The Maine House on Wednesday rejected a bill (76-71) that would have prohibited cities and towns in the state from implementing local ordinances to limit residents’ ability to choose natural gas and oil for home heating.
The day prior the Senate had also voted against the bill (15-19), effectively opening the door for any municipality in Maine to begin restricting the energy sources Mainers can choose for their homes or businesses.
More than 60 percent of Mainers rely on fuel oil for home heating, and natural gas continues to be a popular option for new home construction.
However, oil and gas have become Enemy Number One for the environmentalist left based on the belief that reducing oil and gas consumption will lower global temperatures.
Although no city or town has passed an ordinance yet, cities in southern Maine have openly telegraphed their interest in cracking down on fossil fuel-based energy for home heating — and even for lawn mowers.
The bill, LD 894, was a form of defense from Sen. Matt Harrington (R-York) against an escalation in future attacks on hydrocarbon-based energy.
The proposal took a serious blow when the Governor’s Energy Office testified unexpectedly against it in committee.
[RELATED: Baldacci Rips Gov Mills for Breaking Campaign Promise on Restrictive Energy Rules…]
That testimony came as a surprise to the Maine Energy Marketers Association (MEMA), a trade group that represents Maine’s oil and gas dealers, as well as more conservative Democratic lawmakers who backed the proposal.
Gov. Janet Mills signed a MEMA pledge vowing to veto bills that would limit the energy choices available to Mainers.
Opposing a bill that would have protected those choices was seen as a violation of the pledge by Sen. Joe Baldacci (D-Penobscot), who offered rare Democrat-on-Democrat criticism of the governor in a work session.
When Baldacci learned that Mills was opposing the bill, he let loose during a work session at the State and Local Government Committee.
“I would note that the governor signed the energy choice pledge during the campaign last year, which was pretty explicit, and which is basically reflected by this bill,” Baldacci said.
“So it comes as a surprise the governor’s office is now advising us that the governor should be breaking her pledge was very public pledge. It was very much highlighted in the campaign. And it’s on record and it’s online,” he said.
Gov. Mills isn’t the only politician who, by Baldacci’s account, signed and broke the MEMA pledge.
Assistant Senate Majority Leader Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland), Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot), and Sen. Eloise Vitelli (D-Sagadahoc) all signed the MEMA pledge and then reneged on their campaign promises.
Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook), Sen. Margaret Rotundo (D-Androscoggin), and Sen. Baldacci all signed the pledge and voted in favor of the bill.
Two Republicans — Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford) and Sen. Matt Pouliot (R-Kennebec) voted against the bill — but only Pouliot signed the pledge.
Although no Maine municipality has banned oil and natural gas, municipal officials in southern Maine have openly stated their ideological commitment to doing so.
In a 2021 document entitled “One Climate Future: Charting a Course for Portland and South Portland,” the cities articulated a social and industrial reorganization plan that included efforts to phase out oil and natural gas energy uses.
In that plan, city officials said they intended to raise the cost for residents of heating homes with oil by using compliance ordinances in order to “incentivize” conversions to electric heating options.
“To further incentivize conversions, the Cities will consider adopting legislation requiring that any building owners with an active oil tank either update their tank to a code-compliant tank or decommission their tank by the end of 2028,” the report said.
“Such legislation would address rusting, corrosion, and leakage from older oil tanks; help to protect soil and groundwater; as well as establish a date by which building owners must invest in a new system, encouraging transition to renewable electric systems at that point, if not sooner,” it said.
The report also said that the cities would investigate whether they have the legal authority to institute bans on natural gas hookups in new construction.
“Once determined (or made) legally feasible, Portland and South Portland will map out a phased approach for reducing natural gas use across the cities, starting with banning new natural gas hookups in new residential and commercial construction and substantial renovation,” the report states.
Behind the scenes, State House sources see former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree, currently the director of Mills’ Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, as the driving force behind the Mills Admin’s hostility to oil and gas.
Pingree’s mother, Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), recently posted a tweet sarcastically mocking Republican concerns about limitations on natural gas stoves.
The younger Pingree, however, has openly supported those very limitations.
How about all those who are in favor of this bill go first…zero gas, zero oil, zero plane flights, electric cars only, and they pay to have all the natural gas lines removed, and for everyone who uses oil to switch to what????
Interesting that Maine legislators are forcing an end to fossil fuel use while simultaneously denying citizens unlimited access to cheap, adequate, environmentally friendly, 24/7 reliable hydropower from Canada.
The stupidity in Augusta is off the charts! These fools have no concern about how most Mainers stay warm…including the most vulnerable elderly living on a fixed income. But yes indeed, lets keep giving more free stuff to the “unhoused”.