“It’s time we leave dirty, polluting fossil fuel plants in the past,” said Emily Green, Staff Attorney at CLF. “The future of energy is clean and local, and these bills come not a moment too soon. Our communities will now be able to harness Maine’s natural resources to power homes and businesses. We must all do our part to preserve a livable planet while we still have time.”
Governor Sununu recently vetoed a critical clean energy bill that will boost solar power and help control energy costs in New Hampshire. Legislators now have an important opportunity to override this veto and ensure this key bill becomes law.
Governor Mills reinstated net metering, and the Maine legislature is now considering two important renewable energy bills.
In spite of its critics, clean, renewable energy continues to come down in price and become better able to handle the demands of our electricity grid.
Meanwhile, a federal judge in Boston in March allowed a suit filed by the Conservation Law Foundation against Exxon to go forward. The suit alleges the company failed to protect an oil storage facility against the impacts of climate change.
“The Governor’s veto is a giant step backward for clean energy in New Hampshire,” said Melissa Birchard, Senior Attorney at CLF. “Our leaders should be doing everything possible to move us away from dirty fossil fuels, not standing in the way of real progress towards clean energy. Communities across New Hampshire overwhelmingly support this bill, and our legislators must listen to constituents and override this senseless veto.”
“This legislation will make Maine a national leader on climate change,” said Emily K. Green, Staff Attorney at CLF. “We need bold action to stave off the worst impacts of the looming climate crisis. This bill will slash carbon emissions while protecting businesses and spurring new industries. It’s clear that the time for talk and debate is over. We must pass this law.”
“First it creates consistency and predictability in planning for climate risks in state licensing, permitting financing and capital projects,” Deanna Moran of the Conservation Law Foundation testified, in support of the bill. “Second, it requires investor-owned utilities to proactively plan for climate risks.”
Here in New England, we rely too much on fracked gas to heat and power our homes and businesses. If we want to avoid a climate catastrophe, we need to end fossil fuel use by 2050.
Maine just took a big step forward on climate. Last week, Governor Janet Mills announced a bill that could make significant progress toward addressing our climate crisis by drastically reducing climate-damaging emissions while growing our state’s economy.
