By Abigail Curtis, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story Shlomit Auciello of Rockland hasn’t bought plastic wrap, or new Tupperware-style plastic containers, in decades. She avoids using microfiber fleece and washes plastic bags to reuse them again and again. She knows that makes her a bit quirky by modern American standards, but she hopes Read More
Road Signs in the Works as Katahdin Woods and Waters’ Anniversary Approaches
David Sharp, The Associated Press Bangor Daily News news story At long last, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument will soon have highway signs directing motorists to the federal recreation area, which boasts hiking, canoeing and camping, along with stunning views of Maine’s tallest mountain, Katahdin. The road signs won’t be installed before the monument’s Read More
My Maine This Week: Paul Johnson
“Lady’s Slippers were mentioned in your June enewsletter. They are quite common in northern Maine, especially the white ones. Pink ones are growing in my backyard in Oakland, where the threat to them is not picking by humans but eating by either squirrels, chipmunks, or deer, or maybe all three. Haven’t observed the violator(s) yet.” Photos taken Read More
Decades of Chemical Pollution Suspected in Maine’s Seal Die-off
With their immune systems compromised by toxins such as PCBs, the Gulf of Maine marine mammals are susceptible to disease. By Peter McGuire, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story As the number of dead and stranded seals washing up on southern Maine beaches rises by the day, researchers are linking the sudden die-off to Read More
Quebec Hydro Isn’t a Good Fit for Mass.
We need closer-to-home renewables that actually reduce emissions by Deb Pasternak, interim chapter director, Massachusetts Sierra Club Commonwealth Magazine op-ed Massachusetts electric distribution companies submitted long-term hydro electricity supply contracts to the Department of Public Utilities for review recently. The Massachusetts Sierra Club believes strongly that these contracts are not the right way to get Read More
Maine Environmental Group Opposes Mass. Energy Transmission Project
by State House News Service Worcester Business Journal news story An environmental nonprofit from Maine was expected to oppose contracts between Massachusetts utility companies and Central Maine Power related to the 140-mile New England Clean Energy Connect transmission project at a hearing Wednesday. The Natural Resources Council of Maine says the NECEC project, which would Read More
Ignoring Climate Change Puts Mainers in Danger
Politics has stifled research that would have helped the state prepare for a warming planet. Central Maine Newspapers editorial Policy driven by research works better than science driven by politics. Witness Maine, which experienced a historic explosion in its tick population, and not coincidentally, a 20-fold increase in Lyme disease diagnoses between 2000 and 2016 Read More
My Maine This Week: Elizabeth Skidmore
This week’s beautiful My Maine This Week photos were taken in and around Bremen, Maine, by Elizabeth Skidmore of Roxbury, Massachusetts. Elizabeth says, “I feel so lucky to get to spend time there.” Do you have beautiful photos of Maine wildlife or scenic Maine landscapes to share? If so, please send them to us at Read More
What You Can Do about the Unfolding Recycling Crisis
It’s been more than a year since China announced that they will no longer buy the world’s contaminated recyclables, and we are feeling the effects here in Maine. Unless the baled recycled materials (stuff we put in our household recycling bins, among other sources of recyclables) meet a very strict, almost perfect, quality standard—only 0.05% Read More
