The spread of homes and workers into the Maine countryside is helping to heat up the planet, according to a new report.
A study of Maine commuting patterns, released Thursday in Portland, shows that residents of some outlying rural towns are putting many miles on their cars and trucks. Those extra miles translate into increased emissions of carbon dioxide, a primary contributor to global warming.
Environmental advocates and regional planners circulated the report, "Driving Global Warming," to urge commuters to carpool, use mass transit or simply drive less.
They also supported state efforts to improve fuel efficiency standards and to encourage Mainers to live nearer to the places where they work and shop.
"The farther away from work you live, the more you contribute to global warming," said Matthew Davis of Environment Maine, one of the report's authors. "We hope this report lets people connect the dots."
Evidence that sprawl is contributing to air pollution, along with other problems, is no surprise. The state's spreading population and development is considered a top threat to its environment and economy.
The report issued Thursday uses U.S. Census data to identify specific commuting trends that its authors hope will influence Mainers' decisions and help policymakers find solutions.
Maine motorists put more than 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air each year, about 20 percent of the state's overall contribution to global warming pollution, the report says. Getting to and from work is the primary reason for travel. And most Maine commuters - 78 percent - do it alone.
Commuter travel, and the pollution it causes, has been growing faster than the population as more people live farther from their jobs, the report says. Miles traveled in Maine grew 56 percent from 1985 to 2002.
The study found that commuters living 30 miles or more from their jobs are creating a disproportionate share of emissions. The average worker living in Naples, for example, produces more than four times as much carbon dioxide pollution - 7,629 pounds - as the average worker living in South Portland - 1,838 pounds, according to the study.
The average Maine worker has a 9-mile commute and puts about 4,000 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air a year. Mainers have become overly reliant on their cars because of inexpensive gasoline and land use and tax policies, said Steven Linnell, senior transportation planner for the Greater Portland Council of Governments.
"It's not sustainable," he said.
Aside from the long-term threats posed by global climate change, pollution from vehicles contributes to asthma and other public health problems where commuters live and work, he said.
"Everybody should drive less," he said.
Linnell said that more resources should go toward public transit, and that survey results show Mainers would use it.
A more immediate solution is carpooling, said Carey Kish, manager of Go Maine, which offers a free commuter connection service at www.gomaine.org. Go Maine participants reduced their travel by millions of miles last year, he said.
The more complex long-term solution, the report's authors agreed, is fighting sprawl and encouraging Mainers to return to urban centers, closer to jobs, stores and mass transit.
Derek Goodwin would love to drive less. He commutes 45 minutes from Sebago to Portland each day in an SUV that gets 18 miles per gallon. The reason is simple economics, he said.
"Basically, it was the cost of housing that sent us out there," he said.
Because of their schedules, he can't carpool with his wife, who commutes to Westbrook, Goodwin said.
Carpooling with someone else would be a problem on days when he has to get home to pick up one of his school-age children. Goodwin said he'd commute by train if the Portland region had the economy and population to support a regular network like Boston's. But he knows that is not a realistic solution.
The cost of housing is the reason Katrina Ritthaler doesn't live in Portland, where she works. But Ritthaler moved only as far out as South Portland, where she and her son live in a rented townhouse.
"The commute for me is so easy." Still, she said, "I'd like to not use a car at all."
Adding Up The Miles
ACCORDING TO THE STUDY "Driving Global Warming":
MAINE MOTORISTS put more than one million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air each year.
THE AVERAGE Maine worker has a 9-mile commute and puts about 4,000 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air each year.
STATEWIDE, 78 percent of all commuters drive alone to work.
COMMUTER TRAVEL has grown faster than Maine's population. Vehicle miles traveled in Maine increased 56 percent from 1985 to 2002.
CARBON DIOXIDE POLLUTION from cars and light trucks in Maine could increase by about 41 percent over 1990 levels by 2020 unless action is taken to reduce emissions.
