Maine may have a harder road to travel to reach its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions following another delay in establishing standards aimed at ramping up electric vehicle sales in the state.
State officials set ambitious climate goals in 2020, including a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 45% from 1990 levels by 2030. While that is more than five years away, the first EV model year that could be affected by clean car standards would be 2029 – if the Legislature takes up the issue next January.
The transportation sector accounts for more than half of carbon emissions, according to the state climate plan, so reaching those targets without expanding the use of EVs will be a steep climb, environmentalists say.
Anthony J. Ronzio, deputy director of communications and public affairs at the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, would not say how Maine might reach its emissions goals without more widespread use of EVs.
“It’s premature to speculate on whether Maine will reach its emissions goals until the Climate Council has completed its work,” he said.
Transportation is just one of several sectors that officials and others consider to achieve Maine’s emissions targets. Working groups of the Maine Climate Council – scientists, industry representatives, bipartisan local and state officials and “engaged citizens” – are meeting to update Maine’s 2020 climate plan by Dec. 1, which state law requires every four years, he said.
They are considering a “variety of approaches across sectors such as transportation, buildings, industry and energy generation,” Ronzio said.
Maine has made progress in the last four years installing heat pumps, expanding weatherization and energy efficiency, and adding EV chargers, according to Ronzio.
“The upcoming update to Maine Won’t Wait will focus on steps needed to further reduce emissions in Maine and meet targets outlined in law,” he said.
Failure to apply the clean car standard is a “huge step backward,” said Emily Green, a senior attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation. To reach Maine’s 2030 target “we absolutely have to reduce emissions” from transportation, she said.
Jack Shapiro, climate and clean energy director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said because tailpipe exhaust contribute so much to greenhouse gas emissions, the clean car standards are the “only policy that gets us close” to Maine’s 2030 goals.
The Board of Environmental Protection voted March 20 against adopting standards that would increase the share of electric and hybrid cars and trucks sold in Maine to 51% of all vehicles in 2028 and 82% of all vehicles sold in 2032. Most members said they believed the decision should be left to lawmakers, who have sent an effort to formally take control of Maine’s clean car standards to Gov. Mills’ desk.
About 6% of new cars sold in Maine last year were electric vehicles or hybrids.
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