PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 25, 2021
Bold reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are necessary to mitigate climate impacts. Maine has a history of leadership addressing environmental challenges, and aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050, while reaching carbon neutrality by 2045. However, we are not on track to achieve these goals. Our regional grid operator, ISO-New England, must plan for systemic vulnerabilities, stop subsidizing fossil fuels and begin a just transition to renewable energy sources. ISO-NE’s current practices, which fail to account for the carbon emissions and human health impacts of fossil fuel burning, are not serving the interests of Mainers. ~ Ruthie Clements and Sonja Birthisel, No Coal No Gas campaign