Conservation Law Foundation, Sierra Club, and Maine Youth Action filed a lawsuit in Maine Superior Court seeking to compel the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Board of Environmental Protection to adopt regulations to ensure compliance with Maine’s 2019 climate law, which requires reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 45% below the 1990 level by 2030 and by at least 80% by 2050. The petitioners alleged that the defendants had adopted only two rules to implement the climate law’s requirements and no rules aimed at transportation emissions, which comprise 54% of emissions. The petitioners further alleged that the Board had rejected three transportation decarbonization rules, including the Advanced Clean Cars II Program, a rule promulgated by the California Air Resources Board that the Maine Governor’s Energy Office called “critically important” in a clean transportation roadmap published in December 2021. The Board voted not to adopt the Advanced Clean Cars II rule on March 20, 2024. The petitioners asked the court to declare that the defendants were “under an existing and ongoing statutory obligation … to adopt rules ensuring compliance with the climate mandates” and to adopt rules that are consistent with Maine’s 2020 climate action plan and that “prioritize emissions from the sectors that are the greatest contributors.” The petitioners also sought a declaration that the failure to adopt the Advanced Clean Cars II rule was arbitrary and capricious and an abuse of discretion, as well as unlawful under the 2019 climate law. In addition, they asked the court to order the Board to adopt rules ensuring compliance with the 2019 climate law’s mandates and to adopt, by November 1, 2024, the Advanced Clean Cars II rule, or an alternative rule to reduce transportation emissions.

Lawsuit to compel the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to adopt climate change regulations, including California's Advanced Clean Cars II rule.

Conservation Law Foundation v. Maine Department of Environmental Protection

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Environmental Groups Asked Maine Court to Require State Agency to Adopt Rules to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

Actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience of societies and the economy to climate change.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Replacing technologies that burn fossil fuels directly with alternatives powered by electricity.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

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This sector involves the distribution, treatment, and conservation of water resources.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Environmental Groups Asked Maine Court to Require State Agency to Adopt Rules to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance