Clean air is essential for healthy, happy lives. Clean, renewable energy helps ensure clean air. NRCM works for policies and initiatives that will improve Maine's air quality and reduce global warming pollution throughout the state and region.
NRCM’s climate and clean energy work is focused on where we can have the greatest impact: cleaner cars and trucks, clean and renewable energy production, and greater energy efficiency.
Our work in these key areas is critical to reducing health and environmental problems already plaguing our state. These include high asthma rates, more “bad air days,” rising sea levels due to climate change that threaten coastal communities, and threats to our fall foliage, skiing, and our vital tourism-based industry.
NRCM makes certain that Maine's elected officials and decision-makers are kept up to date about information related to climate change pollution, clean energy technologies, and steps Maine can take to ensure clean air.
“Taking the Plunge” Before I “Take the Plunge”
I am getting married. I have mentioned this in past blog posts, but we are now less than six months away from the big event, and I think the stress of wedding planning has finally gotten to me. Each year I swear it will be the last time I plunge into the icy Atlantic Ocean Read More
ExxonMobil is Actually Majority Owner of Maine Pipeline and Behind Plan to Transport Dangerous Tar Sands
Pipeline companies lobby tar sands plan behind closed doors while denying their intention NRCM, NWF, NRDC, Sierra Club Maine, Environment Maine, 350.org Portland, Maine—A new analysis released by NRDC, NWF, and other environmental groups shows that ExxonMobil is the majority owner of the pipeline that cuts across Maine and New England—a pipeline that is the Read More
On Anniversary of Julie N Accident, a Warning on Pipeline Proposal
Portland Press Herald op-ed Sept. 27, 1996, was a fateful day in the history of Portland Harbor. It was almost eight years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. On that day, the oil tanker Julie N hit the former Million Dollar Bridge, punching a 30-foot hole in the tanker’s side and spilling 93,198 gallons of Read More
New Report: A Turning Point for Maine Offshore Wind Energy
Will Federal and State Leaders Take Advantage of Our Golden Opportunity? Press Release Portland Maine — Maine can protect the environment and create jobs while powering our homes and businesses with local, clean energy, but only if our elected officials and regulators take the right steps now, according to a new report released today by Read More
New Clean Vehicle Standards Historic Step in Fight for Clean Air
Will Spur Jobs, Protect Wildlife, and Decrease Oil Dependence News release Augusta, Maine — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for vehicle fuel efficiency and climate-changing pollutants are set to become final. These new standards will double the number of miles we can drive on a gallon of gasoline for new cars, SUVs, and Read More
The Folly of Tar Sands Oil in Existing Pipelines in Maine
by Merrylyn Sawyer Bangor Daily News op-ed Recently three separate articles have appeared in the Bangor Daily News concerning tar sands oil and the possible use of the present pipeline that runs between Portland, Maine, and Montreal, known as the Portland Pipe Line. One article mentioned that the Montreal Pipe Line Ltd. and the Enbridge Read More
Mainers Rally on Anniversary of Worst Tar Sands Spill in History; Oppose Risky Tar Sands Oil in Maine
NRCM press release Maine citizens are turning out across Maine this week to oppose an emerging plan to pump dirty tar sands oil from Ontario, Canada through a pipeline in the beautiful lakes region in southwestern Maine to Portland, Maine where it would be shipped out by supertankers. The four rallies coincide with the two Read More
More Than 2M Comments Nationally and 15,201 Collected in Maine Support EPA Carbon Limits
NRCM news release Bangor, Maine—The Natural Resources Council of Maine, Environment Maine, and a broad coalition of Maine groups supporting clean air safeguards, announced today that they have collected more than 15,000 public comments here in the state and a record two million comments nationwide in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Carbon Read More
Report Sounds the Alarm on Tar Sands Pipeline Scheme in Central Canada and New England
Broad coalition highlighting threats to Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Quebec, and Ontario from tar sands pipeline proposals PORTLAND, MAINE — A controversial new pipeline plan threatens drinking water and many beloved natural areas in Maine and across New England and Central Canada according to a new report released today. A broad coalition of 19 organizations Read More
