Maine Legislature Enacts Bill to Document Harm Caused to Communities from Climate Change

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LD 1870 was enacted by both the Maine House and Senate. It is with the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, awaiting a funding decision

April 7, 2026 (Augusta, ME) - Late yesterday, the Maine Senate voted to enact LD 1870: Resolve, to Assess the Total Cost to the State of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. This bill is now with the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, where it awaits a funding decision on its $600,000 fiscal note.

The most significant piece of climate legislation before the Maine Legislature this year, LD 1870 will create the first-ever comprehensive study to assess and document the financial damage climate change has inflicted on Maine. This includes the costs and impacts associated with climate change and extreme weather on our public infrastructure, natural resources, agriculture, economic development, and more.

"This is a prudent and fiscally responsible first step to address the varied and myriad damages climate change has done to Maine," said Senator Stacy Brenner of Scarborough. "In order to fully address the impacts of climate change and hold the parties responsible to account, it is critical we have a full picture of the costs to Maine."

Next year, the Legislature will work to pass a bill to hold the world's largest oil and gas companies financially responsible for the damage done to Maine by climate change based on their share of emissions. Financial compensation will be reinvested in climate resilience and adaptation projects in Maine communities. Responsible parties must meet a minimum threshold of 1,000,000,000 metric tons of covered greenhouse gas emissions during a 30-year period. Local oil and gas companies would not be affected. Maine residents and taxpayers would stand to recoup millions of dollars in disaster relief funding, storm recovery costs, and more.

"We watched in horror as the violent and horrific storms of winter 2023-2024 battered homes, ravaged miles of coastline, and flooded communities," said Sarah Woodbury, Legislative Director for Maine Conservation Voters. "LD 1870 is the first step we can take as a state to right this egregious wrong and hold the fossil fuel companies accountable for the damage they've done to our state."

The winter storms of 2023-2024 cost the state an estimated $90 million in damages to public infrastructure alone. Droughts and other extreme weather events have cost the state untold more. While this bill only directs the state to conduct a study, the intended and proceeding superfund legislation is based on solid legal precedent, which underpins existing superfund laws as well as legal settlements and lawsuits against opioid and tobacco companies.

"Maine taxpayers shouldn't continue to foot the bill for damage done to our local communities while the world's largest polluters make record profits," said Josh Caldwell, Climate & Clean Energy Policy Advocate at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. "The Legislature must pass and fund this bill - the most significant climate legislation this year - and send it to the Governor's desk."

"A legal principle that is taught not just in the law schools, but in the sandbox is: if you make a mess, you have to clean it up," said Sean Mahoney, Vice President of the Conservation Law Foundation in Maine. "This bill would be the first step in ensuring that those who have contributed to the mess associated with severe storms, rising sea levels, and drought are responsible for cleaning that mess up."

Mainers of different backgrounds, ages, and political stripes have come together to voice their support for this bill and work to advance it in the Legislature. Nearly 100 people from across the state gathered in Augusta earlier this year to rally in support of this bill, and three Maine towns - Bath, Rockland, and Yarmouth - have passed municipal resolutions to signal their formal support for the legislation.

"A broad and diverse coalition has formed around this bill to advance its passage in the Maine Legislature," said Jackson Chadwick, Advocacy Director at Maine Youth for Climate Justice. "Young people, long-time Mainers, municipal leaders, impacted residents, lawmakers, and business leaders alike have come out in strong support of this legislation to assess and document the impacts of climate change on Maine."