Maine will wait to see how other states’ climate superfunds fare before considering its own

With other states tied up in a federal legal battle, Maine lawmakers are opting to pump the brakes on an effort to hold fossil fuel companies accountable to see how those other cases play out.

The Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee voted Wednesday to carry over one of the two bills that would establish a superfund for large fossil fuel companies to pay for infrastructure repairs, resiliency efforts and other costs in the rural and low-income communities disproportionately affected by flooding and other disasters.

Before the committee voted unanimously to ask the presiding officers to carry the bill into the second regular session that begins in January, Sen. Stacy Brenner (D-Cumberland) quoted a constituent of hers, Bob Monks, who recently died. 

Monks was known for his activism around good corporate governance and multiple U.S. Senate runs. Brenner said his idea that “if you ran an elephant company, you would always clean up after your elephants,” captured the spirit of her bill. 

“We need support to clean up after the elephants,” she added. 

However, Brenner agreed that it makes sense to wait until next year so the state has time to track what happens with the pending federal lawsuits before moving forward. Maine Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Melanie Loyzim made a similar suggestion during the public hearing for LD 1870.

Vermont and New York have already passed similar superfund legislation. However, those states, as well as Hawaii and Michigan, have subsequently been sued for those policies, including by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Justice Department said the lawsuits are also meant to advance an executive order from President Donald Trump that targets state and local policies involving climate change, environmental justice and carbon emissions reductions.

Rep. Mike Soboleski (R-Phillips) said his biggest concern with LD 1870 is the ongoing legal backdrop, so he appreciated the time to gather more information before deciding what to do in Maine. 

Since the committee agreed they only need one legislative vehicle to take up this topic again next year, members rejected the other related bill, LD 1808 from Rep. Grayson Lookner (D-Portland). Instead, they sent a letter to the Department of Environmental Protection asking it to report back to the committee with an update on those lawsuits. 

Lookner suggested having the department look into whether Maine would go after the same companies as the other states and collect other data, such as how much it would cost to implement this sort of measure. 

Loyzim told the committee her department was already planning to track the lawsuits as they unfold.