Maine
New legislation would make Maine’s polluters pay | Opinion
Sue Inches is an author, educator and environmental advocate from North Yarmouth.
She writes a regular blog on the environment at susanbinches.substack.com.
Fossil fuel companies are spewing billions of tons of greenhouse gases into the air every year. These gases rise and act like a blanket in the atmosphere, reflecting heat back toward the Earth, where it’s absorbed by the ocean. This is why the Gulf of Maine is one of the fastest warming bodies of water on the planet.
Our rising ocean temperatures are the root cause of more frequent and more severe storms. And these storms are costly. Flooding, high winds and falling trees have cost Maine electric ratepayers over $200 million in each of the past four years. We see these costs in our rising electric bills.
As storms and costs continue to increase, it’s time to hold fossil fuel companies accountable. Maine electric ratepayers should not pay for climate damage they did not cause. Nor should they pay for local infrastructure to protect downtowns, roads, bridges and sewage treatment plants from flooding.
This is the rationale behind “polluter pays” legislation, an important bill before the Legislature this month.
Introduced by state Sen. Stacy Brenner, the “Polluter Pays” bill (LD 1870) would charge fossil fuel companies a fee for climate damage they’ve caused in Maine. The funds would be deposited into a state “climate superfund” and used to pay for storm repair and strengthening local infrastructure.
You may be wondering how polluters will be assessed a pollution fee. Based on decades of research and using advanced computing, it’s now possible to accurately determine the cost attributed to each polluter. Large fossil fuel companies would be charged a fee, based on a formula. The formulas are now in place.
Establishing a state “climate superfund” is a bold move. But there’s legal precedent for it. Vermont and New York passed similar legislation in 2024. Ten other states, including Maine, are proposing similar legislation. This legislation is modeled on the national superfund law (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act or CERCLA), which passed in 1980.
The national superfund law has been effective. Since it was enacted, 459 sites have been fully cleaned up, with many more in progress. But the national superfund law is limited to cleaning up land and water pollution. There is no law to clean up damage caused by atmospheric pollution. States are now stepping up to address this gap.
Maine’s LD 1870 is modeled on the Vermont climate superfund law. The bill calls for climate damage fees to be assessed retroactively — on emissions from 1994-2024. By making the damage assessment retroactive, the bill avoids the argument that states are regulating emissions, which are outside of state jurisdiction. Because it is retroactive, and because it addresses climate damage and not emissions, many legal experts believe LD 1870 will stand up to legal challenges.
Opponents have not been complacent, however. Lawsuits against Vermont and New
York have been filed by the American Petroleum Institute, a coalition of 22 attorneys general from red states, and now the Trump administration through the Department of Justice. The lawsuits claim that states are regulating emissions, and that this violates interstate commerce laws and the Clean Air Act.
State climate superfund laws and the fight to establish them represent an important paradigm shift. For too long fossil fuel companies have been allowed to externalize the costs of pollution. States and local communities (meaning you and me as taxpayers) end up paying the bill, while oil companies harvest massive profits. These new laws are a first step toward making polluters accountable for pollution they cause.
Once again, Maine is taking the lead on an important issue. Please email or call your state senator and representative and urge them to support LD 1870. Better yet, come to Augusta and stand with people who support this legislation. A demonstration at the Statehouse is scheduled for Jan. 27 from 8-11 a.m.
Three tornadoes have been confirmed across New England so far in 2026, and remarkably, all of them have occurred in Vermont.
Two of those tornadoes touched down during severe thunderstorms on June 18, when a potent weather system swept across the region.
Vermont tornadoes in 2026 (WGME).
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado in Lincoln with peak winds of 105 mph and another EF-1 tornado in Woodstock with winds reaching 100 mph.
Earlier this spring, an EF-1 tornado struck Williamstown on April 16 with estimated winds of 90 mph.
This week’s Climate Chronicles question comes from Kate:
With severe weather last week, how often do we actually see tornadoes touch down in Maine?
Maine tornado activity (WGME).
Historically, Maine averages about two tornadoes each year, with most occurring between June and August.
Most storms develop during the late afternoon and early evening, typically between 3 and 9 p.m., when hours of sunshine have heated the ground and created the instability needed for thunderstorms to form.
