In his recent commencement speech at the University of California-Irvine, President Obama compared America’s challenge to fight global warming to America’s mission to go to the moon.
“It requires a spirit of adventure; a willingness to take risks. It requires optimism,” he said. “It requires hope.”
Fortunately, the president’s words were not only backed by the force of rhetoric but by an ambitious new policy, the Clean Power Plan, proposed by his Environmental Protection Agency just a few weeks ago.
The action is so significant because power plants are responsible for 40 percent of total U.S. carbon pollution. Yet, while the federal government limits how much mercury, lead, smog and soot pollution power plants can emit, there are no such limits on carbon pollution.
Until now, with this new proposal.
Global warming threatens so much of what makes Maine home — lobstering, mild summers, our rugged coast, ice fishing, great skiing and much more.
From clammers to first responders to children with asthma, Mainers are feeling the initial effects of global warming. The question now is how bad will it get for our children and our children’s children.
The science is clear that we have no time to waste to make deep cuts in carbon pollution in order to stave off dangerous global warming and secure a safer future for our children.
With the Clean Power Plan, we’re getting a Maine solution. The Clean Power Plan builds on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, which is in place in Maine and eight other northeastern states.
RGGI works by limiting the amount of carbon pollution power plants throughout the Northeast can emit. Maine has devoted its revenue from sale of carbon credits under the program almost entirely to energy efficiency programs.
The program is a huge success. RGGI has reduced carbon pollution from power plants in the region by 40 percent since 2005, while generating more than $250 million in lifetime energy savings in Maine alone.
Maine’s experience with the RGGI program has proved that we can successfully reduce carbon pollution, while cutting energy waste and growing our economy. Indeed, an independent analysis of the net economic effect of RGGI’s first 2.5 years of operation found that the program boosted Maine’s economic output by $92 million.
The Clean Power Plan sets targets for states to reduce carbon from their power plants by 30 percent by 2030 by investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, cleaning up existing power plants and switching to cleaner fuels. Maine is expected to comply through its continued participation in the RGGI program.
But we can’t stop with RGGI and the Clean Power Plan. There’s much more Maine can do to expand renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Eventually, all of our electricity can come from the wind that blows off our coasts and the sun that shines on our rooftops. Our homes can be so efficient that with a solar panel on top they produce more energy than they use.
This is what the future can look like for generations of Mainers to come.
Yet, the National Mining Association, some electric utilities and many other fossil fuel companies outside of Maine, as well as ideologues, have unleashed a flood of attacks against the Clean Power Plan.
And efforts in Congress to derail the new rules started before they were even proposed.
We’re counting on Sen. Susan Collins to reject the naysayers and ensure the rest of the country meets a similar carbon standard in place in Maine.
In his University of California commencement address, Obama quoted another American president, Woodrow Wilson, as saying, “Sometimes people call me an idealist. Well, that is the way I know I am an American.”
We have what it takes to rise to the challenge of global warming. Let’s get started with the Clean Power Plan.
Emily Figdor of Portland is the director of Environment Maine.