Bill Needleman, waterfront director for the City of Portland (left) speaks with Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Dept. of Marine Resources Commissioner Pat Keliher, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and U.S. Sen. Angus King in Portland on July 26, 2024. (Photo by AnnMarie Hilton/ Maine Morning Star)
Curt Brown’s alarm went off at 4 a.m. Friday. He woke up his son and the two grabbed some bait from Custom House Wharf in Portland before setting out to haul in a couple hundred lobster traps. Their catch was dropped off by 11 a.m. at Maine State Pier.
“This is the working waterfront of Portland, Maine,” Brown, a lobsterman from Cape Elizabeth, said to a crowd of state and federal officials at the Portland Fish Exchange Friday afternoon.
Without that waterfront, Brown said, the lobster and other products harvested from the Gulf of Maine wouldn’t reach the rest of the world. That’s why Brown joined Gov. Janet Mills, U.S. Sen. Angus King, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and Ali Zaidi, who leads President Joe Biden’s Climate Policy Office, to celebrate the newly announced $69 million investment to make Maine’s infrastructure more resilient to the effects of climate change.
The money is part of the Biden administration’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge, which is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. A representative from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office was also present at the event that drew more than 50 people, including state legislators.
Mills spoke about the $90 million worth of damage to public infrastructure that was caused by a series of devastating storms last winter. She said fighting climate change has been a “cornerstone” of her administration.
Earlier this week, Mills’ administration announced more than $21 million for 68 working waterfronts to rebuild and recover from the winter storm damage. That money was part of the $60 million the governor earmarked for storm relief that was part of this year’s supplemental budget.
During the event Friday, King praised the federal investment, saying it is the first time the conversation is about preventing the effects of climate change instead of dealing with them after they happen. An approach that Pingree said is “economically sound.”
Hannah Pingree, director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, said the new funding will be largely concentrated on Maine’s coast, but will also be available inland, especially for riverfront communities that faced significant flooding during the winter storms.
While it has not yet been determined how all of the money will be spent, Hannah Pingree said there are a couple pilot projects in mind, including one at Popham Beach, where protective dunes have been eroded by large waves and high-water levels. Otherwise the money will help expand the state’s Community Resilience Partnership, which helps more than 200 towns and tribal governments with projects to address local climate effects.
King said that he thinks of treating the planet in the same way he would borrow a rototiller from a fellow Mainer. A borrowed rototiller is always returned in as good of condition as you received it and with a full tank of gas, he said. Likewise, the planet is “on loan from future generations.”
“We have an obligation to take the steps necessary to turn it over to those generations in as good shape as we found it,” King said.
Brown said building a more resilient working waterfront is not about today or even tomorrow; it’s about creating a future where his son and daughter will have the opportunity to be part of those industries if they choose.
Investing in rural energy
Earlier Friday, Mills joined U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at the Brunswick Farmers Market to announce $4.3 million to fund energy efficiency improvements to help more than 40 farms and small businesses lower their energy costs.
The grants will allow businesses to install renewable energy systems that are not only more environmentally friendly, but also less costly to run — “a win-win,” Mills said. These projects could include wind, solar, geothermal and small hydropower.
The funding comes from the Rural Energy for America Program, which is also part of the Inflation Reduction Act. In total, the program has invested about $231 million in 200 projects across Maine.
“In turn, our farms and small businesses can take their savings and invest them back into their operations and employees so they can grow and thrive,” Mills said.
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