Maine takes step toward making global polluters, not taxpayers, pay for climate damages

AUGUSTA, ME – The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has released a request for proposals (RFP) to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the total cost of climate damage to communities statewide.  

 

The study is the first step toward making the world’s largest fossil fuel polluters rather than Maine taxpayers pay for the cost of recovering after destructive storms and flooding made worse because of climate change. 

 

“Fossil fuel emissions created this problem — and the biggest fossil fuel companies knew about the damage and deliberately lied about it. Those companies should pay their fair share to help Maine communities deal with fiercer storms, rising sea levels and other climate impacts,” said Molly Schen, activist and co-facilitator with Third Act Maine. 

 

Earlier this year, Maine legislators passed LD 1870 directing the DEP to assess the total cost to the state of greenhouse gas emissions for the period from 1995 to 2024.  

 

The bill was initially introduced to create a Climate Superfund for Maine modeled after the federal Superfund program and tobacco company settlements, which would collect fees from the world’s largest climate polluters and distribute that money to Maine communities for climate resilience projects.  

 

The Legislature chose to take the first step of assessing the total cost of climate change in Maine to lay the groundwork for a potential Climate Superfund program which can be considered later. 

 

“Rockland’s taxpayers, like so many in Maine, are overburdened, and they should not be forced to bear the financial consequences of the reckless and selfish behavior of fossil fuel interests. We need to learn how much this behavior is costing us in infrastructure upgrades and repairs to our working waterfront. This study will determine the trust cost of their actions,” said Rockland City Councilor Nathan Davis. 

 

Public engagement opportunities will be provided through the study, which will afford Maine communities and local businesses the opportunity to communicate their experience with responding to climate change. 

 

As Mainers face rising electricity and gas prices and towns struggle to deal with the damage from increasingly worse flooding and destructive storms, oil and gas companies continue to rake in record profits year after year.  

 

“The world’s largest fossil fuel corporations created this problem, and should pay their fair share to help local communities fix the damage being inflicted by climate change,” said Senator Stacy Brenner of Scarborough, who sponsored LD 1870 in the 132nd legislative session. “Here in Maine, we believe that if you make a mess, you clean it up. It is past time that Big Oil chips in to clean up their mess.” 

 

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