Any common-sense discussion of climate change can’t leave out biofuels.
Look around you, pretty much everything in your home and workplace was brought to you by medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Trucks are the lifeblood of the economy.
Maine has an ambitious goal of going from 5,000 light-duty electric vehicles on Maine roads today to 219,000 light duty EVs by 2030. There are more than 50 light-duty EV models you can buy right now, but good luck finding an EV truck.
If the average truck lasts 15 years and everyone can’t buy an EV tomorrow, then to ignore the proven benefits of biofuels is just not taking climate action seriously.
The bulk of California’s successful transportation sector greenhouse-gas reductions is from the use of biofuels, beating the benefits of electrified cars, trucks and buses by 3:1. All diesel engines can operate on biodiesel blends or 100 percent renewable diesel. These fuels can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by at least 50 percent, or upwards of 80 percent for renewable diesel fuel. But good luck finding serious discussion of biofuels in the Maine Climate Council Transportation Working Group’s meeting minutes.
It would be a serious sin of omission (and emission) if biofuels aren’t recognized for their proven positive impacts in Maine’s new Clean Transportation Roadmap. The Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future is looking for public comment on the Roadmap, and I’m going to ask them to look at ways to incentivize greener choices and lower-carbon options like biofuels without putting excessive financial burdens on Maine families and businesses. I hope you will join me in asking for common sense and following the science.
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