Maine Public, WABI highlight UMaine faculty developing new resource for energy transitions in underserved communities

Maine Public and WABI (Channel 5) reported on the Environmental Protection Agency awarding $1.125 million to Sharon Klein and Caroline Noblet, both University of Maine associate professors of economics, to develop a new resource for addressing the drivers and environmental impacts of energy transitions in underserved and Tribal communities. They will engage with indigenous, rural and low-income communities in Maine to understand the role of statewide Local Energy Action Networks (LEANs) in supporting and advancing renewable energy and energy efficiency adoption. “A lot of what the EPA grant is focused on is how are LEANS, in Maine and other states, helping underserved communities get the support they need to do the local energy action they want to do for themselves,” Klein told Maine Public.