Maine is considering California-style incentives to encourage electric vehicle sales

Maine environmental regulators are set to decide next week whether the state should join others in adopting California-style regulations to drastically limit the sale of new gas-powered vehicles. Supporters say the proposal before the Board of Environmental Protection on Dec. 21 simply accelerates the adoption of electric vehicles, which is already happening, and that delaying a decision would push back the standards by a year. If approved, the standards would go into effect for 2027 vehicles and would eventually require 82% of new vehicles sold to be considered zero emissions by the 2032 model year, said Jeff Crawford, director of the Bureau of Air Quality for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.