AUGUSTA, Maine - New regulations finalized by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency will set a fuel-efficiency standard for cars and light trucks by model year 2025.

They'll have to get just over 54 miles per gallon of gasoline, almost double what they get today.

The administration predicts the move will lower U.S. oil consumption by 12 billion barrels, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, spur job growth in the auto industry and save consumers more than $1.7 trillion at the gas pump.

Lisa Pohlman, executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine spells out the impact here, as calculated by her group and the Union of Concerned Scientists:

"Even after the cost of putting together what you need technologically to make these new cars, there's going to be a net savings of around $600 million."

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has vowed to overturn the fuel-efficiency rules if elected, saying they "hurt domestic automakers and provided a benefit to some of the foreign automakers." The Obama administration says its new measures have the backing of the U.S. auto industry and the United Auto Workers.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says the auto industry has been and will be creating jobs in the effort to reach the 2025 standards.

"I think we know that the American people want more fuel-efficient cars. That's why they're wildly popular right now. And the car manufacturers are responding to that by increasing capacity."

Pohlman says it would be a mistake for a new administration to come in next January and overturn regulations to which the auto industry has agreed.

"They recognize the U.S. jobs that are associated with this, and so I think the labor unions are behind it and the automakers in general are behind it. I would hate to see us turn around in the other direction."

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was asked if other industries - such as coal, oil and gas - might take a cue from Detroit's cooperation. She praised the carmakers.

"They're not trying to make regulations go away. They know that the government can help consumers by saving money at the pump. They want to make sure that cars are on a level playing field. What they've asked for all along is one nationwide standard."

The council estimates the new standards will reduce climate-changing carbon pollution in Maine by 2.4 million metric tons, a 14 percent reduction.


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State officials in Maine are preparing the next generation for climate change-related activism and careers.

A new state-run website helps young Mainers find ways to use their own talents and interests to counter any climate anxiety and work to build the state's climate resilience.

Abigail Hayne is Maine's youth climate engagement coordinator.

"Whether it's taking action just in your community or in your life, or exploring different climate jobs that are specific to Maine," said Hayne, "the youths can just kind of poke around and find something that makes sense to them."

Hayne said the website offers practical, localized ways young people can get active with their town or school as well as Maine's Climate Council, which currently includes a dozen youth representatives.

Maine faces simultaneous challenges. The state is warming faster than the global average and coping with an increase in extreme weather events.

It also has one of the oldest populations in the nation.

Hayne said towns statewide are developing plans to strengthen infrastructure, and the state has a responsibility to make sure young people are well-informed about these climate-related jobs.

"Soon enough, we're going to start seeing younger generations really on the front lines of climate change and community resilience," said Hayne, "and we need to make sure that they are fully prepared when they enter those roles."

More than 170 communities are utilizing state grants to identify the roads, buildings and energy infrastructure that is susceptible to climate change and begin needed upgrades.

Construction, engineering and electrical workers will be in high demand.

Hayne said the website can connect young Mainers with these new work opportunities as well as each other.






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School buses are getting cleaner in Washington state after this year's legislative session.

Lawmakers in Olympia passed House Bill 1368, which will fund the purchase of zero emission school buses.

Rep. Tana Senn, D-Mercer Island, said the program is getting off the ground quickly.

"As we work towards that long-term goal of all new school buses being zero emission, we're kick-starting this year with $40 million in grants to school districts in overburdened communities," Senn explained.

Going forward, Senn noted school districts will have to purchase zero-emission vehicles once the total cost of ownership is equal to or lower than the cost of diesel vehicles. The state is leveraging the state's Climate Commitment Act resources to fund the transition of its 10,000 school buses.

Devin Denney, director of transportation for Highline Public Schools in King County, which already has electric school buses in its fleet, said he has driven the electric buses and talked about some of their benefits from a driver's perspective.

"You're not competing against that engine noise, the kids aren't competing against the engine noise," Denney observed. "It's a much quieter bus all the way around. The major advantage, of course, is that there's no tailpipe emissions with an electric bus, so our kids' health is better protected."

Senn emphasized health studies have shown there are negative health effects from diesel vehicles for kids, and it is easy to understand why.

"If you think about kids waiting to get on their bus in front of an elementary school and you have this line of buses idling, letting out diesel fumes right at the height of a little child, it becomes obvious that this is probably not the most healthy thing for our children," Senn added.


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Today, in honor of Earth Day, climate advocates are asking California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to rally around a plan to put a $15 billion bond measure on the November ballot.

If passed, the bond measure would fund a range of climate resiliency measures.

Sam Hodder, president and CEO of the Save the Redwoods League, said March was the tenth month in a row to break monthly heat records.

"I think Earth Day is a terrific opportunity for the broader public to recognize how nature is critical for resilience, for our quality of life, for our mental and physical health, and for our communities more broadly," Hodder outlined.

Two similar bills to put a bond measure on the ballot are under consideration in Sacramento, Assembly Bill 1567 and Senate Bill 867, but they have been stalled since last summer. The bond would finance many programs, including some to restore wetlands that guard against sea-level rise, and to remove dead wood in forests to guard against mega-fires, which Hodder noted have killed 20% of the giant sequoias in recent years.

Opponents pointed out the state already faces a budget deficit and cannot afford to take on more debt. But only 5% of California's old-growth coastal redwoods remain, mostly due to aggressive logging many decades ago.

Hodder argued the giant trees can be critical ingredients in the fight against climate change because they trap so much carbon.

"Redwood forests sequester more carbon per acre than any other forest system in the world," Hodder emphasized. "We have the opportunity to transition the redwood forest from something that is vulnerable to climate change to something that is helping to solve and address the climate crisis."

Experts blame climate change for California's wild weather over the past few years, which has been marked by extreme drought, devastating fires and flooding rain.