The Environmental Protection Agency is requiring states to assess their carbon budget, which is the difference between the amount of carbon emitted to the atmosphere and the amount of carbon withdrawn from the atmosphere. Carbon is emitted by what is typically referred to as sources and withdrawn by what is typically referred to as sinks. Carbon budgets should itemize both human and natural sources and sinks of carbon. Ideally, a state wants the total amount of carbon withdrawn from the atmosphere to exceed that emitted to the atmosphere.
In 2019, the Maine legislature (MRS 576-A, 2-A) set a goal of zero, or better, net carbon emissions by the year 2045 for Maine. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) is tasked with estimating Maine’s sources and sinks and, again by direction from the legislature, preparing a biennial report on the progress to the zero goal.
Sierra Club Maine tracks the progress toward the zero goal and monitors the methodology of MDEP in its reporting of sources and sinks.
Resources
- EPA inventory of GHG sources and sinks
- Maine Department of Environmental Protection reports on the carbon budget in a biennial report to Maine’s legislature. Here is the ninth (2022) report.
- The University of Maine Center for Research on Sustainable Forests' concise explanation of Maine’s carbon budget