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Maine officials brief Transportation Committee on Climate Action Plan, warn storms are damaging roads
Summary
Hannah Pingree and Joyce Taylor told the Legislature’s Transportation Committee that Maine’s Climate Action Plan and Infrastructure, Rebuilding, and Resilience Commission identify storm-driven damage to roads and working waterfronts, citing a Dec. 18 precipitation event and early January storms that affected riverfront and coastal communities.
Hannah Pingree, director of the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future and co-chair of the Maine Climate Council, and Joyce Taylor, chief engineer at the Maine Department of Transportation (Maine DOT), told the Legislature’s Transportation Committee that Maine’s transportation infrastructure is being affected by increasing storm events, warmer temperatures and rising sea levels.
Pingree told committee members the presenters would “try to provide a brief background of the state's new Climate Action Plan, as well as the Infrastructure, Rebuilding, and Resilience Commission,” and said those reports overlap with the committee’s work. She said the presentation would focus on the transportation sections and that copies of both reports and slide materials had been provided to lawmakers.
“Throughout this presentation … [you will hear] how important our transportation infrastructure is to the state, that it is being impacted by increasing storm events,” Pingree said. Joyce Taylor noted her role at Maine DOT and explained she had been asked to “shepherd some of the … climate work that involved transportation” after taking on commissioner responsibilities.
The presenters cited recent extreme weather events as examples of the risks the plans address. Pingree and Taylor pointed to a Dec. 18 precipitation event and to storms in early January that produced roadway and waterfront damage in parts of western and inland Maine and to coastal working waterfronts. Towns and counties named in the briefing included Skowhegan, Hallowell, Gardner, Farmington, Somerset County, Franklin County and Piscataquis County; Pingree described images from Maine DOT showing damaged roadways and waterfront impacts.
Pingree told the committee that Maine is seeing warmer temperatures, more precipitation, shorter winters and rising sea levels, and that these trends are already affecting transportation assets. The presenters emphasized the particular vulnerability of smaller towns and riverfront communities that faced recent flooding and roadway washouts.
Committee members were offered an opportunity to ask questions; Pingree and Taylor said they were available to provide additional detail and answer follow-up requests. No formal committee action on the plans was recorded in the provided transcript excerpt.
Looking ahead, Pingree and Taylor said staff would be ready to provide more detailed briefings on specific recommendations in the Climate Action Plan and the Infrastructure, Rebuilding, and Resilience Commission report, especially the transportation-focused recommendations cited during the session.
