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Gov. Janet Mills announced Wednesday that she is committing an additional $5.4 million in state and federal funding to two climate initiatives aimed at building climate resilience among communities and creating clean energy jobs in Maine.
“We have been waiting for many decades. “It’s not alarming to say we’re running out of time,” Mills said. “Thanks to the people of Maine, our state is reducing carbon emissions, curbing our reliance on expensive fossil fuels, saving money, creating jobs and fighting climate change, all at the same time.”
Of the funds, $2.9 million in grants will be awarded through the Community Resilience Partnership to help communities assess and respond to their climate and infrastructure needs. The remaining $2.5 million will be awarded in grants to nine organizations to support clean energy workforce development.
The governor made the announcement on the second anniversary of the state’s four-year climate action plan, Maine Will Not Wait, at Colby College in Waterville.
In 2019, the governor established the Maine Climate Council, a group of scientists, industry leaders, local and state officials and Maine residents, to develop that plan. Wednesday’s announcement was meant to advance the state’s climate goals outlined in the council’s strategy. Maine aims to be powered by 80 percent clean energy by 2030 and to reach carbon neutrality by 2045.
Since the state launched its climate plan two years ago, it has installed more than 82,000 heat and cooling pumps, put more than 8,500 electric vehicles on the road and retrofitted more than 9,100 homes and businesses, Mills said. Many of the investments were made possible with federal funding from the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan.
The Community Resilience Partnership, announced in December 2021, helped 127 cities, towns and tribal governments last year plan for climate change events, reduce carbon emissions, transition to clean energy and increase their infrastructure resilience. In an announcement Wednesday, the governor awarded an additional $2.9 million in grants through the state’s general fund to 91 cities, towns and tribal governments.
“Maine communities have few human resources, and many are underfunded and have huge infrastructure needs,” said Hannah Pingree, co-chair of the Maine Climate Council.
This year’s participation shows that Maine’s cities, towns and tribal governments are increasingly concerned about climate challenges and are volunteering to assess what their most immediate climate needs are and how they can address them, Pingree said.
“We live in a time where there are more resources than ever before for communities, but for small communities, if they haven’t done vulnerability mapping, they’re not going to be prepared,” said Pingree, who also directs Mills’ Office of Policy Innovation and the Future.
Maine Solar Development
At Fort Kent, for example, the funds will be used for climate change preparedness through culvert and storm drain mapping, and modeling of rainfall and flood projections.
“These studies will better position the city to apply for future grants to upgrade our failing systems and increase our capacity to withstand climate change, mitigate the potential adverse effects of heavy rainfall and increase the safety of our residents,” said Cindy Bowley, Fort Kent’s Public Safety Officer. relations with the community.
The Clean Energy Partnership will administer $2.5 million in workforce grants, which will support training for Mainers to work in the clean energy sector. The clean energy jobs funding will cover a variety of initiatives, including electrician training, apprenticeships and internships.
“We need a skilled and talented workforce to build and operate our clean energy projects,” said Dan Burgess, director of the Governor’s Office of Energy. “So this is really a parallel investment with those goals.”
Mills said the $5.4 million investment is separate from other investments the administration is making as part of its Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, including $50 million for more affordable and efficient housing and $20 million to increase the resilience of public infrastructure.
This funding is also separate from what Maine is expected to receive from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for programs such as electric vehicle infrastructure, home climate, public transportation and energy efficiency programs.
“We are taking unprecedented steps to embrace clean energy, to reduce carbon emissions and to help our communities fight, at every level, the greatest threat of our time,” Mills said.
Mehr Sher is a member of the Report for America corps. Additional support for this reporting is provided by the Unity Foundation and donations from BDN readers.
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