The rollout of potential regulations to drastically cut gas-powered vehicle sales in Maine was pushed back by a year because environmental regulators had to delay a key vote after a storm caused widespread power outages.
The Board of Environmental Protection postponed its Dec. 21 vote and won’t reconvene before year’s end. The delay means the proposed rules must be amended to go into effect for vehicles in the 2028 model year instead of the 2027 model year, and also reopened for public comment, said Jeff Crawford, director of the Bureau of Air Quality for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
The original proposal would eventually require 82% of new vehicles sold to be considered zero emissions by the 2032 model year. A dozen states have already signed onto California’s standards for boosting electric vehicle sales and reducing traditional vehicle sales to meet climate goals.
Critics of the environmental regulations were happy to get a second chance to weigh in. Additional public comments are allowed through Feb. 5.
House Republican Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, an opponent of the proposed regulations, said widespread power outages would've made it difficult to charge electric cars, underscoring the need to reconsider the proposal.
If proponents insist on looking to California for modeling policies, “the next step is to outlaw chainsaws and generators,” he said.
But the Natural Resources Council of Maine, which supports the new rules, noted that climate change likely contributed to the storm and "should serve as a stark reminder that protecting Maine people and Maine’s environment requires decisive action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
The proposal followed an unorthodox path using a process by which any Maine resident can submit an agenda item with 150 signatures of registered voters.
That process has been used a handful of times over the years with the Board of Environmental Protection, a citizen board appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
