NRCM news release April 16, 2019 (Augusta, ME) – With final action today, the Maine Legislature has unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution calling on the President to direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to drop its planned rollbacks of mercury pollution protections. EPA has proposed scaling back the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), Read More
President Trump
April 23, 2019: “Protecting Maine’s Environment—An Insider’s View of Progress and Challenges,” Topsham
Thanks to all who came to our presentation about the most significant environmental opportunities and challenges facing Maine at the state and federal levels. Pete Didisheim, NRCM’s Advocacy Director, provided an insider’s view on environmental policy being discussed in the Maine State House. He also described challenges we face from proposed rollbacks of environmental safeguards Read More
Trump Dismantling Mercury Pollution Ban Exemplifies Embrace of Coal
By Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Rev. Mitch Hescox The Hill op-ed The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in the business of protecting public health and our environment — or at least it used to be. The agency and its acting administrator, a former coal lobbyist, have been waging an offensive on public health Read More
Trump Rollbacks for Fossil Fuel Industries Carry Steep Cost
by Matthew Brown AP news story BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — As the Trump administration rolls back environmental and safety rules for the energy sector, government projections show billions of dollars in savings reaped by companies will come at a steep cost: more premature deaths and illnesses from air pollution, a jump in climate-warming emissions and Read More
Trump’s EPA Taking Its Most Harmful Step Yet, This Time on Mercury Emissions
A proposed policy would no longer count a regulation’s benefits, just its costs to polluters, in deciding the severity level of environmental protections. Los Angeles Times editorial Reprinted in Portland Press Herald President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency recently released a proposal that would undermine not only current regulations, but regulatory efforts in the future by disavowing Read More
Trump Administration’s Proposal to Dramatically Weaken Limits on Toxic Mercury Pollution from Coal Plants Threatens Mainers’ Health
Statement of Emmie Theberge, Federal Project Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine “The Trump Administration has taken the first step to dramatically roll back the 2011 Mercury and Air Toxic Standards, federal protections that limit toxic mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants nationwide. In its announcement he EPA says ‘that it is not appropriate and Read More
New England States Fear Increased Mercury Contamination as EPA Considers Weakening Rules
By Susan Sharon Maine Public news story Scientists are speaking out about what they say have been “remarkable improvements” in curbing mercury emissions under Obama-era regulations that are now under threat by the Trump administration. Mercury is a toxic chemical most commonly associated with coal-burning power plants. Because they are downwind from coal-burning states, Maine Read More
Trump Administration Pushes to Gut Clean Water Rule, Putting Maine’s Clean Water at Risk
Statement of Emmie Theberge, Federal Project Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine “The Trump Administration’s proposal to scrap the Clean Water Rule is the wrong move for Maine and for our country. If finalized, this ‘Dirty Water Rule’ would strip safeguards from streams and wetlands across the country. In a state like Maine, it would Read More
EPA to Roll Back Water Protections
Supporters praised Trump for scaling back what they said was federal overreach and ‘never about clean water.’ By Ellen Knickmeyer and John Flesher, Associated Press Portland Press Herald news story WASHINGTON — Cabinet chiefs and Republican lawmakers celebrated alongside farm and business leaders Tuesday as the Trump administration made good on one of its biggest Read More
