MAINE, Maine — It’s the culmination of a year’s worth of talks.
Education and industry leaders gathered virtually Tuesday for a third and final webinar on the economics of climate change. The topic this time: Innovating for Maine’s Climate Future.
Some innovations we already see, like electric vehicles and heat pumps—so, so many heat pumps. The pumps have been a major emphasis of the administration of Democratic Governor Janet Mills, as emphasized by Michael Stoddard of Efficiency Maine Trust.
"We emit a significant amount of our state’s greenhouse gas emissions by heating our homes and businesses, close to 30 percent," he said, showing through stats what many already knew: Maine relies heavily on heating oil. But with rapid heat pump innovation and promised government buy-in for years to come, he argued there’s profit for installers and the owners of Maine’s 500,000 year-round homes.
"Our goal, by 2030, according to our climate action plan in the state, is to have 115,000—roughly 20 percent of all of those homes—fully heated by heat pumps," he said.
For future innovations, Jobs for the Future's Meena Naik said, we needed to figure out which ones will last and cultivate those skills.
"What do we think those durable green skills will be? Think power management, volt management, things like that; all the way up to those more technical skills," she posed. "And then build public-private partnerships."
Patrick Woodcock is president and CEO of the state’s chamber of commerce. He said the discussions were "all about being practical." He saw Maine as uniquely positioned to benefit from future climate policy. For instance, he said, what if Europe banned single-use plastics? Well, Maine is a leader in renewable forest products.
"Not just looking at traditional paper products—cardboard—but, actually, a substitute for containers; for packaging," Woodcock said. "And that is a huge opportunity for the state. We’re starting to see that."
Climate change is often a scary phrase. But, as the year wound down, some of Maine's top economic leaders believed working toward a greener Maine could also mean industry growth.