State Representative Brian Hubbell: Maine House District 135, 2012-2020
Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, and Lamoine
1 January 2020
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Before I return full-time next week to the Legislature’s second session, I want to recap my goals for this winter and spring.
I intend to follow through with some of the successful work of the first session, specifically related to preparing to triple the state’s renewable energy generating …
Exemplified by Vaughan Woodruff and Insource Renewables, this is why Maine’s future is bright as we step away from an economy that expends $6 billion annually on imported fossil fuels and replace it with locally-built systems of distributed renewable generation.
Transitioning to a zero-carbon energy system essentially requires displacing current expenditures on fossil fuels with capital spending on new renewable energy generation and distribution.
A presentation given yesterday by economist Richard Silkman to the Maine Climate Council’s Energy Working Group, shows how this transition can be accomplished by 2050 within Maine’s current energy spending …
Keying all the way back to the initiative for this that the legislature included in the state budget, this plan has been well stewarded by Commissioner Johnson in partnership with an excellent group of dedicated individuals from business and academic institutions.
Continuing evidence that state spending in Maine remains at responsible levels and that the two-year budget that we enacted in June was prudent.
The table and graph above shows how state spending has decreased over the past 20 years as a percentage of personal income. (Personal income correlates closely with the state’s Gross Domestic Product …
As a member of Maine’s Economic Growth Council, I am looking forward to this report and eager to support this plan in the upcoming legislative session.
I worked to ensure that the state budget included language giving specific direction to the development of this plan.
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Marked the installation of a large array solar panels at The Blaine House on an auspiciously bright sunny afternoon yesterday.
Here — joined by my colleagues, Speaker Sara Gideon, Seth Berry, Stanley Paige Zeigler, Vicki Wenzel Doudera, and Hannah Pingree — Governor Janet Mills is signing an executive order directing state agencies to develop plan …
Especially in the absence of federal leadership, states must be able to regulate carbon emissions. I am glad that Maine is a partner in this effort.
Here are my remarks from today’s press conference on immigration reform to mark today’s Supreme Court hearing on DACA and immigration legislation that is now stalled in the US Senate:
As in many other parts of the state, businesses in my district face increasingly acute challenges to find employees. These challenges are frequently exacerbated by …
These, I think, are the three most critical graphics from Tuesday’s program on climate policy, the most recent of MIT’s climate change symposia.
Very cool to get to see the unveiling of this enormous new 3D printing machine today at the University of Maine — the result of a great public/private partnership between UMaine, The Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Ingersoll Rand.
To explain why I am committed to immediate work through the Maine Climate Council, here outlined from this week’s symposium at MIT, are the foundational reasons prompting us collectively towards direct action.
Great launch of the Maine Climate Council yesterday by the Governor’s policy leaders
I know first-hand that the science advisory group is eager to begin this work in the next weeks.
This morning I’m psyched to join youth leader Ania Wright and my neighbor Ken Colburn at the inaugural meeting of the Maine Climate Council to which I am appointed as legislative representative to the Scientific and Technical working group.
Along with several others on the Council and its working groups, I am just stepping …
“…Maine won’t wait. Will you?”
Thank you, Governor Janet Mills!
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“…the existential question that is before us is: When is the prospect of imminent disaster sufficient to drive collective change? At what point are we moved to real action?
“From where I sit in the arena of public policy making, I want to report to you — with some confidence — that moment is right …
Youth voices are moving climate and energy policy — both regionally by example and statewide through effective advocacy. This is how change happens.
“…Students have been active in social and political causes before.
“But their recent level of engagement in the issue of climate change is something special, state Rep. Brian Hubbell, said at the celebration of the completion of the solar energy project at Mount Desert Island High School last Wednesday.
“This feels different … to have …
On Friday, my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee and I got to visit this program outside of Stratton, talk with the students, and observe their remarkable skills with mechanized logging operations.
The relatively modest state investment in this partnership between the Maine Community College System and the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine appears to be …
These rebates are an important early step in support of beneficial electrification of transportation which is key to reducing Maine’s importation and consumption of fossil fuels and building capacity for economic development through in-state renewable energy generation.
Thank you Governor Janet Mills for leading early with this program. I’m looking forward to greater legislative partnership …
“…This is what leaves me with great optimism about our ability, collectively, to advocate from community and as a result move good policy on hard issues in a way that improves our prospects for the future.”
Maine’s biennial budget requires bipartisan agreement and collaboration between both the legislative and executive branches. As a result, neither branch nor either party deserves all the credit during good times or all the blame in bad times.
But, through any lens, here is the evidence that state spending remains prudently within sustainable revenues:
One year …
To endure, democracy requires public confidence in voting systems and election results.
