Douglas Rooks has been a Maine editor, columnist and reporter for 40 years. He welcomes comment at [email protected].

At the start of the Mills administration in 2019, Maine seemed poised to be a leader in promoting energy alternatives, replacing the excessive fossil fuel generation we know will bring on catastrophic global warming — however much some deny it — within the lifetimes of many now on the planet.

It hasn’t worked out that way. While the Legislature enthusiastically set climate goals, and keeps raising them, there have been more disappointments than successes.

One incontestable advance is the rapid adoption of heat pumps for homes, with Maine far ahead of most states in replacing oil furnaces — once commonplace — with efficient electric units. One key point is that Gov. Mills’ predecessor, Paul LePage, also liked heat pumps, supporting the generous subsidies Efficiency Maine uses to nudge homeowners to make the investment.

On all other energy matters, LePage’s views resemble President Trump’s, whose opposition to wind, solar and energy storage has been consistent and irrational. Trump is trying to bring back coal plants, of all things, the dirtiest and most hazardous way to generate electricity. Solar and wind have long been cheaper, even displacing natural gas.

Trump has canceled offshore wind leases in New England and tried to prevent operation of turbines ready to go, imposing enormous costs on businesses and consumers and gaining nothing. It seems Trump’s inability to shut down turbine construction off the Scottish coast near one of his golf resorts is something the entire world now has to pay for.

At least this much is clear: Whatever energy policy Trump is espousing, Maine should do the opposite. But what can be done, in the face of massive federal hostility, for at least another year and possibly three?

First, we can acknowledge Maine’s own failures in energy policy, while building on promising initiatives that need to be expanded in the next administration.

The Mills administration’s confidence in plug-in cars was misplaced. Even with significant federal subsidies for all-electric vehicles — canceled by Trump — the response of Maine consumers was tepid, and for good reason.

It turns out vehicle range is still limited enough to deter Mainers, used to long trips, from ditching gas-powered cars, since thousands of charging stations would be needed to provide an effective network. Hybrids have proven a better bet. All-electric vehicles work best in large cities, which is exactly where transportation alternatives absent in Maine are most common.

In retrospect, Mills made a big mistake in spending at least $1 billion in additional Biden administration transportation funding entirely on the highway system, not even investigating greater use of buses, trains, ferries, pedestrian access and ride-sharing. Transportation contributes 50% of greenhouse gases produced in Maine, and there’s no effective strategy to reduce it.

Other states have pursued promising ideas through their tax systems. New York City finally instituted “congestion pricing” for private vehicles entering downtown Manhattan, despite Trump’s vow to shut it down. The additional tolls are used to repair and expand bus and train lines and, if Mayor Mamdani has his way, make buses free.

Hawaii enacted a 14% “tourist tax” on cruise ships — temporarily on hold due to a Trump administration challenge — that’s explicitly designed to combat the ravages of climate disruption. Maine, meanwhile, devotes its entire gasoline tax to highway maintenance, and has kept it at a flat 30 cents throughout the LePage and Mills administrations.

Even the project of “beneficial electrification” of housing, business and industry and transportation is in jeopardy due to rapidly rising electric rates, now reaching a painful threshold for many households. Unlike discontent over consumer prices in general, often more perceived than real, Maine residential rates have shot up nearly 60% in less than a decade.

Candidates campaigning to “reduce electric rates,” as LePage did, should realize it’s going to take a lot of imagination and hard work just to prevent rates from rising further. The Public Utilities Commission’s rejection of a five-year phased rate increase from Central Maine Power was widely applauded, but does nothing to alter the underlying reality that it will take investment, and lots of it, to actually achieve our energy goals.

One welcome step at the end of the Mills administration was creating a Department of Energy Resources with Cabinet status, moving it from the Governor’s Office. While there’s no immediate upgrade in staff or mission, the new department could launch a truly comprehensive energy plan in the next administration.

Next week, I’ll look at some steps Maine can take to moderate prices while increasing the “clean renewable” energy we will have to produce to survive the 21st century.