Maine will be carbon-neutral by 2045, Mills tells UN

Courtesy / Office of Gov. Janet Mills Maine Gov. Janet Mills at the United Nations in New York on Monday.

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Gov. Janet Mills on Monday declared that Maine will be carbon-neutral by 2045, making the announcement at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. She was Maine's first sitting governor to address the world's leading peacekeeping and dispute resolution body.

"We all have what it takes to combat climate change, to protect the irreplaceable earth we all share and care for," she told the gathering. "What is more precious than water, air, soil, the health and happiness of our children, and our children's children and yours? For all of them today by executive order I have pledged that the state of Maine will be carbon-neutral by 2045."

She also told attendees that if a small state like Maine can accomplish that, then countries can as well, "because we've got to unite to preserve our precious common ground, for our common planet, in uncommon ways, for this imperative purpose.

"Maine won't wait. Will you?"

Mills's executive order requires that the Maine Climate Council set up, with bipartisan approval from lawmakers, recommendations by Dec. 1, 2020, on ways to achieve a carbon-neutral economy by 2045. The group is scheduled to meet for the first time later this week.

The executive order also calls on the Department of Environmental Protection to come up with a framework for accounting and tracking progress on reducing greenhouse gases, and issue a report every other year.

On Twitter before her speech, Mills insisted that "our state won't wait. We'll lead."

She spoke in a strained voice before the UN General Assembly after spending the weekend at the Farmington Fair, following last week's deadly explosion in her hometown.

She was personally invited to speak by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and her remarks came amid her participation in the UN Climate Action Summit 2019. The summit brings together representatives of government, the private sector, civil society, local authorities and other international organizations to map out ways to combat climate change.

"It was a tremendous honor to speak before the United Nations, but what I am even more proud of is that the State of Maine is leading in the fight against climate change," Mills said in a news release following her remarks.

She added: "The climate crisis is a threat to our environment, to our economy, to our very identity as Maine people — and our efforts today and tomorrow will help create a better future for our children and grandchildren and help build a stronger, more diverse economy for our state."

Reactions from environmental groups

Environmental groups contacted by Mainebiz welcomed the governor's climate change declaration.

"It's an aggressive goal, but it's achievable, and we know we have the tools," said Martin Grohman, executive director of the Environmental & Energy Council of Maine (E2Tech). "I think it's something we can do in conjunction with growing Maine businesses and industry, nonprofits and government working together."

He added, however, that "we need to keep looking for opportunities to drive costs down while driving pollution out, and that's what we're about."

And on behalf of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, CEO Lisa Pohlmann said: "In Maine, we are experiencing climate change firsthand every day, and Governor Janet Mills has made clear that she is dedicated to action, based on science, to address the most serious environmental threat of our time."

She also said the organization is working on implementing laws recently passed in Augusta to address climate change, adding: "These laws enhance our ability to increase energy efficiency, solar energy, heat pumps and electric vehicles, and will create the overarching framework for climate action that will enable us to achieve the goal of significant carbon reductions."