To: Committee on State and Local Government
From: Patricia Rubert-Nason, Sierra Club Maine
Date: April 20, 2021
Re: Testimony in Support of LD 1256
Chairman Baldacci, Chairman Matlack and Members of the Joint Committee on State and Local Government. My name is Patricia Rubert-Nason and I write on behalf of Sierra Club and the over 20,000 members and supporters in Maine. Founded in 1892, Sierra Club is one of our nation’s oldest and largest environmental organizations. We work diligently to amplify the power of our 3.8 million members nation-wide as we defend everyone's right to a healthy world. We urge you to vote “ought-to-pass” on LD 1256, An Act Requiring Climate Impact Notes on Proposed Legislation and Agency Rules.
Just like a state has a budget for money, the world has a budget for carbon emissions. While there is significant uncertainty in the numbers, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicated that, for a 50/50 chance of limiting warming to 1.5℃, we should limit global emissions (starting in 2018) to a cumulative total of 580GtCO2 . 1 Given emissions in the intervening years, we have less than 14 years of emissions remaining, at the current rate of emissions.2 To stay within this budget, we will need to rapidly reduce emissions over the next 30 years.
Maine has committed to doing our part. By an overwhelming, bipartisan majority, 3 the legislature committed to a statutory goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 45% by 2030 (below 1990 levels) and by 80% by 2050 (38 MRS §576-A).4 Moreover, we are on track to meet these goals.5 Climate impact notes are an important tool to support our continued success. Just like fiscal impact notes help the legislature to make wise decisions in spending state money and help keep the state on track with its monetary budget, climate impact notes will help the legislature make wise decisions with respect to our carbon budget and help keep Maine on track to meet its climate goals. 5 https://www.maine.gov/dep/sustainability/climate/mitigation-actions.html 4 http://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/38/title38sec576-A.html 3 https://www.maine.gov/dep/news/news.html?id=1988154 2 Calculation based on 2020 emissions level of 34 Gt. https://www.carbonbrief.org/global-carbon-project-coronavirus-causes-record-fall-in-fossil-fuel-emissions-i n-2020 1 https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/
Please vote “ought-to-pass” on LD 1256, An Act Requiring Climate Impact Notes on Proposed Legislation and Agency Rules, to help keep Maine on track to meet it climate goals.
Respectfully, Patricia Rubert-Nason Legislative Team Volunteer and Resident of Fort Kent