LD 891: An Act to Reduce Maine’s Dependency on Fossil Fuels and Enhance Energy Efficient Development
End of session update:
Over the past two years, NRCM and other members of Maine’s Environmental Priorities Coalition have worked to pass legislation that would promote energy-efficient design for new commercial developments in order to reduce energy costs, forest cutting, dependence on fossil fuels, and climate-changing pollution.
During the 2009 legislative session, we supported a bill that would have helped ensure that climate change impacts were considered during the permitting process for new developments. Unfortunately, a strong group of opponents were determined to kill the legislation, regardless of the energy and environmental benefits. Most of the provisions were eliminated from what finally passed.
In 2010 we took another run at this important issue, with An Act to Amend the Site Location of Development Laws to Include Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (LD 891), sponsored by Sen. Seth Goodall (D-Richmond). The bill would have required developers to incorporate climate change and energy efficiency considerations in their designs, saving consumers money and providing protections for the environment. But this bill also was eviscerated, as lawmakers turned it into simply a study bill. And even that drew opposition from a small group of lawmakers and lobbyists.
"The buildings we create today will be with us for a generation or more. The smartest and most inexpensive choice is to design for a better future, with more energy efficiency and reduced environmental impacts,” said Voorhees. “The foolish choice is to build in the same old ways we have in the past, and be stuck with the vulnerabilities and economic consequences of not reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. This bill would have promoted smarter development, and it should have been passed.”
Maine is overly dependent on oil putting us at risk for high energy costs in the future.
- Building new infrastructure that isn’t energy efficient puts Maine at risk for locking our budgets into a future of skyrocketing energy costs and more pollution for decades to come.
- Too many new developments in the private sector are not taking advantage of energy efficient and renewable technologies because:
- Developers who do not own or operate buildings are concerned with construction costs, not the long-term operating costs for the building occupants.
- Many landlords do not pay utility bills – the tenants do. This creates a disincentive for landlords to build highly efficient buildings.
Efficient site and building design will create jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
- More efficient buildings have higher occupancy rates and sell faster – because they are cheaper to own and operate.
- This bill will create clean energy jobs and provide additional work to retail and service providers in the emerging clean energy sector. It will also reduce dependence on foreign oil through improved efficiency and provide a boost to the economy by shifting expenditures from energy to consumer goods and services (i).
- Minimizing site clearing will significantly reduce clearing costs, and incentives to build in previously developed areas will reduce the cost of new roads and utilities to service new developments.
- LD 891 will help keep energy dollars at home: Every $1 increase in heating oil costs the Maine economy $600 million in lost income (exported out of the region and the country).
- Saving energy will save money now.
Establishing a standard for carbon dioxide pollution puts Maine on the right track for cleaner air and a robust economy.
Climate impacts must be addressed in a comprehensive manner in Maine development practices through a simple, streamlined process that will help Maine meet its goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while creating clean energy jobs to stimulate the economy.
What LD 891 does:
- Directs DEP to develop new rules and LURC to develop recommendations to ensure that future private developments will be more energy efficient.
- Directs the state to review its policies and guidelines on fossil fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions, and report on progress towards increased savings.
- Provides a threshold standard on emissions of carbon dioxide pollution.
- Provides a mitigation option for projects that cannot directly meet the standard.
- Includes private development projects in the organized territories that cross the threshold for Site Law review. Does NOT apply to industrial processes, forestry and agricultural activities or any facility regulated under the Clean Air Act as a source of global warming pollution.
LD 891 moves Maine forward on a path to energy efficiency and smart development, helping us achieve our existing goals of reducing carbon dioxide pollution (ii).
For information, please contact Dylan Voorhees at dylan@nrcm.org or (207) 430-0112.
References:
i A recent analysis prepared jointly by the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine in 2008 for the Governor’s Energy Summit concluded that “[I]f Maine could reduce expenditures by adopting the cost-effective measures identified for other states, businesses in the commercial (non-manufacturing) sector could save $230 million in energy costs, while businesses in the industrial (manufacturing) sector could save up to $129 million, for a total savings to the Maine economy of over $450 million per year at today’s energy prices and utilization rates. In terms of the potential benefits to the Maine economy, the analysis suggests that by 2020 Maine stands to create between 1,500 and 2,500 new jobs and expand Maine’s GDP by between 170 and 260 million depending on overall energy prices.
ii 38 M.R.S.A.§578. These goals are set forth as follows:
1. Reduction by 2010. In the short term, reduction to 1990 levels by January 1, 2010;
2. Reduction by 2020. In the medium term, reduction to 10% below 1990 levels by January 1, 2020; and
3. Long-term reduction. In the long term, reduction sufficient to eliminate any dangerous threat to the climate. To accomplish this goal, reduction to 75% to 80% below 2003 levels may be required.
