The Yarmouth Town Council on May 15 unanimously passed a resolution backing a climate superfund for Maine, which would financially aid communities impacted by climate change.

A climate superfund collects fees from fossil fuel extractors and crude oil refiners and uses that funding for clean energy projects and rectifying climate change-related damage. Vermont and New York are the only two states to have passed similar laws, though 11 other states, including Maine, are considering creating climate superfunds. Proponents of the bill say it ensures major polluters — not taxpayers — bear the financial burden of climate change.

“We’re lucky. I mean, here we haven’t seen (a) really big impact yet from climate change, but we see that coming,” said Yarmouth Climate Action Board Chair Megan Hellstedt.

The Maine Environment and Natural Resources Committee heard two versions of a climate superfund bill earlier this month, but the committee did not act. The bill likely will be voted on during next year’s legislative session. Meanwhile, the Trump administration and fossil fuel businesses are challenging the states’ rights to impose these fees.

The resolution in Yarmouth voices the town’s support for passing the statewide law. Maya Faulstich, a senior at Yarmouth High School and member of the Yarmouth Climate Action Board, brought the resolution forward.

Involved in climate activism since middle school, Faulstich is co-president of the Environmental Action Club at the high school and served on the Yarmouth Climate Action Task Force that later became the action board. She is also a member of Maine Youth for Climate Justice, a policy-focused grassroots organization that is working with Maine municipalities to pass resolutions in support of the climate superfund. In March, Rockland passed a resolution in support of a Maine climate superfund.

“The point, and what makes it important, is that it shows that it’s really a movement that’s coming from the bottom up and not from the top down,” said Faulstich, 17.

The Yarmouth resolution states that the superfund aligns with the Yarmouth Climate Action Plan. The plan, which the town adopted last April, calls for the town to prepare for climate impacts, as well as efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Hellstedt said due to climate change, the town can expect increased coastal erosion, winter storms, flooding and the need for improved stormwater management.

The winter storms of late 2023 and early 2024 caused $90 million in damage to public infrastructure and an unknown amount of damage to private property across Maine. While towns receive state and federal funding to recover from these damages, a funding gap for this recovery remains, said Hellstedt. Given this gap, a disproportionate amount of costs will fall on municipalities and taxpayers.

“So that’s the idea of a superfund is to do it at the state level, because frankly, every town can’t very easily have its own little climate adaptation fund of millions of dollars,” said Hellstedt.

Faulstich said she believes that supporting a climate superfund will not only materially benefit the town if the bill is passed, but also aligns with the larger mission of the Yarmouth community.

“I think Maine is such a special state because we are so community oriented, especially Yarmouth. I think Yarmouth is so community oriented, and I think one of our favorite things to do as a town is come together for the common good,” said Faulstich.

“I really feel like this is one of those examples where community members and people within the town, and on the Climate Action Board, want this to happen in Maine. So as a town, we’re going to say we support this,” she said.