Despite the Trump administration's apparent push to dismantle the federal government and strip public funding, many awards to implement Maine's climate and clean energy goals are intact.
Heads of state departments handling multimillion-dollar federal grants said they were still able to access funds and were moving programs forward, during a Maine Climate Council meeting March 28.
"We are still accessing federal funds, we are still implementing federal funding programs and many of the laws passed in the last four to six years remain in effect," said council co-chair Hannah Pingree.
Maine received hundreds of millions of dollars for clean energy and climate programs through the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that passed under President Joe Biden.
They included major awards such as a $69 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to prepare communities for storms and flooding likely as the climate warms.
Other big-ticket items included sharing a $450 million grant with New England states to boost heat pump installations, $147 million for advanced energy storage in Lincoln and other substantial grants.
Many feared the funding would be eliminated after the Trump administration ordered a pause and review of the programs during the president's first days in office.
Federal agencies are not honoring all awards made during the Biden era. A $32 million climate-smart forestry program involving Maine landowners remains frozen. And Efficiency Maine recently joined a lawsuit to make the Department of Environmental Protection release $25 million to support home energy efficiency loans. Farmers have also demanded federal government reimbursement for clean energy and other projects.
But despite early confusion and uncertainty, much of the funding appears stable, according to leadership at Maine departments.
"We’re not implementing easily or simply in these times, but a lot of people think all these grants have been cancelled and that is not the case and these programs from weatherization to heat pump installation are happening," Pingree said.
But with ongoing changes from the administration in Washington D.C., the future of these programs is still unclear.
Amanda Beal, commissioner of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation, said the funding streams it was worried about are "unsticking."
"I think our bigger concern at this point is what happens in the future with some of these conservation, forestry and even agriculture programs that we feel are important for meeting our climate goals," Beal said.