The last confirmed tornado to touch down in Maine was in 2023.
Average amount of tornadoes that touch down in each New England state per year (WGME).
Massachusetts and Connecticut also average about two tornadoes per year, with many occurring across the flatter terrain of western portions of both states.
In Massachusetts, the broad Connecticut River Valley stretching through Springfield has earned the nickname “New England’s Tornado Alley” due to its history of tornado activity.
Vermont, on the other hand, typically averages just one tornado annually. With three confirmed tornadoes already in 2026, the state has already exceeded its yearly average by two, making this an unusually active year for tornadoes in the Green Mountain State.
Maine’s tornado history (GoSanAngelo, WGME).
Since 1950, Maine has recorded 140 tornadoes. None have been rated stronger than an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, the system used to classify tornado intensity based on the damage they cause.
Unlike hurricanes, tornadoes are not assigned ratings while they are occurring. Instead, National Weather Service survey teams assess damage after the storm has passed, examining impacts to homes, buildings, trees, and other structures.
From that damage, meteorologists estimate the tornado’s wind speeds and assign an EF rating ranging from EF0 to EF5.
While Maine has experienced its share of tornadoes over the decades, the state has never recorded a violent EF4 or EF5 tornado.
Do you have any weather questions? Email our Weather Authority team at weather@wgme.com. We’d love to hear from you!
PORTLAND — Perhaps the June Swoon is over for the Portland Hearts of Pine.
A flurry of second-half activity Wednesday night resulted in four goals and a much-needed 5-1 USL League One victory against the Richmond Kickers that had fans buzzing with feel-good frenzy at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
Ollie Wright scored the go-ahead goal on a header off a great cross from Jaden Jones-Reilly in the 57th minute. In short order, Konstantinos Georgallides and Aboubacar Camara each added a goal, and then Camara got a second late in extra time.
Diego Gonzalez, playing his third game with Portland, added friskiness to the midfield and opened the scoring with a header in the first half. He also assisted on Camara’s first goal with a slick through pass.
Portland had lost four straight games, including three in a row in USL1. The Hearts are now 4-5-5 in league play and moved from 13th to 10th in the 17-team league, just three points out of the eight-team playoff picture.
It was a dramatic reversal from Portland’s most recent game, a 5-1 loss at Westchester SC on Friday that was shown live back in Portland at an open-air setting in Monument Square.
PREVIOUSLY IN JUNE
When the month of May ended with a gritty home win against Spokane, Portland was 3-2-4 in league play and overcoming injuries.
June has not been as kind. Portland entered Wednesday’s game on a four-game losing streak. Digging into the numbers, the skid looked even worse.
It was the first time the Hearts had lost four straight games in their brief year-and-a-half history. They were outscored 15-5 in that stretch, and 15-3 starting with the two extra-time goals they allowed in a 3-2 loss at Corpus Christi.
Portland had also lost three straight against USL League One games for the first time.
Two of the four losses were ugly 5-1 affairs. Portland didn’t lose by more than three goals and had just four losses by two or more goals in 2025.
RETURNS AND NOTES
Portland was glad to have Mikey Lopez back on the game-day roster. Lopez, who had bene out more than month because of an injury, entered as a 75th-minute sub with Portland leading 4-1. … Sean Vinberg, one of Portland’s primary starting center backs in 2025, became the second former Hearts player to return to Fitzpatrick, wearing the captain’s band for Richmond. Vinberg was released at the end of the 2025 season. He made 33 starts for Portland, second most on the team. … Maine Gatorade High School Soccer Players of the Year Finn Coburn (Scarborough) and Noelle Mallory (Cape Elizabeth) handled the honorary coin toss before the match.
A meal that would normally cost more than $30 is available for less than $12 at Governor’s Restaurants on Wednesday.
Governor’s is celebrating its 67th anniversary by offering its lobster roll for $11.67.
The annual promotion, known as Lobster Roll Day, begins when restaurants open at 8 a.m. and continues until supplies run out.
Governor’s operates six locations across Maine in Old Town, Bangor, Ellsworth, Waterville, Lewiston and Presque Isle.
Customers should be aware that several locations are offering cash-only drive-thru service for the event.
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