Mayor Ethan Strimling, Julia Gesensway of EnvironmentMaine and City Councilor Spencer Thibodeau at Press Conference Earlier This Week.
Fountain of Youth on Washington Avenue? No. Just A Fountain of Water That Erupted When a Truck Toppled a Fire Hydrant Earlier This Week!
“Maine is falling behind the rest of the nation in some categories of clean energy. Maine ranked 41st on solar energy and 35th in the number of electric cars on the road,” Julia Gesensway, campaign organizer for Environment Maine, said at a press conference on Wednesday, July 26 on the steps of city hall, Portland.
Gesenway went on to say that there is some good news however. “..wind power in Maine has grown 16-fold in the last decade compared with a 7-fold increase nationally. Maine is also among the top 15 states for increases in energy storage capacity and increases in electricity efficiency savings,” she stated. Her comments came as an introduction to the release of a report: “Renewables on the Rise: A Decade of Progress Positions America for a 100% Renewable Future” a state-by-state assessment of the growth of key technologies needed to power the nation with clean, renewable energy. These include wind and solar power, energy efficiency, battery storage technology and electric car sales. A shorter executive summary of the full-length report was distributed at the press conference. (Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D) has stated publicly she has an electric car and that she loves it!)
Councilor Spencer Thibodeau, chair of the city’s Sustainability Committee, focused on some of the steps the city is taking to promote clean air and deal directly with climate change – particularly in the Bayside neighborhood of the city.
Mayor Strimling who appointed Councilor Thibodeau to chair the Sustainability Committee, applauded him for his aggressive efforts in this capacity saying that had had taken the “bull by the horns.” The Mayor said that climate change remains the single most important issue to many here in Maine. Keep up the great work you are doing,” he told Environment Maine staff members at the press conference. “It’s so heartening to see.”
The public is invited to a “Beat the Heat” event at Shipyard Brewery, 86 Newbury Street, on Tuesday, August 1, 2017. There will be various speakers on “Climate Solutions.
Furthermore, WalletHub, recently announced that the state of Maine ranks 6th in the rankings of Greenest State in the US. Following are some of its factors in making this determination: Maine ranks 10th in Air Quality, 7th in Water Quality, 210th in Leed Certified buildings per capita, lst in the percentage of energy consumption from renewable sources and 24th in energy consumption per capita.
Environment Maine is a citizen-based non-profit environmental advocacy project of Envirionment America. Please check its web page for more information and how you can get involved.