3 New England States Announce Plans To Phase Out HFCs, A Source Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

MAINE PUBLIC • February 18, 2020

Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island have announced efforts to bar a class of chemicals used in refrigerators and air conditioning that are a growing source of greenhouse gas emissions. "I think the industry knows that this is the direction that things are heading," says Hannah Pingree, co-chair of Maine's Climate Council. She says that hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, are a more potent global warming gas than carbon dioxide. And she says the federal Environmental Protection Agency had been planning to take action against them.

Jeff Bezos Pledges $10 Billion To Fight Climate Change, Planet's 'Biggest Threat'

NPR • February 18, 2020

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced Monday he is committing $10 billion to fight climate change, which he calls "the biggest threat to our planet." Bezos says the funds will go toward the creation of the Bezos Earth Fund. "This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs — any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world," he writes in an Instagram post. "I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet."

Maine is getting wetter, stormier and warmer, with coast warming fastest, researchers say

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 13, 2020

Maine’s climate is not only changing due to global temperatures increasing overall, but the rate at which it is changing is speeding up, according to researchers at the University of Maine. UMaine climate scientists, in conjunction with researchers at Acadia National Park’s Schoodic Institute, have released updated findings on Maine’s changing climate, building upon reports they released in 2009 and 2015. In the 2020 version, the report’s authors say greenhouse gas emissions continue to propel changes in Maine on land and in the water. 

Federal Regulators Say Maine's Proposed Lobster Gear Rules Don't Go Far Enough

MAINE PUBLIC • February 12, 2020

Federal fisheries regulators are saying that Maine's proposed lobster gear rules, which were designed to reduce the risk to endangered North Atlantic right whales, don't go far enough. Patrick Keliher, Maine's commissioner of Marine Resources, delivered the news to lawmakers Tuesday. But in a letter to Maine's Department of Marine Resources last month, the regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service said that the feds would not accept less than a 60 percent risk reduction.

Belfast Residents Express Concerns About Environmental Impacts of Proposed Land-Based Salmon Farm

MAINE PUBLIC • February 12, 2020

A Norway-based company's proposal to build a land-based salmon farm in Belfast has been the topic of heated debate in the midcoast city for two years. Now Nordic Aquafarms is entering a high-stakes phase of the project, as state regulators consider its permit requests. The permits would allow Nordic Aquafarms to discharge effluent into Belfast Bay, to draw water from local sources, and to disturb wetlands for construction of the proposed 850,000-square-foot facility. More than 100 people turned out in Belfast Tuesday night for a public hearing on the proposal, held by the state's Bureau of Environmental Protection.

Lawmakers To Debate: Should Maine's Big-Box Stores Be Taxed As If They're Empty Or Full?

MAINE PUBLIC • February 10, 2020

Nationwide, lawyers for big-box retailers such as Walmart and Home Depot are contesting local property tax assessments, which they argue should be based the value of a store if it were vacant. It’s called the dark store theory, and a bill in the Maine Legislature aims to head off the practice before it gains traction in Maine’s courts and depletes local tax revenues. In the 2017-2018 tax year, the town of Brunswick assessed the property taxes of its local Walmart at about $17,000,000. But attorneys for the retailer say that because of the dark store argument, its taxes should be nearly half that amount. Walmart is also arguing for a 75% reduction in Farmington and an 80% reduction in Sanford. State Rep. Ryan Tipping says that the retailers are shortchanging local budgets and increasing taxes for everyone else.

Energy regulators gave $500K contract to company that should have been ineligible

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • Feb 10, 2020

The Maine Public Utilities Commission paid a company $500,000 to study Maine’s electric grid, but the company should have been ineligible for the contract based on the commission’s own rules, according to interviews and a review of documents. The electric grid study, which is scheduled to be delivered to the Maine Legislature by Saturday, is expected to help shape the debate over a proposal to banish Central Maine Power and Emera Maine from the state.

China Lowers Lobster Tariff, While Coronavirus Roils U.S. and Canada Lobster Markets

MAINE PUBLIC • February 7, 2020

China is slightly lowering tariffs on U.S. lobster, but industry observers say it is not enough to reboot Maine's languishing sales to that country. At the same time, the outbreak of coronavirus in China is hurting lobster sales abroad and domestic markets as well.

Amid Growing Rabies Concern, Bath Plans To Trap And Euthanize Wild Animals

MAINE PUBLIC • February 7, 2020

In response to multiple attacks by foxes over the past several months, the city of Bath is planning to trap and euthanize wild animals over a 10-day period. City Manager Peter Owen says the plan, proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, involves euthanizing animals regardless of whether or not they show signs of rabies. "My reaction to it was, 'What, are you kidding, really?' But the idea of capturing animals and then having to keep them separated, and who's going to handle them, where would you do that housing and for how long?" he says. Owen says it's extreme, but the small midcoast city is in an extreme situation.

Maine Congressional Delegation Asks Feds To Shift Focus Of Right Whale Protections

MAINE PUBLIC • February 6, 2020

Maine's congressional delegation is trying to up the pressure on federal fisheries regulators to look beyond the state's lobster industry when seeking to reduce threats to the endangered North Atlantic right whale. In a letter to top officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) this week, the delegation calls on the agency to provide more information about reducing the risk of ship strikes off the United States and Canada - strikes that they say are as much a threat to the whales' survival as entanglement with lobster fishing gear.

