Each month, we highlight news stories and opinion pieces related to Maine’s air, land, water, and wildlife. We update News & Noteworthy weekly with the latest news related to the nature of Maine, including the work of staff at the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
March 23, 2023
We told you some months ago about a proposal to build the world’s tallest flagpole in the small Washington County town of Columbia Falls. This week, town residents voted overwhelmingly (63-17) to put into place a moratorium on this controversial project for the next 180 days.
NRCM Sustainable Maine Outreach Coordinator Vanessa Berry testified in support of a bill that would require at least 30 minutes for each lunch period at Maine schools, in order to prevent food waste and give students more time to get through the line and have time to eat their lunch. Read Vanessa’s testimony.
The bad news of the week is a bad Biological Opinion from NOAA Fisheries, ignoring the threat to endangered Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish species posed by four dams on the Kennebec River between Waterville and Skowhegan. Read our news release to learn more.
Gary Friedmann of Bar Harbor wrote an op-ed in support of solar power and the money it might save all of us. Read his op-ed in the Bangor Daily News.
What are some ways that offshore wind will affect Maine’s economy and energy? Find out in this WABI news story.
Also learn about a bill being discussed in the Legislature related to a new wind farm and transmission infrastructure project proposed for Aroostook County. And, a scholarship program also in Aroostook County at Northern Maine Community College, is being started thanks to federal funding. This scholarship is for people to become certified wind power technicians in Maine.
In Bangor, a new program may help the city become more walkable, with investments made in the downtown area, paid for by federal grants. Making communities more walkable and bikeable is great for the environment as well as for the health of people biking and walking.
March 17, 2023
As we told you last week, Brookfield Renewables has been violating the federal Endangered Species Act at its dam at Milford on the Penobscot River. Learn more in this Bangor Fox News story. The Endangered Species Act has been around for 50 years, and there is still much work to be done to protect wildlife.
The Washington Post recently named three states: Maine, Illinois, and Minnesota as states to watch when it comes to climate legislation this year. Learn about Maine’s climate bills being discussed this session at the Legislature.
Though we are in Maine, we are very concerned, as are other groups nationwide, about the Willow Project, which was recently approved by the Biden Administration. This will allow oil drilling, further exacerbating the problem of climate change. Read this recent op-ed by Jean Flemma and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson to learn more.
One very noticeable result of climate change in Maine is the lack of ice on some of Maine’s lakes, including Sebago Lake, in the winter. Again this year, the annual ice fishing derby had to be canceled there due to lack of ice.
Each year, NRCM presents Conservation Leadership Awards to people and groups having a positive impact on Maine’s environment. Last year, one of our honorees was Dr. Steve Kress, founder of Project Puffin, who received our Lifetime Achievement Award. Learn more about Dr. Kress and his work from a recent Maine Monitor news story.
And finally this week, great news from Washington County: The Conservation Fund, after a decade of work, has protected 21 miles of shoreline on and around East Grand Lake and almost 12,000 acres of forestland. Congratulations, and thank you, TCF!
March 10, 2023
Another company is now showing interest in mining in Maine, this time it is Exiro Mineral Corp that is looking to mine in the Midcoast region. Area residents have come together to fight this proposal.
NRCM, along with the Penobscot Nation and other conservation organizations, announced this week that the owner of dams on the Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers, Brookfield Renewable, has been violating the terms of the Endangered Species Act at the Milford Dam on the Penobscot, making it difficult for Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish to make their way up the river. NRCM Staff Scientist Nick Bennett is quoted in this AP story as saying, “We need to see some action here because this problem has been festering for too long.” Read the full story here.
Maine businesses continue to find new ways to be more energy efficient in order to conserve energy and dollars, as well as fight climate change. Learn more about how they are becoming more efficient in this piece from WMTW Channel 8 news.
Farmers around the state can receive funding from the Maine Farmland Trust to help them adapt to climate change, which is affecting weather and temperature patterns, which in turn affect crops.
The Maine Legislature is discussing a bill that came out of the involvement of Hydro-Quebec in the CMP corridor campaign. Hydro-Quebec is a foreign government entity and spent a lot of money on the CMP corridor campaign. Maine residents signed a petition to ban foreign governments from influencing referendums in our state and hoped to have that added to the ballot for all Maine voters to weigh in on, but now it appears that the decision may be enacted by the Legislature so it wouldn’t need to go to the voters.
Maine’s US Senator Angus King is co-sponsoring a bill that would ban oil and gas drilling off the coast of Maine.
Read this op-ed by Maine State Senator Rick Bennett that calls for accountability and solutions from Casella Waste Systems, the company that handles sludge from municipal wastewater plants. The company claims it can’t stabilize landfills because of recent legislation to close a loophole that allowed out-of-state waste to fill up the State-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill in Old Town.
And finally this week, a Bangor Daily News op-ed by the president of the Maine AFL-CIO Cynthia Phinney and the Maine conservation policy director for the Appalachian Mountain Club, Eliza Townsend, calls on the state to make protection of Maine’s natural resources a priority as the State’s next budget is created.
March 2, 2023
A lawmaker has introduced a bill that would repeal Maine’s statewide single-use plastic bag ban, though environmental groups like NRCM and Don’t Waste ME as well as retailers and grocers think the bill is working well. Read testimony about the bill and why NRCM opposes it.
Residents of the town of Monson, near Moosehead Lake, recently approved using federal funds to bring high-speed broadband and an electric vehicle charging station to their town. Great news for local residents and visitors alike to this popular Maine destination.
A company that runs a factory in Brewer has just announced plans to open a second factory in Bangor, which will add 200 new jobs to the area so that the company can keep up with demand for their product: heat pump water heaters.
NRCM Climate & Clean Energy Outreach Coordinator Josh Caldwell spoke with Maine Public for their “Climate Driven” series, about how Maine State employees are commuting less and working remotely more, which is having the positive result of cutting down on our state’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions: cars and trucks.
The University of Maine’s Mitchell Center for Sustainable Solutions is studying food waste at four Maine grade schools to learn more about food waste from Maine cafeterias. NRCM has put together a handbook about school food recovery that you can download or request in print for free.
Retiring President of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce Dana Connors wrote an op-ed in the Portland Press Herald this week about the economic benefits and opportunities that would come with offshore wind in Maine.
Hear from NRCM Sustainable Maine Director Sarah Nichols in this article about sludge disposal in Maine and the issues that are being caused by one waste collection company who is not “being a helpful partner to the towns.” Sarah is also quoted in this Bangor Daily News story about the failed Fiberight waste facility in Penobscot County.
We will end this week’s News & Noteworthy with some good news in the sustainability department: residents in Boothbay have a new bottle and can redemption center where they can return their beverage containers. Many redemption centers around the state have closed recently, so to have a new one open is welcome news!
