We highlight news stories and opinion pieces related to Maine’s land, air, water, and wildlife in our monthly News & Noteworthy. November 2023 Down East magazine featured NRCM CEO Rebeccah Sanders in their “Favorite Maine Place” feature this month. Read the full feature here. NRCM Sustainable Maine Director Sarah Nichols recently wrote a blog about the Read More
Maine Environmental News
Maine environmental news often comes quickly and with little warning. Stay up to date on Maine environment news.
From issues such as climate change, healthy waters, Maine forests and wildlife, and sustainability—and environmental policy that could impact them—you’ll find NRCM’s up-to-the-minute news releases to see our perspective on the most pressing issues facing Maine’s land, air, waters, and wildlife. This includes findings relating to our role as Maine’s watchdog of activities of state environmental agencies—we stand ready to blow the whistle when regulations are not enforced.
You can also find our weekly “round up,” News & Noteworthy, which puts the spotlight on media stories that do a particularly good job capturing a current environmental issue or event. We hope you find this part of our website helpful and informative!
Strong Support for Maine-based Offshore Wind Port
A unique coalition of organized labor and environmental groups that successfully passed a landmark offshore wind bill earlier this year are now signaling their unequivocal support for the responsible development of an offshore wind port on Maine’s coast. The coalition, including Maine’s largest conservation groups and labor organizations, today released the following statement highlighting Read More
Federal Agency Removes Nearly All of Key Fishing Ground from Wind Energy Development in Gulf of Maine
October 19, 2023 (Augusta, ME) — Fishing groups, labor unions, and environmental organizations who came together to push a compromise bill that will advance responsible offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine scored a key victory when the federal government excluded nearly all of a key fishing ground called Lobster Management Area 1 from offshore Read More
News & Noteworthy — July-September 2023
Read these noteworthy news stories and opinion pieces related to Maine’s land, air, water, and wildlife and the work of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. September 28, 2023 Last weekend many of you were at the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity. Thanks to all who stopped by to say hi to us in Read More
Mainers Support Clean Cars and Trucks in Maine
News release Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is considering adoption of the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) and Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rules. Today, advocates organized to urge the Board to adopt the life-saving rules. Today, Mainers from across the state spoke at a public hearing in Augusta to urge the Department of Read More
Legislative Session Marked by Progress on Clean Energy, Waste Reduction, and Wildlife Protection
Maine’s conservation ethic continues to drive economic growth July 26, 2023 (Augusta, ME) — This year’s legislative session was another demonstration of Maine’s continued leadership on clean energy, with a signature bill that boosts offshore wind and continued momentum on measures that will help achieve Maine’s climate action goals while reducing energy costs, creating jobs, Read More
Maine Legislature Approves Plan to Boost Offshore Wind
July 26, 2023 (Augusta, ME) — Earlier this morning at about 3:00 a.m., the Maine Legislature passed a historic bill to encourage 3GW of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine while creating good-paying jobs, protecting wildlife, avoiding key fishing grounds, and supporting new port construction. Below is a statement from the Natural Resources Read More
Historic Offshore Wind Bill Advances in Maine
Legislators, the Mills Administration, organized labor, a key fisheries group, and environmental organizations have agreed on consensus language that will advance a major omnibus offshore wind bill in the Maine Legislature. The bill will responsibly develop offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine and encourage new deepwater port construction while maintaining strong standards to ensure good-paying jobs for Maine workers, protections for wildlife, avoidance of important fishing grounds, broad stakeholder engagement, and inclusive community benefits.
New Law Moves Maine Toward Lower-cost Mercury-free Light Bulbs
LD 1814, a bill to phase out the sale of mercury-containing fluorescent bulbs in favor of more affordable, energy-efficient, and mercury-free lighting options, became law in Maine. A study by the Appliance Standards Awareness Project shows that the bill could lead to $216 million in utility bill savings statewide by 2050. Maine joins Vermont, Rhode Island, California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Oregon as states poised to phase out the sale of common fluorescent lighting.
