News in brief AUGUSTA: MAINERS SUPPORT HYBRID QUOTAS

A pending state law to require Maine dealers sell a minimum number of gasoline-electric hybrids and “clean” gasoline cars with state-of-the-art engines has the backing of 70 percent of people surveyed in a recent poll done by a Portland firm on behalf of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Support for the sales goals crossed all demographic boundaries – age, gender, geography and political – among the 400 randomly selected people surveyed in late January. The Maine Board of Environmental Protection approved the law last year, noting that it is expected to reduce some kinds of pollution by as much as 90 percent, and that other New England states have similar policies. Maine’s proposal would require that 10 percent of all cars sold in Maine meet strict emissions standards by 2009. State legislators are expected to consider the issue this spring. The full poll is available online at www.maineenvironment.org. (Misty Edgecomb, BDN)