More teen workers in Maine are getting hurt on the job

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 8, 2023

The number of Maine teens injured in the workplace has more than doubled over the last 10 years, with three separate investigations of serious injuries concluding this summer, the Maine Department of Labor said Tuesday. The overall number of violations involving youth workers has also increased. At TD Logging in Fort Kent, a 16-year-old driving a company truck was hurt in a vehicle accident at 4 a.m. in August 2022, and a 15-year-old was allowed to use a logging forwarder roughly two dozen times last summer. Another 32 violations for restricted hours and recorded hours were filed against the logging company. The department places the blame partly on the tight labor market.

The future of East Coast wind power could ride on this Jersey beach town

WASHINGTON POST • August 8, 2023

Residents of Ocean City and surrounding Cape May County, helped by an outside group opposed to renewable energy, are mobilizing to stop Ocean Wind 1, a proposal to build up to 98 wind turbines the size of skyscrapers off the New Jersey coast. The future of East Coast wind energy could hang in the balance. If opponents succeed, they hope to create a template for derailing some 31 offshore wind projects in various stages of development and construction off the East Coast, a key part of President Biden’s plan to reduce greenhouse emissions that are driving global climate change.

Antarctica risks ‘cascades of extreme events’ as Earth warms, study says

BLOOMBERG • August 8, 2023

Extreme weather in Antarctica, including ocean heat waves and ice loss, is set to become more intense unless urgent policy action reduces the burning of fossil fuels, a new study has found – the latest to sound the alarm on the damage climate change is unleashing. Scientists have become increasingly alarmed about how the Antarctic ice has struggled to grow back after hitting an all-time low in February – a deviation so extreme from the normal that it’s been dubbed a once-in-a-7.5-million-year phenomenon. The Arctic, too, is expected to be ice-free in summers by 2030, underscoring the rapid pace at which global warming is damaging the planet’s ecosystems.

Why visits to Acadia National Park dropped in June

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 8, 2023

The number of tourists who have visited Acadia National Park this year was on pace to exceed last year’s high numbers, but then June happened. Acadia had nearly 38,000 fewer visits this June than it did for the corresponding month a year ago, when it had more than 600,000 visits. With the year’s lower June numbers, Acadia’s running total was set back more than 11,000 visits behind where it was on July 1, 2022. The excess of rain in June is likely why visitation to the park slowed down.

Opinion: It’s time to tax private jets to pay for climate change mitigation

TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY • August 8, 2023

As wealth gets more concentrated in the hands of the global billionaire class, there has been a surge in consumer demand for luxury goods. In the last two decades, the private jet fleet has increased by 133%, from 9,895 planes in 2000 to 23,133 in mid-2022. On a planet experiencing disruptive climate change, private jet travel is one of the least defensible forms of luxury consumption. Private jets emit 10 to 20 times more carbon pollution per passenger than commercial airliners. We should steeply tax private jet travel and direct those funds toward climate mitigation and green infrastructure. A new bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, the Fueling Alternative Transportation with a Carbon Aviation Tax Act of 2023, would do precisely this. The powerful private jet lobby will do everything in their power to block such common-sense legislative proposals, but luxury private jet travelers should pay the real financial and environmental costs of their luxury travel choices. ~ Chuck Collins, Program on Inequality, Institute for Policy Studies

Opinion: Powerline should not cut through central Maine farms

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 8, 2023

About a month ago we, along with hundreds of other Mainers, received a letter informing us that our land would be impacted by a proposed transmission line project. The Aroostook Renewable Gateway project being developed by LS Power Grid Maine will deliver electricity from a new wind farm in Aroostook County to the New England power grid. To the extent this project will produce renewable energy, reduce CO2 emissions and benefit the citizens of Maine, we support it. But we do not support creating a new transmission corridor through beautiful and productive farmland that is a valuable community resource in many different ways. We call on LS power and the state of Maine to return to the drawing board and create a plan that will reduce the impact of this project on farmland that we and our community hold so dearly and that provides you and your loved ones with wholesome, nutritious food. ~ Mark Guzzi, Peacemeal Farm in Dixmont, and Jesse Haskell, dairy farmer in Palermo

Body of missing kayaker recovered off Campobello Island

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 7, 2023

The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday that it recovered the body of a kayaker who was reported missing Sunday off the coast of Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada. The Coast Guard identified the kayaker as Martin Spahn of Augusta.

