Maine Climate Council Reports

The Maine Climate Council is responsible to integrate and prioritize which strategies to move forward in the State Climate Action Plan that will be delivered to the Governor and Legislature by December 1, 2020. The State Climate Action Plan will be updated by the Maine Climate Council every four years moving forward. 

Maine Won't Wait One-Year Progress Report

Read the Progress Report: (PDF)

Maine Won't Wait, A Four-Year Plan for Climate Action

Read the Plan: (PDF), HTML5 Flipbook) (Executive Summary, PDF)

    Scientific Assessment of Climate Change and Its Effects in Maine

    The Maine Climate Council's Scientific and Technical Subcommittee was responsible for delivering a report that summarizes the impacts of climate change in Maine and how it might impact our state in the future. Their final report is part of the State Climate Action Plan. The findings from this report informed the ongoing deliberations of the Maine Climate Council and have aided the Maine Climate Council’s six working groups in the development of their draft recommended strategies. In addition, the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee identified critical scientific information gaps and needs to better understand and forecast potential future climate change impacts in the State.

    NEW: Read the STS's Maine Climate Science Update 2021 (PDF)

    Strengthening Maine's Clean Energy Economy

    The Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) and Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) are required to develop a plan to identify pathways and strategies for, and pursue, the advancement of Maine’s clean energy economy. While Maine’s 10-year economic plan highlights the opportunity to grow Maine’s clean energy economy with positive impacts reaching across sectors, the strategies outlined in this Clean Energy Economy Transition Plan, in combination with the Maine Climate Council’s Climate Action Plan, will provide specific strategies to leverage Maine’s renewable energy resources and energy efficiency services to recover and grow Maine’s economy.

    Draft Strategy Reports from the Working Groups

    To achieve Maine’s climate goals, six working groups – joined by an expert Scientific and Technical Subcommittee—developed a set of strategies for the Council to consider for the State Climate Action Plan. The strategies include both greenhouse gas reduction (“mitigation”) strategies and climate change adaptation strategies. They were delivered to the Maine Climate Council in June 2020. 

    Assessing the Impacts Climate Change May Have on the State’s Economy, Revenues, and Investment Decisions

    Eastern Research Group and Synapse Energy Economics produced the following reports analyzing the vulnerability of the State of Maine to the future impacts of climate change; the cost of doing nothing in response to climate change to the State; an emissions analysis of draft greenhouse gas reductions strategies proposed by the Working Groups; and an economic analysis of the draft emissions- and adaptation-related strategies proposed by the Working Groups.

    The Maine Climate Council will use these reports in their consideration of the draft strategies to refine and select the strategies that will be incorporated into Maine’s Climate Action Plan.

    Equity Assessment of Draft Strategies

    The Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future worked with the University of Maine's Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability solutions to assess the recommendations of the six working groups from an equity perspective. For each work group strategy, the assessment seeks to understand how it would affect vulnerable populations and to suggest improvements to the strategy that would improve the equitable distribution of benefits.

    Public Feedback

    The Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future collected feedback on the draft Working Group strategies during the summer of 2020. Over 4,400 responses were received through online feedback surveys available on climatecouncil.maine.gov, as well as numerous memos, letters, and comments, up to September 24th.