Dear Friend,

You may have seen or heard about some big awards coming to Maine lately. Last week was a historic for climate resilience project funding in Maine, with five major announcements, including one that brought the national spotlight.

On Friday, Governor Janet Mills gave a tour and hosted a joint announcement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Fisherman's Wharf in Portland, acknowledging the recipients of $575 million in highly competitive Climate Resilience Grant Challenge awards for transformational climate initiatives nationwide. This announcement included a $69 million grant for Maine to strengthen and protect communities and working waterfronts.

Federal officials traveled to Maine to join Governor Mills in the announcement, including National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi (below) and NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, as well as U.S. Senator Angus King and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, who supported the Inflation Reduction Act.

That event capped off a busy week of funding announcements that also included a $21.2 million Resilience Grant for 68 working waterfronts damaged by winter storms in 2024, $72 million in federal funding to expand heat pumps in Maine, a $6.6 million grant award to six projects to increase electrical grid resilience, funded through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and a $4.3 million federal grant to 42 Maine farms and small businesses, which will help lower their energy costs through clean energy investments funded by the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).

Speaking of resilience, just another reminder that you can share your feedback on Maine's Climate Strategies and Recommendations by taking our full 20-minute survey or one of the shorter surveys on each topic (below).

Each of these take about five minutes to complete.

• Buildings, Infrastructure and Housing Survey

• Energy Survey

• Coastal & Marine Survey

• Community Resilience Survey

• Natural & Working Lands Survey

• Transportation Survey

• Materials Management Survey

• Land Use Survey

If you know anyone else interested in this work, please share the full draft climate strategies and survey link and encourage them to participate.

If you have questions or comments on the survey, feel free to email us directly.

This week, we're highlighting the Energy Working Group's four recommendations and asking you to give us your input here.

After six months of seeking input and community feedback, Deputy Director Celina Cunningham of the Governor's Energy Office presented the Energy Working Group's recommendations on behalf of co-chairs Dan Burgess and Ken Colburn at the Maine Climate Council Quarterly Meeting on June 18th.

They include:

Now it's your turn.

Give us your feedback.

Today, the Maine Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) announced $2 million in grant awards to expand or establish six clean energy workforce training programs in Biddeford, Portland, Freeport, Augusta, Orono, and Oxford Hills. 

These awards will be administered by GEO through the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP). Supported by the governor’s Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan, GEO launched the CEP to work with other state agencies, employers, schools and colleges, and workforce training organizations to expand job opportunities in the clean energy sector.

Programs selected for awards include:

• Biddeford School Department and Biddeford Adult Education: $299,690

• Maine Math & Science Alliance: $495,368 
• Oxford Hills and Nezinscot Adult Education: $214,191
• PassivehausMAINE: $200,377
• Portland Adult Education: $416,179
• University of Maine: $374,193

The number of clean energy jobs in Maine has surpassed 15,000, increasing faster in Maine than any other New England state, and the clean energy sector grew to contribute $2.31 billion to Maine’s economy in 2022, according to an independent report released earlier this year by GEO.

Working Group Member: Marissa McMahon

Meet Marissa McMahan, a member of the Marine and Coastal Working Group and the Equity Subcommittee, who is a fisheries researcher for Manomet. She describes her work as a collaborative effort between scientists, fishermen, harvesters, and coastal community members to support marine ecosystems so that fishing can continue to thrive in the Gulf of Maine.

“I live and breathe fishing—my father and grandfather are lobstermen, and my partner is a lobsterman. This is a way of life, and I want to ensure that this can be a way of life in the future.”  

Her story and others are available on our Maine Won't Wait website.

The Governor's Cabinet on Aging and the Maine Council on Aging are hosting a conversation for older adults on Tuesday, August 6th, about how climate change affects you and your community and updates to the state’s climate action plan, Maine Won’t Wait, due by December 2024.

We want to ensure that the voices and experiences of older adults are considered in the planning and development of Maine's climate goals and strategies. Please join us to hear about the proposed recommendations and give us your feedback on what is most important, what might be missing, and how these issues impact you or your communities.

• Sep 25, 2024 | 9am - 12pm: Maine Climate Council
• Oct 23, 2024 | 9am - 12pm: Maine Climate Council
• Nov 21, 2024 | 9am - 5pm: Maine Climate Council

For more information about the Maine Climate Council, its members, and upcoming meetings, please visit the Maine Climate Council's website.