Camden lawmaker wants Maine to go along with Paris climate deal

AUGUSTA — Frustrated by President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the country out of the Paris climate agreement, a state senator is pushing for Maine to comply with the goals of the accord on its own authority.

“We can’t stop trying,” Sen. Dave Miramant, D-Camden.

Miramant plans to ask the Senate Thursday to ask the Environment and Natural Resources Committee to implement to the degree possible, on a state level, “the broad goals” of the 2015 Paris agreement.

He said he also wants Maine to join with other states in a coalition committed to following the terms of the deal struck by almost every nation on the planet to combat global warming and its anticipated impact on the climate. Maine is already feeling the heat.

A number of states and cities have already committed to the accord, including New York and California. Hawaii this week wrote it into law. In addition, many companies and schools have backed the call, including Bates College in Lewiston.

Miramant said that convincing some lawmakers that climate change is “not a hoax” may be a little difficult, but he hopes the Legislature will endorse his call to abide by the agreement.

By proposing the measure, he said, it at least “gives us a chance to talk about it.”

The non-binding Paris accord, rejected by only two countries until Trump joined them in opposition last week, commits nations to each come up with plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by burning fossil fuels such as oil and coal. Backers said its chief value is in building international momentum to combat climate change.

Though Trump has dismissed the theory that people are causing the climate to change as a myth, nearly every scientific organization across the globe that’s looked into it has expressed concern that rising heat may cause dire changes to sea levels, the environment and more.

This story will be updated.