- In The News
- June 2024
WGME: Maine Climate Council on track to meet several goals, focus shifts to conservation
June 20, 2024
WGME reports on the Maine Climate Council’s progress toward state-wide climate goals.
“More than three years ago, Maine’s Climate Council set out several bold goals to counter climate change.
The state is on track to reach some of them.
‘We have reduced emissions 30 percent since 1990. We are supposed to reduce by 45 percent in 2030. So, we’re doing well compared to many other states, but we still have a ways to go. Things like heat pump deployment are going great, more EV chargers, there’s a lot more progress in terms of clean energy, clean energy jobs,’ Maine Climate Council Co-Chair Hannah Pingree said.”
About the Alliance
Launched in 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by the U.S. federal government’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the Alliance has grown to include 24 governors from across the U.S. representing approximately 60 percent of the U.S. economy and 55 percent of the U.S. population. Governors in the Alliance have pledged to collectively reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28 percent by 2025, 50-52 percent by 2030, and 61-66 percent by 2035, all below 2005 levels, and collectively achieve overall net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as practicable, and no later than 2050.
The Alliance’s states and territories continue to advance innovative and impactful climate solutions to grow the economy, create jobs, and protect public health, and have a long record of action and results. In fact, the latest data shows that as of 2023, the Alliance has reduced its collective net greenhouse gas emissions by 24 percent below 2005 levels, while increasing collective GDP by 34 percent, and is on track to meet its near-term climate goal of reducing collective greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
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