{"id":1420894,"date":"2022-04-05T21:14:59","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T01:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1420894"},"modified":"2022-04-05T21:15:02","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T01:15:02","slug":"maine-democrat-gov-janet-mills-urges-electric-vehicles-as-solution-to-high-gas-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maine-democrat-gov-janet-mills-urges-electric-vehicles-as-solution-to-high-gas-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"Maine Democrat Gov. Janet Mills Urges Electric Vehicles as Solution to High Gas Prices"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmaine-democrat-gov-janet-mills-urges-electric-vehicles-as-solution-to-high-gas-prices%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1420894&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) offered electric vehicles as a solution to Mainers\u2019 increased energy costs during a recent discussion with a Northeastern University technology center in Portland.<\/p>\n<p>A host read questions to Mills during the March 30 discussion, and on one related to energy costs, which the host noted were \u201ctop of mind for many,\u201d she asked Mills, \u201cWhat do you see as the best short-term solution, and then maybe some of the longer-term ideas that you and the administration have?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Watch:<\/strong><\/p>\n[embedded content]\n<p>In terms of fuel costs, Mills first responded, \u201cNot much I can do about gas prices and oil prices nationally and internationally. I can\u2019t stop the Russians from invading Ukraine, either. But my thinking, our thinking, right now is to get cash back into the pockets of Maine people as quickly as possible. Some of them will need that for gas. Some of them will need it for heating oil.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Mills was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/governor\/mills\/news\/amid-high-costs-governor-mills-proposes-increasing-direct-relief-maine-people-2022-03-18\">alluding<\/a> to her recent\u00a0proposal\u00a0to use a portion of the state\u2019s budget surplus to distribute one-time payments of $850 to eligible Maine taxpayers \u201cin the face of record high inflation and rising oil and gas prices caused by Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Maine Democrat has continued to point to the one-time payment proposal as one solution to high gas prices, while some Republicans, including former Gov.\u00a0<a title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/03\/09\/paul-lepage-calls-maines-democrat-governor-cut-gas-tax-need-relief\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul LePage<\/a>\u00a0(R) \u2014 who is challenging Mills in this year\u2019s gubernatorial race \u2014 and state Rep.\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.laurellibby.com\/petition-suspend-the-gas-tax\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Laurel Libby<\/a>\u00a0(R), have called for the Mills administration to temporarily suspend the state\u2019s fuel tax like several other states have done.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Mills has continued to cite the Russia-Ukraine conflict as the reason for high gas prices when, in reality, gas prices were on the\u00a0rise\u00a0months before February 24, when Russia launched its military attack on Ukraine, and had\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/dnav\/pet\/hist\/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&#038;s=emm_epm0_pte_nus_dpg&#038;f=w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reached<\/a>\u00a0an eight-year high just prior to that date, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.<\/p>\n<p>Mills then turned to electric vehicles during the discussion, saying, \u201cSo trying to ween people off of heating oil, trying to encourage electric vehicles, use of electric vehicles. We\u2019ve actually got about 6,000 now in the state of Maine. That\u2019s low, but that\u2019s a lot higher than it was three years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mills pointed to Efficiency Maine Trust, which\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.efficiencymaine.com\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">manages<\/a>\u00a0programs designed to reduce carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency, as an aid in giving out rebates for electric vehicles and noted the state is also seeking to install more vehicle charging stations.<\/p>\n<p>Efficiency Maine Trust gives a rebate of $1,000 or $2,000 per vehicle sale, or a rebate of up to $5,500 for low-income customers, a small fraction of the average upfront cost of an electric vehicle, which Kelley Blue Book\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/eight-straight-new-vehicle-prices-mark-another-record-high-in-november-2021-according-to-kelley-blue-book-301442015.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">estimated<\/a>\u00a0as of November 2021 to be $56,437. Several other factors play into weighing the cost of electric versus gas-powered vehicles, including federal tax credits, the cost of gas compared to the cost of charging, as well as maintenance costs.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the typically hefty upfront electric vehicle costs and the pros and cons of the recurring costs, Mills\u2019 encouragement of abandoning gas-powered vehicles may not resonate with some Mainers strictly for climate reasons. Electric vehicles\u2019 charging capacity is drastically\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.aaa.com\/2019\/02\/cold-weather-reduces-electric-vehicle-range\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reduced<\/a>\u00a0in cold weather, which may be a purchasing deterrent for those residing in one of the\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/worldpopulationreview.com\/state-rankings\/coldest-states\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">coldest<\/a>\u00a0states in the nation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLook, we\u2019re seeing electric pickup trucks come in the market. I\u2019m there,\u201d Mills said. \u201cIt\u2019s a long-term issue, but every day we talk about energy prices and electricity prices, what can we do, what more can we do to bring that down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Write to Ashley Oliver at <a href=\"mailto:aoliver@breitbart.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">aoliver@breitbart.com<\/a>. Follow her on Twitter at <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/asholiver\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@asholiver<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) offered electric vehicles as a solution to Mainers\u2019 increased energy costs during a recent discussion with a Northeastern University technology center in Portland. A host<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1420894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1420894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1420894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1420894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1420894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}