Environmental groups sue Maine for action on climate

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A youth organization and a pair of environmental groups are suing the state of Maine to try to force the state to reduce carbon emissions in the era of climate change.

Maine Youth Action, the Conservation Law Foundation and the Sierra Club filed their lawsuit on Friday in state court. The lawsuit says the Maine Department of Environmental Protection is under an “existing and ongoing statutory obligation” to reduce emissions and has failed to do so.

The lawsuit harkens back to a similar effort in Montana in which young environmentalists sued state officials for failing to do enough to protect them from climate change. Those activists scored a victory in August.

The Maine lawsuit says the state must enact new rules that cut emissions for cars and trucks to make good on promises made by the Maine Legislature.

“Our generation will inherit a state overwhelmed by carbon emissions and climate change – with damage to the environment, to marine life, and to our own health – if we can’t start making these changes now,” said Cole Cochrane, policy director of Maine Youth Action.