Region urged to collaborate on emissions

A Maine-based environmental policy group released a regional plan Monday that its authors said would dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New England and eastern Canada while setting a national precedent on energy policy.

Representatives of Environment Northeast said implementation of the more than two dozen recommendations in their “Climate Change Roadmap” could yield a 75 percent reduction in regional emissions linked to global warming by 2050. In terms of total tonnage, that would translate into reducing emissions from 345 million metric tons of emissions to 86 million metric tons.

That is consistent with a 2001 goal set by the governors of the six New England states and five eastern Canadian provinces.

The report seeks to capture all sectors of the economy, including industry, government and everyday shoppers. The recommendations range from tougher efficiency standards for appliances to more-stringent emission standards for new power plants and hefty state investment in biofuels.

While some of the recommendations would require significant regulatory changes – such as new emissions standards for vehicles – other proposals are based on policies already in place in some but not all areas of the region.

Working together, the Northeastern states could shape the national policies likely on the horizon as the U.S. seeks to reduce its contribution to the global warming problem, the authors said.

“We really have the opportunity to set the direction for the rest of the country,” said Michael Stoddard, project director for Environment Northeast, a Portland-based environmental research and advocacy group.

The organization’s 275-page report is the first to recommend an energy policy agenda for all of New England and the eastern Canadian provinces.

The recommendations fall under three categories: energy, transportation and sequestration, the term used for the removal and storage of atmospheric carbon.

Stoddard said Maine is setting the example in some areas. For example, the group recommends that states and provinces follow Maine’s lead in requiring that all new state buildings exceed energy codes by 20 percent.

But like all other states, Maine still could be more aggressive in other areas, such as energy efficiency and transportation, he said.

“The state of Maine needs to start implementing these kinds of measures and stop the hand-wringing about the need to do more studies or more pilot projects,” Stoddard said.

Other recommendations include:

. Adopt minimum efficiency standards for appliances and update standards for furnaces.

. Offer incentives to create combined heat and power operations that reuse heat from electricity generation.

. Shift state policies to encourage construction and integration into the power grid of renewable energy sources, such as wind or biomass, while discouraging construction of coal-burning plants.

. Increase regional collaboration to fund and develop biomass fuel opportunities from wood and other fiber-based sources.

. Shift 10 percent of all truck freight to rail or waterways by 2015.

Stoddard said his group strongly supports the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade system that requires major fossil-fuel-burning power plants to reduce emissions. But he said Maine and the other member states eventually should expand the program to cover other pollution sources and greenhouse gases.

David Littell, commissioner of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, said Monday evening that he had read through a summary of the report but had yet to review the list of recommendations. Littell called what he did read “very informative” and predicted it would be useful to lawmakers, DEP staff and the general public as Maine continues to develop its greenhouse gas reduction policies.