Opponent Of CMP Transmission Line Faces Campaign Finance Violation

MAINE PUBLIC • February 6, 2020

A potential referendum over Central Maine Power's power line proposal for western Maine is generating more campaign finance violations, this time from opponents of the project. The political action committee, Mainers for Local Power, is facing a nearly $25,000 fine by the Maine Ethics Commission. Under a new provision in Maine law, organizations that give more than $100,000 to a PAC or ballot committee must tell the Ethics Commission who they are. And it's the responsibility of the PAC or ballot committee to tell the contributor that it needs to provide that identifying information. The Local Maine Power PAC failed to tell Calpine Corporation that it needed to file a major contributor report with the ethics commission. Calpine, which has given more than $100,000 to the PAC so far, owns a natural gas electricity plant in Westbrook and opposes the CMP transmission project.

Bumblebees Are Disappearing Because Of Extreme Heat

NPR • February 6, 2020

Extreme temperatures are driving a dramatic decline in bumblebees across North America and Europe, according to a new study, in yet another way climate change is putting ecosystems at risk. Researchers looked at half a million records showing where bumblebees have been found since 1901, across 66 different species. They found that in places where bumblebees have lived in North America, you're about half as likely to see one today. Big heat events can stress both the bees and the flowers they depend on.

Bill Would Bar Hydro-Quebec From Influencing Transmission Line Referendum

MAINE PUBLIC • February 5, 2020

A bill designed to prevent the Canadian energy company Hydro-Quebec from spending on a campaign to rescue a controversial transmission line will be reviewed by the Maine Legislature. The proposal by independent state Rep. Kent Ackley, of Monmouth, is aimed at preventing foreign influence in Maine ballot campaigns. It was prompted by a report by Maine Public Radio revealing that state and federal law prohibits foreign governments from contributing to candidates, but not to referendum campaigns.

Opponents Of CMP Transmission Line Submit Signatures For Statewide Vote On Project

MAINE PUBLIC • February 3, 2020

The stage is being set for a statewide battle over Central Maine Power’s plan to build a power line through Maine’s western woods. Opponents today submitted more than enough signatures to put the project’s future on the November ballot. The proposed measure would reverse a decision by state utility regulators to permit the project. Project supporters say that would mark a questionable end-run around the Public Utilities Commission and the statutes its decision was based on.

Boston Investment Firm Officially Purchases Saddleback

AP • February 2, 2020

A Boston investment firm has officially purchased Saddleback Mountian ski area. Arctaris Impact Fund completed the reported $6.5 million sale Friday afternoon. The mountain is expected to reopen at the end of this year. The firm has said it plans to invest $38 million into Maine's third-largest ski mountain. Upgrades will include replacing an old chairlift, expanding daycare and retail space and installing new snowmaking equipment. The Finance Authority of Maine's board on Monday approved loan guarantees and a loan for $12.5 million for Arctaris, which made it possible for the sale to move forward.

Welcome to Maine Environmental News

Thanks for visiting Maine Environmental News, a service of RESTORE: The North Woods. MEN is the most comprehensive online source for links to nature and conservation news and events in Maine and beyond.

We have posted summaries and links to 60,000 news articles and announcements. We have also posted breaking stories and exclusives. Be sure to check not only today’s news but take a look at the headlines from the past several days as well. Articles often come to our attention a few days after they are published. — Jym St. Pierre, Editor

Obituary: Kenneth Hotopp

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • June 7, 2019

Ken Hotopp passed away in the early hours of June 7th, 2019. Ken died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 58, having survived two years since his diagnosis with the disease. Despite the difficulty of contending with an aggressive cancer, Ken never failed to make those around him laugh and feel loved. Ken was a fierce defender of wilderness and the climate, working locally to protect natural places and participating in actions against climate change.

Nick Lund Talks Birds at Large

AMERICAN BIRDING ASSN • February 28, 2019

Birds are everywhere. They are in your movies and TV shows, on your sports team logos, even in your Google Street View. There is no shortage of ways that your interest in birds can manifest itself beyond time in the field. Maybe no one knows that better than Nick Lund. Nick is The Birdist on his own blog of that name and on social media, a frequent contributor to National Audubon and Ray Brown’s Talking Birds and works in outreach with Maine Audubon. He joins me to talk about birds in non-bird places, what he calls “Birds at Large”. [at minute 9:20-32:15]

Two Maine Towns Unite to Leverage USDA Support into a Money-Saving Clean Water Project

USDA • January 4, 2025

The far northern Maine towns of St. Agatha and Frenchville recognize the value of partnership. So when the aging St. Agatha wastewater treatment plant began to have issues, the towns began to work on a solution. The towns agreed to combine their wastewater treatment system into a single, state-of-the-art facility located in Frenchville. This decision helped both towns to cut costs, while helping to preserve the Saint John River and Long Lake, which is a valuable Salmon hatchery in the area.