LD 1498 served to delay any climate action by making it a substantive rule subject to legislative approval. The bill makes any executive/agency action that raises the price of fossil fuels in the short term – including heating oil, gas, propane – something that needs to be approved by the Legislature. In doing so, it subjects future Mainers to the significant impacts of the climate crisis and escalating costs of last-minute climate mitigation and encourages inaction on climate solutions.  By imposing a requirement that the legislature individually approve any mechanism that might regulate the GHG emissions from the transportation sector, LD 1498 at best imposed unnecessary delay and at worst, takes away the ability of state agencies to follow the Climate Action Plan or use their discretion to employ the most cost-effective and consumer-friendly methods of achieving these carbon targets. The bill was defeated after an uprising by environmental groups.

Acadia Center Comments on LD1498