I think the weight of four years of stress came out in that long exhale, and I felt a resurgence of hope seeing the flurry of executive orders come in that same day, many of which were eco-focused.
The Maine Climate Council has worked vigorously over the past year and a half to create a blueprint to reduce the carbon footprint in our home state, and this was presented to the governor in December 2020.
It is actually an “accelerator program.” There is no teller, ATM, or vault, but there is a loan agent, of sorts.
A green bank can help by nudging the homeowner over the hurdle by providing financing directly or by guaranteeing a standard loan through a private bank or credit union.
In fact, green banking leverages private equity to compound investments! For example, according to David Gibson who works for ReVision Energy, the Connecticut Green Bank has used $270 million in public funding over the last decade to finance $2 billion worth of climate-solution projects.
By utilizing green banking, we can bring the economy of scale to a point where it is economical to install green projects for almost anyone, regardless of income; an important step in solving climate change in an equitable way.
Roughly $27 billion has been earmarked at the federal level and will be dispersed to each state, resulting in hundreds of millions coming to Maine to be re-invested into communities, and the economy generally, for green projects.
Legislation to establish a Maine Green Bank, LD 1659, was recently printed and will be considered by the Maine Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee in the coming days.