle global warming emissions standards and other measures to encourage the purchase of vehicles that produce less carbon dioxide per mile.
• Develop programs to encourage residents to live near their workplaces and to encourage employers to implement telecommuting.
• Encourage carpooling, vanpooling and other programs that reduce the number of drive-alone commutes, while discouraging highway expansion projects that promote single-passenger commuting.
• Further integrate the state into the regional transit network by expanding rail service in Maine.
• Put the brakes on sprawling development in rural areas by encouraging urban redevelopment, transit-oriented development, the creation of more affordable housing, and mixed-use planning in new and existing suburbs, and by creating and implementing growth management plans in all towns.
• Hold suburban workplaces accountable for the carbon dioxide emissions they generate by requiring large employers to implement commute-trip reduction programs.
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