Given yesterday’s troubling report from the US Senate Intelligence Committee, I am especially gratified that, as a result of legislation that I worked on this session with the League of Women Voters of Maine and the Democracy Partnership, Maine’s own state elections …
Certainly there remains much to work on in the second session. But, beyond the many accomplishments within the biennial budget, I am greatly satisfied with the progress made this year on my own priorities related to renewable energy, climate emissions reductions, and strategic economic planning for increased research and development.
I look forward to further …
Along with renewing the state’s commitment to off-shore wind, this is how Maine will accomplish our substantial ten-year and thirty-year goals for reducing carbon emissions.
Good work all around this legislative session. This will be good for Maine’s economy.
Bills to energize renewable-power development in Maine go to governor, Press Herald, 19 June 2019…
…signed by the Governor
June 14, 2019
Maine Legislature Passes Strong, Bipartisan Two-Year Budget
AUGUSTA – The Maine House and Senate voted today to pass the bipartisan budget agreement reached by the Appropriations Committee, sending the budget to Governor’s desk to be signed into law. The vote was 104-38 in the House and 25-9 in the Senate in favor …
I’m proud of the collaborative effort that this budget represents. Building on four weeks of public hearings, my colleagues on the Appropriations committee from both parties worked diligently and in good faith, line by line, for nearly five months. Throughout we benefited from bipartisan recommendations from each legislative policy committee and we received enormous cooperation …
“…It is important to appreciate that lawmakers and the governor worked on building a two-year budget in a collegial, cooperative way. There were no public ultimatums, no threats of a government shutdown. Of course, not everyone got what they wanted. …But, the budget — and its bipartisan support in the Appropriations Committee — signals a …
“…The line is projected to reduce New England’s carbon footprint by around 3 million metric tons a year, which is the equivalent of removing 700,000 cars from the road.
“…Opposing the line in both Massachusetts and Maine regulatory proceedings is NextEra Energy Resources, the world’s largest producer of solar and wind energy, which also has …
“Our state has abundant potential from wind, biomass, solar and hydropower,” Hubbell said, “but until now we have lacked a comprehensive vision for sustainable energy development. With a thoughtful, long-term plan, we can pursue energy independence, community resilience and economic prosperity for Maine.”
May 17, 2019
AUGUSTA – A bill from Rep. Brian Hubbell, D-Bar Harbor, putting Maine on a path to triple in-state renewable energy generation by 2030 is now law.
“Maine’s economic prosperity over the next generation hinges on sound energy planning within the next few years,” said Hubbell. Our state has abundant potential from wind, …
Bright part of Maine’s economic future right here:
MDI lab receives $18 million grant for biomedical research and training, Press Herald, 16 May 2019…
I am proud and honored to cosponsor Governor Mills’ comprehensive bill for climate mitigation, adaptation, and carbon emissions reductions. This bill will update the state’s Climate Action Plan which I helped establish in 2004 and which has languished in the last decade.
The bill stipulates that, by 2030, the State shall reduce gross annual …
I’m grateful for Governor Janet T. Mills’ leadership and Hannah Pingree’s hard work and dedication in moving forward this comprehensive initiative for emissions reduction, climate action, and energy policy. I look forward to continuing to work with this administration to effect real change and economic benefit for Maine.
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The Governor and her staff outline a solid plan here and I look forward to working with it. My bill LD 658, which plans to triple Maine’s renewable energy capacity by 2030, will aid the effort.
The Great Perpendicularity approaching the portrait of George Washington
Being part of the solution:
MDI High School to have more than 1,300 solar panels installed on roof, Bangor Daily News, 17 Mar 2019
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Demanding real solutions.
So far, so good. This is the first real appropriations milestone for this session.
Gov. Mills Signs $7.5 Million Spending Plan, Maine Public, 14 Mar 2019…
Clarification about the percentage annualized increases in appropriations that are proposed by the Governor’s budget.
Maine can do this. We have the resources, capacity, and technology for an economy that is built on renewable energy. We just need a plan with measurable goals. I’m optimistic that we will get there.
As we start four weeks of public hearings today, here is an overview and outline of budget-related information which I will maintain:
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“…As a first step, this plan can make an inventory of resources and evaluate the relative returns on investment in each available sector of renewable energy — including returns from conservation and efficiency — and then scale and sum those components by cost-effectiveness into one feasible comprehensive strategy which, in total, is capable of offsetting …
Maine’s energy systems place our state today at a critical decision point.
On one hand, inaction and inertia leads to grave economic disruptions from a sharply changing climate.
On the other, an expansion of renewable energy offers real economic opportunity.
Technological innovations are propelling neighboring states and provinces to capitalize on the promise and …