Environmental coalitions support state’s entry into cap-and-trade agreement

After weeks of lost logging opportunities because of unfrozen ground, Eliot Jordan, a third generation owner of a Maine logging company, told newspapers in January, “These stretches of warm weather are not normal, and we are losing time. This is the second year in a rowWe need cold weather; and a stretch of it. It’s becoming a big issue for us.”

Mainers know our climate is changing. We are increasingly educated about the growing number of scientific reports on the effects of global warming. And we are aware of the changes in seasons right here in Maine. We recently experienced the warmest December on record, a real problem not just for ski areas and loggers, but for a whole host of small businesses that rely on winter recreation. Coastal towns are already losing ground to rising seas. Asthma rates are high and rising and Lyme Disease is spreading north.

Scientists tell us that without a real change in course, these trends will increase tenfold. What can little Maine do? A lot. Two years ago, Gov. John Baldacci signed an agreement with other states in the northeast to put a mandatory cap on global warming pollution from power plants. If this ten-state partnership were its own country, it would be the seventh largest emitter of global warming pollution in the world. Nearly 40 percent of this pollution comes from power plants.

The agreement signed by our governor, known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or RGGI, also requires emissions to go down by 10 percent by 2020. This all adds up to a big impact, and Maine should be part of it.

RGGI uses a market-based mechanism to achieve global warming reductions in the most cost-effective way possible. It establishes a fixed supply of emissions “credits” and requires power plants to hold a credit for every ton they emit. Power plants have complete flexibility about whether, and how, to reduce emissions. If emissions reductions aren’t feasible, they can buy credits from other power plants that make extra reductions. This flexibility is good for energy consumers, and the mandatory reductions are good for the environment.

“Cap and trade” programs like RGGI are already working effectively to reduce acid rain and ozone pollution. This model is being used by the European Union to reduce global warming. One thing we have learned from other applications of this model is that policymakers can auction off these credits to power plants. Most RGGI states are choosing to auction credits and use the revenue to benefit energy consumers.

The best way to benefit energy consumers is with energy efficiency – improvements in our homes and businesses that dramatically reduce our demand for electricity, and how much we pay. The Public Utilities Commission, the Public Advocate, and economists across the region agree with this approach.

Maine currently invests less in energy efficiency than any other state in New England. We are wasting much more energy than we need to. The good news is that we have a big reservoir of energy efficiency that we can tap into at very low costs. Efficiency costs 60 percent less per kilowatt-hour than having to produce additional electricity at a power plant, and it causes zero pollution.

Research across the region and in Maine shows that RGGI plus energy efficiency will save Mainers about $90 million over the length of the program – in other words, RGGI could actually lower utility bills by 5 percent or more.

Energy efficiency investments are good for another reason: they are capital investments that are screwed in, nailed on, and bolted down in Maine, and they stay in Maine. Savings from energy efficiency allow businesses to prosper and expand; a winning recipe for Maine jobs. Many, many businesses are already investing in energy efficiency, but there are obstacles, so incentives are a key ingredient in boosting their investment.

One strong RGGI bill, LD 1090, already has bipartisan support. The governor and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection have been working with stakeholders to draft their own bill. RGGI is the most important thing we can do about global warming, and all eyes will be on the legislature to ensure that we adopt this program and do the right thing for our climate and our economy.

Dylan Voorhees is the Clean Energy Director for the National Resources Council of Maine. This piece represents the views of the NRCM, the Conservation Law Foundation, Environment Northeast, Environment Maine, Environmental Defense, and The Nature Conservancy.