BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 17, 2023
Quick-developing storms with big effects on smaller areas are having an increasing role on Maine’s weather picture. This is also among the challenges for the state’s climate plan. When it was released in December 2020, the state and world were confronting an uncertain time at the front end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan set a number of standards that the state looks poised to meet, like those on overall emissions and heat pumps, but it remains woefully short of electric vehicle goals. Later this year, the Maine Climate Council initially convened by Gov. Janet Mills and the Democratic-led Legislature will begin updating the state’s climate plan, which will include accounting for the rise of more severe storms. It will also give the state a chance to revamp some of the goals.