States are laboratories for policy innovation, and nowhere is that happening more in Maine than on clean energy and climate action. In 2019, Governor Janet Mills and bipartisan majorities of the Legislature passed new laws aimed at improving public health and strengthening the economy by reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Read More
Climate Change
Climate change and global warming pollution harm Maine people, wildlife, and our environment. Global warming, also known as climate change, is caused by a blanket of pollution that traps heat around the earth. This pollution comes from cars, factories, homes, and power plants that burn fossil fuels such as oil, coal, natural gas, and gasoline.
Climate-changing pollution knows no boundaries. It enters the atmosphere, spreads across the globe, and traps heat around the earth for 50-200 years after it is emitted. That is why we need to reduce global warming pollution now, because our children, and their children, will still feel the effects of global warming for years to come. Currently, the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are at their highest levels in hundreds of thousands of years.
Learn how you can reduce climate-changing pollution and advocate for a cleaner, healthier Maine.
New Climate Council Sets the Stage for Ambitious Climate Action
NRCM News Release September 19, 2019 (Augusta, ME) — A new Maine Climate Council announced today by Governor Janet Mills will soon begin its work of updating the state’s Climate Action Plan to transition the state toward a clean energy economy by 2050. The 39 members of the Council represent a broad diversity of industries, Read More
Collins and King Sponsor Bill to Affirm U.S. Commitment to Paris Climate Agreement
NRCM News Release (Washington, DC) – Maine Senator Susan Collins joined 45 other Senators, including Senator Angus King, in co-sponsoring the International Climate Accountability Act, which would prevent the federal government from using any taxpayer resources to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. The Senate bill follows the passage of the House Read More
NRCM Testimony in Support of LD 1679, the Governor’s Climate Bill
Senator Brownie Carson, Chair Representative Ralph Tucker, Chair Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources My name is Lisa Pohlmann, CEO of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. NRCM strongly supports LD 1679 because it is the right vehicle to jump-start Maine’s efforts to tackle climate change in ways that will benefit Maine people, Read More
U.S. House Passes “Climate Action Now” Act
NRCM thanks Reps. Pingree and Golden for sponsoring H.R. 9 NRCM news release May 2, 2019 (Augusta, ME) – The U.S. House of Representatives today voted 230-190 to pass, H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, which would ensure that America honors its commitments made under the 2015 international Paris Climate Agreement. Both of Maine’s Read More
NRCM Testimony in Support of LD 1282, An Act to Establish a Green New Deal for Maine
Senator Mark Lawrence, Chair Representative Seth Berry, Chair Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities & Technology My name is Dylan Voorhees and I am the Clean Energy Director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). Because I was away for the public hearing, I am offering this written testimony in support of the sentiment Read More
“Green New Deal” Contributes to Climate Conversations
Statement of Emmie Theberge, Federal Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine “Scientists from Maine and across the world have made clear we must take bold action on climate at the state and federal levels. The Green New Deal, like other climate proposals put forward in Congress, is stimulating the right conversation in Washington, D.C. and Read More
News Center Maine Meteorologist Keith Carson: “Weather Was Always My Passion. But Climate Change Has Grown On Me.”
Weather is my passion. It’s been that way since the Blizzard of 1993 hit my home in Massachusetts when I was 10 years old (quick math, how old am I?). I knew from that early age that I wanted to do what I loved when I “grew up.” So I slugged through Calculus, Physics, and Thermodynamics Read More
Maine to Boost Investment in Electric Vehicles
New rebate could double EV drivers statewide NRCM News Release March 13, 2019 (AUGUSTA, ME) – Maine residents will soon have the opportunity to take advantage of expanded charging stations and a new rebate for the purchase of electric vehicles under a climate change initiative announced by Governor Janet Mills today. Funding for the rebate Read More
