Maine Democrat Governor’s Climate Council Recommends Paying Disadvantaged People to Attend Its Meetings
June 8, 2022 | Maine
The Equity Subcommittee of Maine Governor Janet Mills’ (D) Climate Council is recommending a plan to pay “disadvantaged” and “overburdened” state residents to attend its meetings because, according to its ideology, victims of systemic discrimination suffer greater impact from climate change than average Maine residents.
The Equity Subcommittee’s report, released in February, claims that some individuals in Maine, particularly those who are victims of “historical and systemic discrimination, underrepresentation, and isolation” are “more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than others.”
According to the report:
Low-income populations, people of color and indigenous communities, rural and geographically isolated communities, and other marginalized or disadvantaged Mainers face the “first and worst” impacts from climate change and may be least able to adapt.
The subcommittee later describes “other marginalized or disadvantaged Mainers” as “older adults, LGBTQ+ people, differently abled populations, immigrants, seasonal workers.”
“Equitable climate action, then, requires the thoughtful distribution of climate benefits and mitigation of climate burdens, so that policy intended to help does not instead cause further marginalization and harm,” the Equity Subcommittee states.
“Essential to delivering these equitable outcomes is participation,” the report reads. “To understand the needs of Maine’s impacted and frontline communities, these very same communities must have a role in creating the plans and policies that will affect their current and future well-being.”
To encourage more lower-income and minority Mainers to attend climate meetings, the Equity Subcommittee believes the government “must partner with disadvantaged communities” and correct the “uneven playing field” in order to “advance climate goals and contribute to righting historical and ongoing manifestations of social inequity.”.. (Excerpt from the Virginia Star)
