AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Board of Environmental Protection wanted feedback on petitions for the state to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars and trucks, and it got plenty Thursday.
After the hearing began at 9 a.m., more than 100 people packed the room inside the Augusta Civic Center. It was an unusually large crowd for the meeting of the generally low-key board controlling environmental rules. With 87 people signing up to testify, the crowd thinned slightly as public comments continued for several hours into the afternoon.
Supporters of the petitions, led by the Natural Resources Council of Maine and other environmental groups, have said Maine will not only cut air pollution and make needed progress toward climate goals but see a cumulative $21 billion in benefits by 2050 in the form of improved public health and lower utility costs if the state goes all-electric by 2035.
The petitions would push Maine further toward California’s strict rules on electric vehicle adoption, which aims to end the sale of gas-powered vehicles in the state by 2035. Several other states, such as Vermont and Massachusetts, have adopted the rules.
While the Maine petitions do not go quite as far, they would have zero-emission vehicles make up 43 percent of new sales for model year 2027 and 82 percent of sales by model year 2032. Electric vehicles currently make up about 6 percent of new sales in Maine.
The groups also want Maine to incentivize the sale and increased use of electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks, similar to California’s rule. The state would be required to review progress by 2028 in order to determine if Maine should ultimately adopt California’s 2035 mandate. Emergency and other types of vehicles would be exempt.
“We can see the climate emergency in real time on the news and out our windows,” said Sen. Stacy Brenner, D-Scarborough, an organic farmer who said charging her electric vehicle on long trips has “never been a problem.”
Opponents say the free market should dictate EV adoption and the mandates are too much too soon while not considering Maine’s harsh winters along with how rural areas lack charging infrastructure. As of May, Maine had more than 900 charging ports, the vast majority of which are in the more populous southern part of the state, according to one estimate.
“Don’t turn Maine into California,” said John Barkley, a Stockton Springs resident who said he previously lived in California, also raising concerns over child labor that has been used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, to extract raw materials for batteries.
The environmental groups submitted the petitions and proposed the “routine technical rules” that don’t need legislative approval through a little-known rulemaking process that allows citizens to request changes with at least 150 signatures, which several Republican lawmakers criticized Thursday.
Proponents stressed no one would need to give up their current gas-powered vehicles if the new rules take effect and that Maine must avoid falling behind as the auto industry continues to move to an all-electric strategy, with EV prices continuing to fall and incentives helping with affordability.
The Board of Environmental Protection, made up of seven members each appointed or reappointed by Gov. Janet Mills, only received public feedback at Thursday’s meeting. Residents can keep submitting public comments until Aug. 28, with a board decision expected later this year.
Mills, a Democrat, said last year she was not in favor of Maine adopting California’s 2035 mandate. Last month, her spokesperson said she continues to believe Maine should not let “decisions by any other state determine Maine’s course of action.”
Proponents argue despite the state’s statutory goal of reducing emissions 45 percent below 1990 levels within the next decade and 80 percent by 2050, Maine has failed to adopt more aggressive policies on the largest contributor — transportation.
About half of Maine’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the transportation sector, a share that has historically been far higher than the national average in part due to long commutes.
The Mills administration wants 219,000 electric vehicles registered in Maine by 2030. But the Bangor Daily News reported in May the state had only reached about 4 percent of its goal, with roughly 9,500 here. However, the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s 2022 survey of owners in Maine found 98 percent were satisfied with the quality and reliability of their vehicles.