Maine sludge crisis is over – for 2 years, at least

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 7, 2023

Maine’s sludge disposal crisis is over for now, but the search continues for a permanent solution. Maine communities are once again burying sewage sludge in the state-owned landfill at Juniper Ridge near Old Town and no longer have to pay extra to haul the waste to New Brunswick. Casella started hauling sludge to Canada in February after it concluded that the landfill could no longer safely accept sludge from its three dozen municipal customers. That much wet material posed a threat to the landfill’s structural integrity, putting the pit itself in danger of collapse, Cassella said. Casella blamed the sludge crisis on two new laws intended to protect Maine’s environment: one prohibited the use of sludge as an agricultural fertilizer due to elevated levels of potentially dangerous forever chemicals and the other banned out-of-state waste from Maine landfills. In June, lawmakers reluctantly reached a compromise. The Legislature passed a bill allowing Casella to accept up to 25,000 tons of out-of-state waste a year for the next two years so it can bulk up sludge so it can be safely landfilled at Juniper Ridge.

Amtrak Downeaster ridership rebounds from pandemic slowdown

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 7, 2023

New passenger transportation numbers released Monday by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority are showing that ridership on the Amtrak Downeaster has mostly rebounded from the pandemic-related disruptions that started in 2020. The rail authority reported that the Amtrak Downeaster transported 516,723 passengers in fiscal year 2023, which ended June 30. That is the first time that annual ridership has exceeded a half million riders since fiscal 2019.

Maine Calling: Science and significance of lithium

MAINE PUBLIC • August 7, 2023

The value of lithium for batteries and other uses has been in the news, particularly after a couple in Maine found a major lithium deposit on their property in 2021. Learn about lithium's unique characteristics and the role that its presence plays in Maine's geological makeup. Panelists: Kate Cough, reporter, Maine Monitor; Myles Felch, staff geologist, Maine Mineral & Gem Museum; John Slack, retired geologist, USGS.

Humpback whale spotted breaching off Popham Beach

CBS 13 • August 7, 2023

A humpback whale breaching the surface was caught on camera. Darryl Hendricks said he took the photos just past Fort Popham at the mouth of the Kennebec River in Phippsburg near Popham Beach. Hendricks spotted a lot of small fish jumping from the water and thought maybe there were some seals and that’s right when the whale made its appearance. He said he saw the whale breach a few times.

Popham Beach property rights dispute raises concerns it could have ripple effects along Maine coast

MAINE PUBLIC • August 7, 2023

Popham Beach Estates is a subdivision that dates back to the late 1800s. Many families have owned property here for generations, including Clark Hill's. But he's suddenly found himself on disputed territory. The Hills are being sued by for trespassing by their neighbors, the Tappens, who claim they purchased three and a half acres of land in 2021 from another property owner. The land abuts the Hill's property and cuts in front of it, extending to the low tide line and in front of other families' cottages. Hill's attorney, Benjamin Ford, says it was a bogus sale at a rock-bottom price, and based on the seller relinquishing claim to the property. If the Tappens' lawsuit is successful, Ford says it would allow unallocated beach land along the coast to be scooped up for purchase. "I disagree," says David Soley, an attorney who represents the Tappens. "I see no wider ramifications in this particular case at all."

