Doesn't Look Like Some Maine House Members Understand RGGI or the Impacts This Bill Will Have
https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/politics/maine-politic...
This concerns LD 2037 https://legislature.maine.gov/backend/App/services/getDocument.aspx...
Testimony that accurately depicts the impacts if this bill passes
https://legislature.maine.gov/backend/app/services/getDocument.aspx...
Maine House backs aggressive emissions cuts, sparking debate on local priorities
AUGUSTA, Maine — Under Governor Janet Mills, Maine has made no secret of its goal to reduce the state’s carbon footprint. Another piece of that effort is now advancing at the State House.
On Wednesday, the Maine House voted in favor of updating the state’s carbon allowance program, taking a more aggressive approach to cutting emissions from power plants. The proposal centered on changes to Maine’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, commonly known as RGGI.
Maine first joined RGGI in 2007, when Governor John Baldacci was in office. The program is a regional, market-based effort across New England designed to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by setting a cap on the total amount of pollution allowed.
If a company’s emissions rise above their allotted carbon cap, they get fined. Those fines fund Efficiency Maine.
Democratic Rep. Laurie Osher of Orono highlighted that if Maine leaves RGGI, that funding would go away.
“These are excellent programs,” said Osher. “If we do not vote in support of this bill, we will not be continuing to support these programs that help low-income Mainers across the state to lower their energy costs.”
Under current law, Maine lowers its carbon emissions cap by 2.5% each year. The bill approved by the House, LD 2037, would significantly speed up that timeline.
Speeding up that timeline — and relying more heavily on renewable energy — drew criticism from Statehouse Republicans
Moreover, Republican legislators like Rep. Kenneth Fredette of Newport said the bill doesn’t prioritize Mainers where they need it most.
“My frustration...is that while we sort of work down here on bills about greenhouse gas initiatives and whatnot, we are not providing the relief back home that people want to see,” said Fredette.
Starting later this decade, the annual reductions would increase sharply. For example, from 2027 to 2028, the allowable emissions would drop by 12.5% in a single year.
Under this bill, over the next 10 years, the total carbon emissions allowance would decline by 90% under the proposal.
The House voted 75 in favor and 64 against, sending the measure to the Senate for its verdict.
The following is from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection who rules over this program:
- Cap-and-Trade System: RGGI sets a regional cap on power plant emissions, issuing allowances (permits to emit one ton of CO2).
- Three-Year Control Periods: Plants must surrender allowances for their total emissions from the three-year period by the end of the third year.
- Allowance Flexibility: This system allows plants flexibility to cover emissions across the period by banking allowances or trading with others.
- Fines: If a plant fails to surrender enough allowances, they face significant daily fines, ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 per day, with higher minimums for intentional violations.
- Enforcement: The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) oversees compliance, using its authority under state law.
- Temporary Waivers: Maine law allows the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to grant temporary waivers (up to one year) for significant hardship, like business termination, in consultation with the Attorney General and Public Utilities Commission.
- Cost Containment Reserve (CCR): If allowance prices spike, more allowances are released from the CCR to keep costs down.
- Emissions Containment Reserve (ECR): If prices are too low, states can withhold allowances from the ECR to force more reductions.
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Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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