Read the latest news stories and opinion pieces related to the environment, including Maine’s air, land, water, and wildlife, in this month’s News & Noteworthy.
November 25, 2020
Let’s start off the week with some great news stories about this year’s NRCM Conservation Leadership Award winners from their local papers:
- The Piscataquis Observer wrote a story about our People’s Choice Award winner, Eric Sherman, of Greenville, for his work to stop the CMP corridor and to protect Maine’s North Woods.
- The Wiscasset Newspaper wrote about this year’s Lifetime Achievement Conservation Leadership Award, presented to NRCM’s long-time Forests & Wildlife Director Cathy Johnson of Alna.
- And the University of Maine shared the news that one of their professors, Aram Calhoun, was presented with a People’s Choice Award for her important work and advocacy related to vernal pools.
Twenty-three years ago today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the first time ordered the dismantling a working hydroelectric dam (the Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Augusta). And of course, 20 years ago, many of us watched as workers breached the dam for the first time in more than 150 years. Since then the river’s ecosystem has rebounded remarkably!
Speaking of dam removals, the Bangor Daily News recently shared news that the return of Atlantic salmon to the Penobscot River is at its highest level since 2011. Visit our Penobscot River restoration web page to watch a recent webinar featuring NRCM and our Penobscot River Restoration Project partners hosted and pre-order a new book, From the Mountains to the Sea, which tells the story of the 16-year river restoration project on Maine’s largest river.
Henry E.M. Beck, Maine’s state treasurer, wrote a recent op-ed in the Sun Journal urging Maine and the country to look for and take advantage of green opportunities for our economy as we come out of the pandemic. Many people are calling for the US to “build back better” with renewable energy solutions.
We are going to end this week’s News & Noteworthy with a wildlife story from the Bangor Daily News. Maine’s Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shared a story from a recent hunting trip she took in Greenville, when she had a visitor, a pine marten! Learn more about martens in NRCM’s Creature Feature!
November 19, 2020
This week we celebrated National Take a Hike Day, and the Portland Press Herald shared an op-ed about ways to explore Maine trails this winter!
Some good news in a recent Maine Biz article: Maine’s outdoor recreation industry is going strong.
There are lots of reports of new Maine solar power from towns all over Maine. Here are a few:
One town in Southern Maine and one city in Northern Maine are moving ahead with solar installations. Read about Cape Elizabeth’s solar project on a capped landfill. Learn about a new solar farm in Presque Isle that will bring more renewable energy to Aroostook County.
Bowdoin College in Brunswick has a goal to offset 100 percent of its electricity with renewable energy from Maine. The college’s newspaper shares more in a recent news story.
And in western Maine, Farmington voters recently approved a land lease for a new solar project.
November 12, 2020
The main feature of this BBC news story isn’t about Maine, but it does mention the Penobscot River Restoration Project, in which NRCM was a founding member.
Speaking of the Penobscot River Restoration Project, NRCM and our partners hosted a webinar earlier this week about the success of that 16-year project. WABI-TV reported on the webinar. And, in December, you can read the new book, From the Mountains to the Sea, about this project. Pre-order your copy from Islandport Press today!
People are urging state and federal governments to “build back better” after COVID-19 by focusing on a clean energy future, to generate good-paying jobs, reduce climate-changing pollution, and more. Read about a report from Governor Mills’ administration, and a quote from NRCM’s Climate & Clean Energy Director David Costello in this Mainebiz article.
David also contributed to a recent Maine Monitor story about electric vehicles in rural Maine areas.
Thank you to U.S. Representative Jared Golden and U.S. Senator Angus King for their proposal to make national park visits free for veteran Gold Star families. The U.S. Department of the Interior recently approved this proposal!
Do you have a favorite podcast? Have you been listening to more podcasts during the pandemic? The Sun Journal writes that as podcasts become even more popular, so do stories about time spent outside in Maine’s environment. Read about and subscribe to these new podcasts.
November 6, 2020
Let’s start off this week with some good news for the people of South Portland. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled in the tar sands case. The Portland Press Herald writes, “Maine’s top court has decided that a South Portland [Clear Skies] ordinance blocking oil exports does not conflict with state law.” There is more work to be done, but this was a positive step in the right direction. Thank you to Protect South Portland and everyone else working to protect the city and Casco Bay from this dirty fossil fuel.
A lot of people have contacted us to ask about the Nexamp flyers that Mainers are receiving in their mailboxes. Here is some information in a recent WGME-TV news story.
If you haven’t heard that NRCM, Sierra Club Maine, and the Appalachian Mountain Club have filed suit against the Army Corps of Engineers over its analysis of the proposed CMP corridor, you can read about it in this Portland Press Herald news story.
Late last month, Elliotsville Foundation returned more than 730 acres of ancestral land back to the Penobscot Nation. Many news outlets covered this announcement. Read the Bangor Daily News story and Maine Public news story.
If you are in the Bangor area and drive an electric vehicle—you can now find a new charging station installed inside the Pickering Square Parking Garage. And even better news, if someone is already there charging their car, no worries—this charging station can charge two vehicles at once! The best news—it’s free! No charge for your EV charge.