Maine's congressional delegation wants to discontinue effort to create High Peaks refuge

MAINE PUBLIC • August 7, 2023

Maine's congressional delegation is asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to end its evaluation of 200,000 acres in western Maine for the possible creation of a National Wildlife Refuge. The department is considering the creation of a 5,000-15,000 acre refuge in the High Peaks region, saying the goal is to protect wildlife and recreational access. Bob Carlton, forester and resident of Freeman Township, has started a grassroots effort opposing the refuge. He says many residents and town leaders are against federal oversight.

Editorial: Should we name heat waves? It’s worth a try to save lives

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • August 7, 2023

Heat waves are already the deadliest weather-related hazard, and they’re getting worse because of climate change. Yet they remain ill-defined and anonymous threats, silent, invisible killers that few people take seriously until it is too late. But what if the most life-threatening heat waves did have names? Would people pay more attention to the risks of a heat wave Zoe or Cleon? Could lives be saved? There is initial evidence it could. ~ Editorial by the Los Angeles Times

Letter: Pine Tree Power beats alternative

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 7, 2023

Central Maine Power employee Kurt Pullman recently wrote a column (Maine Voice, July 28) against government-owned and -run power companies. With a little digging, he would have found that Pine Tree Power will be run by an independent board of 13 elected directors. CMP’s parent company, Avangrid, is pouring millions into a misinformation campaign to defeat Pine Tree Power. Their propaganda machine has $27.4 million in cash to put out their falsehoods, while Our Power has about $800,000 in cash to counter them. CMP (and Versant Power) customers deserve much better. CMP has the most and longest outages, the worst customer service, and among the highest rates in the country. Avangrid is all about the bottom line; their profits in 2022 were $187 million. ~ Pete Hope, Pemaquid

Campground is 1st step in new future for Caribou riverfront development

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 7, 2023

Few people would have guessed three years ago that the three-acre property at 154 Limestone St. in Caribou would be a scenic campground. Back then, old tires, car seats and other scrap metal jutted out of the ground, all remnants of an auto salvage yard that closed years ago. But now seasonal campers have reserved all but two of the nine available recreational vehicle spots near the shores of the Aroostook River. Walking paths bring people straight to the shoreline, where they can launch kayaks and canoes, fish or just enjoy the view. The campground, the vision of a local couple, has inched Caribou a bit closer to a revitalized riverfront.

Warming climate could create nuclear waste problems in Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 7, 2023

The Maine Yankee nuclear waste disposal site in Wiscasset is safe from all possible flooding, sea level rise, tornadoes, lightning strikes and other natural disasters. For now. As climate change makes the Atlantic Ocean sea level rise and storm presence unpredictable, the scenarios that Maine Yankee evaluated when preparing for the disposal of the 550 metric tons of nuclear waste in 2001 are in danger of being outdated.

Wild, weird and iconic, California’s Joshua tree faces a new threat: Fire

WASHINGTON POST • August 6, 2023

For the Joshua tree – a wild and whimsical internationally recognized symbol of California – fire has become an existential threat. Because its delicate desert habitat did not evolve with major wildfires, the Joshua tree is especially vulnerable to flames. When they burn, they burn fast. And they rarely survive. That’s of particular concern at this Southern California preserve, where fires were once uncommon but are now increasing in frequency and ferocity. Officials at the 1.5 million-acre park are still assessing the latest damage, but it appears to be catastrophic. Rising temperatures and the changing climate have altered the region’s so-called “fire regime,” the pattern of wildfire occurrence. It is now considered a “climate change hot spot.”

6 Maine summer hikes where you can go swimming

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 6, 2023

There are numerous Maine hiking trails that either lead to or past swimming holes that are bound to be more beautiful and less crowded than most of the public beaches. Here are some of our favorite options.
• Tumbledown Mountain in Weld
• Gulf Hagas near Brownville
• Shore Trail near Flagstaff Lake
• Morse Mountain and Seawall Beach in Phippsburg
• Tunk Mountain near Franklin