By Janet Mills, Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed Ever wonder what’s in that baby bottle your infant uses? The teether she chews on? The toys your kids climb on and fall on, and the ones they put in their mouths? More and more families are concerned about health and safety as kids’ Read More
public health
EPA Wants Maine Power Plants to Cut Emissions 13.5 Percent by 2030
By Darren Fishell, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story PORTLAND, Maine — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants Maine power plants to reduce emissions by 13.5 percent in 16 years, as part of a national plan to reduce emissions by 30 percent, from 2005 levels, by 2030. The proposed rule signed Monday by EPA Read More
Maine Officials Optimistic about Meeting New Carbon Limits
The regional effort to reduce emissions from power plants appears to put the state in a good position to meet proposed federal standards by 2030. By Kevin Miller, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story Maine and other states in the Northeast appear well positioned to comply with proposed federal rules for carbon dioxide emissions Read More
Arkansas Woman in Maine to Share Story of Tar Sands Spill
MPBN news story Genieve Long, a resident of Mayflower, Arkansas, told reporters and others today that a spill of tar sands oil near her home last year made her and her four children physically ill. In South Portland today, a cautionary tale about crude oil extracted for tar sands. It came from Genieve Long, a Read More
New Carbon Emissions Rules Offer Great Benefits to Maine
by Tom Tietenberg Kennebec Journal op-ed A few years ago, I served on a panel as part of a National Academy of Sciences study titled “America’s Climate Choices.” One of the takeaway lessons from that study was that carbon dioxide has a very long residence time in the atmosphere, up to 1,000 years. It is Read More
Moms Call on Legislators to Pass BPA Right-to-Know Bill
LD 1181 would require billion dollar food companies to report their use of BPA in food packaging ACHM Press Release Maine moms want to know if Sponge Bob and Dora the Explorer are hiding toxic BPA in their soup cans. Maine’s growing specialty food businesses want to make sure the packaging they use is BPA-free. Read More
Study: Exposure to Flame Retardant Chemicals Means Firefighters Face Higher Cancer Risk than Previously Thought
Mario Moretto, staff writer Bangor Daily News news story ELLSWORTH, Maine — New research by a Blue Hill scientist shows that during a fire, firefighters are exposed to dangerous levels of toxic, cancer-causing chemicals created when commercial flame retardants burn. That firefighters develop cancer at an alarming rate is not news to industry professionals or Read More
Parents Should Demand Legislative Action on Healthy Kids Bill
Erica Lowell Portland Press Herald op-ed GRAY – We’ve all seen it. A simple trip to the grocery store will reveal at least a dozen different parenting styles. But one thing moms and dads can all agree on is that the products we bring into our homes should not contain dangerous chemicals. As a young Read More
Legislature Readies for Another Conflict over BPA and Babies’ Health
Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine press release AUGUSTA) For the second time in two years the Maine Legislature will be asked to referee a fight that pits moms, physicians, and health scientists against a national chemical industry coalition and Governor Paul LePage. At issue is the hormone-disrupting chemical BPA, or bisphenol A, and Read More