Environmental groups are demanding more out of the first draft of Maine’s next climate action plan.

Some want to build on the successes of the state’s first plan, Maine Won’t Wait, by setting more ambitious targets for climate goals and expanding them to underserved communities. But other advocates say Maine needs to get much tougher, especially on transportation emissions.

“Maine needs more than studies and incremental progress. To improve our health, reduce consumer costs, and cut emissions, we must set, meet, and surpass bold climate goals,” said Matt Cannon, Sierra Club’s conservation director.

In an email to its members, the Sierra Club argued Maine must stop building new roads like the $240 million South Portland-Gorham connector, and set targets for electric vehicle adoption instead.

The Maine Climate Council will likely hear from people like Cannon this month as it takes the earliest iteration of the next climate action plan on the road to six communities to find out how everyday people think Maine should be preparing for a warmer, wetter future.

The Council has already held two forums – one online that drew 100 people and one in Presque Isle that drew two dozen. It heads to the Lewiston Public Library on Tuesday and King Middle School in Portland on Thursday, both at 6 p.m., then moves on to Bangor, Ellsworth and Biddeford the following week.

“We had grand plans to take the first climate action plan out on a public road show, but COVID changed those plans,” said Hannah Pingree, the co-chair of the Maine Climate Council. “We did the best we could, but this time I’m really looking forward to getting out into our communities.”

The Council wants feedback on working group recommendations ranging from adopting net-zero-emission building codes for new construction by 2035 to exploring a voluntary state-funded climate buyout program for property owners in “harm’s way,” like ones in New York and New Hampshire.

More than 300 people attended a meeting in March on the proposed Gorham Connector hosted by the Maine Turnpike Authority at the Shaw Gym in Gorham. Kelley Bouchard/Staff Writer

The Council wants to set more aggressive targets for some of its most popular programs, like heat pump installation and home weatherization, and improve incentives to increase their use by underserved groups, such as low-income and rural Mainers.

But the draft also sets new goals, including the creation of a $100 million fund made up of bonds, budget surpluses, and federal grants to prepare Maine’s coast for the devastating one-two punch of extreme weather and sea level rise on display in last year’s back-to-back winter storms.

Pingree said the December 2023 and January 2024 storms, which together caused an estimated $90 million in damage to Maine’s public infrastructure, really struck a chord with Mainers and propelled many to get interested and involved with climate action for the first time.

While most Mainers know the climate is changing, some still believe humans aren’t to blame despite scientific evidence that links rapidly rising temperatures to increased burning of fossil fuels, Pingree said. Other critics argue Maine can’t stop climate change, so it shouldn’t waste tax dollars trying.

But doubters won’t be the only critics, Pingree said. Environmentalists will also come forward with recommendations on how to improve the draft plan and push for more aggressive climate goals, more funding to reach them, and more accountability written into both the plan and state law, she said.

In April, the Sierra Club joined the Conservation Law Foundation and Maine Youth Action to file a lawsuit against Maine for failing to take steps to meet emission reduction targets outlined in Maine’s 2019 Climate Law and the state’s first climate action plan.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine said it is taking a collaborative approach to bolstering this plan.

“The state climate action plan is working, and we have made a lot of progress over the last four years, but we could and we should do more,” said Jack Shapiro, NRCM’s climate and clean energy director. “I’d like to consider this an opportunity to build on that progress.”

Despite the friendlier tone, NRCM is also worried about the plan’s failure to cut transportation emissions.

NRCM wants the Council to set specific targets for electric vehicle adoption, including medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, require new transportation emissions be offset by investments in non-motorized travel or public transit, and require Maine to track emissions tied to out-of-state products used locally.

By state law, the Council must deliver an updated climate action plan by Dec. 1.

In Maine, climate change translates into temperatures climbing 2-4 degrees by 2050 and up to 10 degrees by 2100, increased weather extremes where droughts will get worse and rainy seasons will be more intense, and 1.5 feet of sea level rise by 2050 and 4 feet by 2100.

Maine has already met some of the goals in the state’s 2020 climate action plan, such as installing 100,000 heat pumps by 2025, and is well on its way to meeting others, like carbon neutrality by 2045. But it has fallen behind on others, like conserving 30% of its lands by 2030.

Maine currently has conserved about 22% of its 21.3 million acres. Since adopting a climate action plan, Maine has increased conservation efforts to protect habitat and increase carbon storage and recreation. But at 50,000 acres a year, the state won’t achieve its 30% goal until 2047.

The Natural Lands Committee urged Maine to downsize its goal and commit instead to 1.5 million more acres by 2030. The new goal still requires Maine to step up its game – at current rates, it may take Maine 11 years to hit it – but it is much more feasible.

To do that, the committee recommended creating a permanent conservation fund to generate about $50 million a year through mitigation funds; real estate transfer taxes; outdoor goods, room or meal taxes; and resource conservation funds.