Throughout the summer and fall, many of us have had opportunities to enjoy some of Maine’s greatest assets: our natural resources. Whether you’ve made the journey to Baxter State Park for an exhilarating trek up Mount Katahdin, visited Greenville to enjoy the calm of Moosehead Lake or traveled up to camp for a quiet weekend with family, I’m sure you’ve also experienced that deep sense of gratitude for this place we call home. Maine’s beauty is unparalleled, but our natural resources offer more than just an opportunity to be wowed.
Working the Gorham Farmers Market for many years, I’ve come to appreciate how integral our natural resources are to the fabric of our community. They bring us together, they nourish us and they provide opportunities for work, play and economic prosperity. Maine is different from other states in many ways, but I believe it is our long-standing connection to heritage industries like logging, fishing, hunting and farming that contribute to our unique sense of identity. There is a whole lot of grit mixed with an unyielding commitment to our neighbors and community.
It is this combination of commitment and hard work that has led us to make real, meaningful progress towards protecting our natural resources. Early in this legislative session, we bolstered the Land for Maine’s Future program, ramping up land conservation efforts in recognition of the important role these lands play in the health and well-being of our state. We also took steps to protect our natural resources by combating the effects of climate change in a variety of ways.
We funded forest carbon mapping work to give us the information we need to maximize the carbon stored in our forests. We also supported municipal partnership programs to improve climate resilience and emissions reductions at the local level. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, this will provide towns and municipalities across the state with the tools they need to make decisions about how to improve sustainability in a way that fits their unique circumstances. Additionally, we passed a measure to improve our recycling and waste management programs while simultaneously shifting the cost of those programs off of taxpayers and onto manufacturers, helping to incentivize less production of would-be waste.
More recently, we expanded Maine’s Ecological Reserve System to better reflect our commitment to protecting unique habitats that support wildlife, store carbon, provide scenic and recreational value and serve as ecological research sites. We developed a climate change education pilot program for public schools, which will provide development opportunities for educators to better prepare interdisciplinary climate education courses. We funded the Maine Climate Corps, a service program for young adults to work on climate resiliency and greenhouse gas reduction projects. We also set new goals for state and local fleets to transition to electric and zero-emissions vehicles.
Through a bill I introduced this session that is now law, we extended Maine’s sales and use tax exemption for certain battery energy storage systems to incentivize the development of businesses that store energy for later use. In addition to contributing to more stable energy prices, the development of more battery storage facilities will make it easier for communities to shift to clean energy sources.
Each of these measures embodies our state’s shared values. Mainers are willing to work hard. We care about our natural resources and we care about our communities. We may not be able to solve the climate crisis for the whole country or the world, but here in Maine, we know we have a lot to lose if climate disruptions degrade our most valuable assets. I’m proud to have been a part of these efforts over the past two years, and I am committed to continuing to work towards a more sustainable future for our state for years to come.
Rep. Maureen “Mo” Terry, D-Gorham, is serving her third term in the Maine House of Representatives. She serves as House Chair of the Taxation Committee. Contact her at maureen.terry@legislature.maine.gov.