By Sen. Matt Harrington

We usually focus on matters happening in our state, but some recent news out of our nation’s capital is just as concerning for Mainers. It seems the Biden Administration wants to appease the environmental extremists. Unfortunately, it’s Maine’s residents who bear the brunt of these far-left progressive ideas.

Hello, this is Senator Matt Harrington of York County; and I’m joining you for this week’s Republican Radio Address to talk about an important topic affecting us all – energy. Over the past couple of years, you’ve heard me, our Senate Leader Trey Stewart and others talk about the energy situation here in Maine. Why? Our power is expensive; and with the way things are going in both Augusta and Washington, D.C., I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse.

Let me explain. First, we’re a rural state where trees cover 90% of it. We’re also a cold state that drops well below zero in the winter. And if you think about it, we’re a darker state that ranks near dead last for the average amount of sunlight we get each year.

Now, I don’t offer this to depress you by any means. It simply describes the beautiful place we choose to call home.

But to live in a state like Maine, you need to have a few tools in the toolbox. Depending upon where you live, you may have access to natural gas as a heating source. If not, you many use propane, wood or fuel oil.

In some cases, people have electric baseboard heat, although that is rather inefficient and relatively expensive to use. Regardless of what it is, however, you use some type of energy source that is readily available.

But what happens when a government decides it doesn’t like something and wants to get rid of it by tipping the scales and restricting it? Sounds like the totalitarian state right out of George Orwell’s book “1984,” doesn’t it?

Well, gas stove owners beware – we’re seeing that dystopian future play out right before our very eyes.

The Biden Administration decided a couple of weeks ago that they just don’t like natural gas anymore. Forget the economic consequences. Forget our national security. President Biden ordered his Energy Department to halt all liquefied natural gas projects because he felt like addressing the “urgency of the climate crisis.”

Now, cities like New York, Chicago and Berkeley, California, have been trying to ban natural gas outright. And last month, Maine joined a growing list of liberal states like Washington in trying to ban new natural gas lines and projects altogether. As some mentioned during a public hearing on LD 2077, this is outright dangerous for our economy and limits the options of those who may want to switch from oil.

Speaking of oil – and now even wood – Biden thought he would double down this week by limiting states’ particulate emissions, or soot, to such a level that even a wildfire or dusty windstorm would make a state noncompliant.

That’s right. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 569 of the nation’s 3,143 counties are already out of compliance with this new rule. Wood stoves, fireplaces and fuel oil burners commonly used in Maine are clearly public enemy number one. And rural towns like Lebanon and Waterboro and counties like Piscataquis and Aroostook must already be in the federal government’s crosshairs.

Look, this march toward tyranny and totalitarian rule is happening. It’s happening now and it’s happening fast. Climate extremists have declared an all-out war against everyone else in America and are using a scorched-Earth policy to accomplish their goal.

What is their goal? Well, that’s just it – it can’t be articulated. When it can be, the goalposts always seem to shift.

This brings me to the Advanced Clean Cars II electric vehicle mandate currently being considered by the Maine Board of Environmental Protection. It would require that 51% of all new vehicle sales to be electric vehicles beginning in 2027 for the 2028 model year. The board is set to vote on the mandate at its March 20 meeting.

In the last round of public comments, the Board received 500 responses from the public with 100 for the mandate and 400 against it. You heard that right – 80% of Mainers were against it. They asked the public again for their opinions in a new round that just closed on Monday.

Well, they received 1,700 of them; and I can’t wait to see what Mainers have to say.

Again, this is Senator Matt Harrington of York County. I thank you for listening and hope you have a great weekend.

Senator Matthew Harrington represents the communities of District 33, which includes four communities in York County. He is the Senate Republican Lead for the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee and the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee.