Maine among 21 states challenging Trump rule to limit states’ rights over water quality

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 21, 2020

Attorneys general in 20 states and the District of Columbia, including Maine, sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, alleging that new federal rules undermine their ability to protect rivers, lakes and streams within their borders. They say that new rules issued last week alter a practice dating back more than 30 years giving state governments the authority to review, block or put conditions on federally permitted water projects. The changes are among several steps the Trump administration has taken to roll back the Clean Water Act, including ending federal protection in January for many of the nation’s millions of miles of streams, wetlands and arroyos and wetlands. 

CMP works to fix Chops Point tower lights that continue to bother neighbors

TIMES RECORD • July 21, 2020

Central Maine Power next week will start installing a radar system on two transmission towers near Chops Point to control lights on the towers that continue to pester local residents. The radar system will sit on top of the towers and turn on the lights only when an aircraft is within 1,000 feet of the towers, according to Catharine Hartnett, CMP spokesperson. When the aircraft is out of range, the lights will turn off.

Casco Bay Lines To Purchase A Diesel-Electric Hybrid Ferry For Portland-To-Peaks Island Runs

MAINE PUBLIC • June 21, 2020

The next new passenger boat for Casco Bay Lines will run almost completely on electricity. A $3.2 million federal grant will aid in the purchase of a cutting edge diesel-electric hybrid engine for a ferry that will make the run from Portland to Peaks Island. Transit District General Manager Hank Berg says the move will save some 800 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year. Diesel engines will act mainly as backup or for trips longer than the two and a half mile ride to Portland.

Column: Woodsy the Owl is turning mean

SUN JOURNAL • July 21, 2020

People who toss trash into the streets, to me, are on par with those who park in handicapped spaces or who go to national parks and spray-paint graffiti on the rocks. That is to say, they are selfish and unrepentant weasels. And with all that said, I guess I should point out that when I encountered a chow-mad litterbug on East Avenue, I never went back to pick up what he had so carelessly tossed into the street. I guess, like everybody else, I figured someone else would clean it up. I suppose this means that when Woodsy the Owl makes his next enraged flyover, I should expect my own dose of punishment from above. ~ Mark LaFlamme

Toxic algae confirmed in ponds at South Portland’s Hinckley Park

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 21, 2020

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has confirmed that an algae bloom in two ponds in Hinckley Park is a cyanobacteria that is toxic to animals and humans. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department posted warning signs around the ponds and closed them to public use in early July.

Bill to replace CMP with public entity faces key vote Friday

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 21, 2020

A bill that would replace Maine’s dominant investor-owned electric utilities with a consumer-owned authority for power distribution faces a key action Friday, when the Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee is set to vote on whether to send the measure to the full Legislature. The Maine Power Delivery Authority would replace Central Maine Power Co. and Versant Power, formerly Emera Maine, with an entity that would operate much like Maine’s smaller, consumer-owned utilities.

Portland reopens East End Beach after tests show water safe for swimmers

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 21, 2020

East End Beach in Portland was reopened Tuesday after test showed contamination levels are well within state safety standards and pose no threat to swimmers. The popular beach was closed Sunday afternoon following a malfunction at the East End Wastewater Treatment Plant that resulted in the discharge of an undetermined amount of wastewater into Casco Bay. Sunday’s discharge happened after a Central Maine Power line that feeds electricity to the plant shut off around 8:15 a.m. A backup generator at the plant failed at the same time sending partially disinfected wastewater into the bay.

Opinion: Help is on the way for America’s national parks

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • June 21, 2020

In a rare, welcome display of bipartisanship, Congress is poised to approve the most important conservation law passed in the United States in 40 years. The legislation, known as the Great American Outdoors Act, would provide $9.5 billion over the next five years to repair America’s national parks. It also would provide $900 million a year in perpetuity from offshore oil drilling royalties to fund maintenance, repairs and expansion of national parks, state parks and city parks across the nation. ~ Editorial by The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)

Buxton police charge 40 people with trespassing in closed park

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 20, 2020

Buxton police have charged 40 people with trespassing in a riverfront park that had been closed because of large gatherings, illegal drinking and dangerous behavior. Town officials closed Pleasant Point Park on Friday after several weeks of increased disregard for park rules and dangerous behavior that included underage drinking and throwing objects at boaters on the Saco River. The gate to the park was locked, “closed” signs were posted and a chain was hung across the parking area, but dozens of people entered the park anyway on Saturday and Sunday. All of the people who were arrested or summonsed were from outside Buxton and came from as far away as New York and Indiana.

Whales Get A Break As Pandemic Creates Quieter Oceans

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO • July 20, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic slows international shipping and keeps cruise ships docked, scientists are finding measurably less noise in the ocean. That could provide momentary relief for whales and other marine mammals that are highly sensitive to noise.

Time-lapse of Acadia National Park reminds us to slow down

WCSH • June 20, 2020

Will Greene’s time-lapse of Acadia National Park.

Take a day for an island getaway

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 20, 2020

In this pandemic summer, when staycations are preferred by many, there’s no reason why a day trip to a nearby island can’t feel exotic, or at least restful and rejuvenating. It’s a luxury we Mainers probably don’t take advantage of enough. You can start your island-hopping planning by checking out the website of Casco Bay Lines, which runs ferries from Portland to about a half dozen Casco Bay Islands daily. If you’d rather not wait at a ferry terminal and then sit with others on a ferry, you can always drive to Bailey Island.

Coronavirus and papermaking woes bring tough times to Maine’s logging industry

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 20, 2020

Even for an industry known for difficult labor without great rewards, these are particularly hard times for Maine’s loggers. Wood prices were low going into a winter that was relatively brief and mild, which made it hard for loggers to harvest trees – long stretches of cold to freeze the ground solid is best for getting heavy equipment in and out of the woods, while tearing up soft soil can mean fines for environmental damage or stuck machinery. Then the coronavirus hit and demand dropped further as orders to paper mills were canceled and shipments of wood pulp to Asia scuttled when paper plants halfway around the world closed their doors.

Letter: CMP project not the only hydropower option

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 20, 2020

In a recent op-ed published in your paper, CMP’s (seemingly) only two allies, Tom Rumpf and Lloyd Irland, make the case that CMP’s unpopular corridor project is necessary to reduce the effects of climate change, and they argue that “we must move quickly.” They left out an important detail – CMP’s project is one of 45 applicants to fulfill Massachusetts’ new clean energy quota. This amount of so called clean energy, will be added to the New England grid to supply Massachusetts ratepayers: and it is not Maine’s’ burden to bear! CMP’s corridor project was one of three to deliver Hydro Quebec’s energy to Massachusetts, and it wasn’t even the first choice. TDI proposed a buried line through Vermont. Please vote yes this November! ~ Gary Lachance, Carrabassett Valley

Letters: Power line would bring clean power to New England

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 20, 2020

I support the New England Clean Energy Connect. First, we also need to find cleaner energy sources that do not pollute our air and water. Climate change is already here and its already impacting our environment and threatening our fisheries. Also, I am all for taking steps to increase our energy supply to lower prices. ~ Andrea Yong, Sanford

Opinion: Biden gets it on clean energy

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 19, 2020

Former Vice President Joe Biden has drastically ratcheted up his ambition for the fight against climate change. Last year he envisioned an emissions-free power sector by 2050. Now he recognizes that the goal is achievable by 2035. As he explained Monday, “2050 is a million years from now in the minds of most people. My plan is focused on taking action now, this decade, in the 2020s.” After years of climate inaction in Washington, the need for urgency has never been greater, and Biden is right to accelerate his timetable. ~ Michael R. Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City and a global ambassador for the World Health Organization

Cumberland boy discovers unusual blue frog living in his backyard

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 19, 2020

A 9-year-old’s discovery of a rare blue frog has brought some magic back into the life of a boy who has been housebound since schools closed several months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic. Max Doane found the frog two months ago in his backyard in Cumberland. The amphibian was living among the lilies in a small pond his father, Rick Doane, created to attract wildlife. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said that most frogs are green because of a combination of yellow and blue pigments in their skin. Blue frogs lack the yellow pigment, which is a relatively rare occurrence.

Portland’s East End beach closed over contamination fears

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 19, 2020

Portland officials closed the East End Beach on Sunday after being notified by the Portland Water District of a “malfunction” that occurred at the nearby East End Wastewater Treatment Plant. Jessica Grondin, spokeswoman for the city of Portland, said the popular beach will remain closed until test results prove that the water conditions are safe for swimmers. A power outage at the Portland Wastewater Treatment Plant and a backup generator that failed at the same time convinced city officials they should close the beach out of an abundance of caution.

Opinion: NECEC opposition groups keep moving the goalposts

SUN JOURNAL • July 19, 2020

I have spent the past year working to ensure Mainers know exactly how Maine will benefit from the New England Clean Energy Connect project. Despite what groups opposed to the project would have people believe, Mainers won’t pay a penny to build the project. There will be thousands of new jobs during construction, millions in new property tax revenue, hundreds of millions in electrical infrastructure improvements, and lower energy costs as a result — all while cutting three million metric tons of carbon emissions over the next decade. The opposition groups will blindly oppose the project at every turn, no matter the circumstances or terms. ~ Jon Breed, executive director of Clean Energy Matters, a political action committee working in support of the NECEC project

Letter: Collins’ abandonment of Arctic Refuge overshadows recent conservation vote

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 19, 2020

Last month, Sen. Susan Collins helped pass the Great American Outdoors Act, a rare, piece of pro-environmental legislation in the Age of Trump. The bill includes permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Act and directs money to address the National Park Service’s maintenance backlog. Sen. Collins is rightly touting that good vote for the environment, but the past 3½ years show a much more mixed record. The defining moment came when she voted for Donald Trump’s notorious Tax Cut and Jobs Act. That legislation not only increased the nation’s deficit by perhaps $1.5 trillion with its lavish tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy but also undercut protections for our country’s water, air, wildlife and wildlands. One of those pristine wilderness areas was the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. ~ John Demos, South Berwick