AUGUSTA -Gov. Janet Mills held a signing ceremony Wednesday for a bill sponsored by Rep. Lydia Blume, D-York, that will help the state prepare for the amount of sea level rise that is scientifically predicted to occur by the turn of the next century. Present at the signing were many of the scientists who helped develop and analyze the data used to prepare the bill.
Blume is a member of the Maine Climate Council, which developed the Maine Climate Action Plan. The plan is designed to help Maine prepare for and mitigate the coming changes to our climate. Developing the plan involved working with Maine scientists and the best available data to estimate what the changes in sea level are likely to be between now and 2100. It is estimated that Maine's sea level will rise 1.5 feet by 2050 and 3.9 feet by 2100. Blume's bill calls for the state government to develop plans for preparing for and dealing with those changes in sea level.
"A whole-of-government approach is what is needed for the action plan of the Maine Climate Council to be fully realized, and it is also most certainly needed to be fully prepared for what has already started to happen along our coast," said Blume. "This new law requires every impacted department within our state government to incorporate the most likely scenario of sea level rise and enhance our resilience to it."
Blume is serving her fourth term in the Maine House of Representatives and represents House District 3, the coastal part of the town of York. She serves on both the Environment and Natural Resources Committee and the Marine Resources Committee.
Contact:
Jackie Merrill [Blume], c. 812-1111
Photo: Governor Janet Mills ceremonial signs LD 1572. From left to right, Amanda Beal, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Cassaundra Rose, Senior Science Analyst and Climate Council Coordinator, Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future; Peter Slovinsky, coastal geologist, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Rep. Lydia Blume; Gov. Janet Mills; Stephen Dickson, marine geologist, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Hannah Pingree, director of the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future; Dr. Robert Marvinney, state geologist, Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry; Francesca Gundrum, Maine Conservation Voters.