Climate Aid: Sunday Concert in Maine to Benefit Montana Old-Growth Forest Protection

CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY • October 12, 2023

Renowned musicians, authors, poets and tribal elders will come together Sunday in Portland, Maine, to raise awareness about threats to northern Montana’s ancient Yaak Valley and support its designation as the nation’s first climate refuge. The event also will support efforts to protect all the country’s old-growth and mature forests on federal public lands from logging. The event features singer-songwriters Maggie Rogers and Alisa Amador; Halcyon String Quartet; poets Beth Ann Fennelly and Gary Lawless; environmentalists and authors Bill McKibben, Terry Tempest Williams and Rick Bass; Francis Auld and Leslie Caye, spiritual leaders with the Montana band of the Kootenai Tribe. At Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle St., Portland, Oct. 15, 7 pm.

Climate change is helping invasive plants spread through Maine's waterways

MAINE PUBLIC • October 12, 2023

Three different invasive plants have been discovered on Cobbossee Lake since 2018, including Eurasian water milfoil and its better-known relative, variable leaf milfoil. Left unchecked, both plants can grow into dense mats that crowd out native species, reduce water quality and property values, and hinder boating and swimming. It’s hard, expensive work containing an invasive aquatic species like Eurasian water milfoil. Local groups must survey for it using boats and dive gear. When it’s found, they work with the state to remove it by hand, herbicide and other methods. Even then, they might not be able to stop an infestation. Invasive milfoils have been detected in more than 50 waterways in Maine, but eradicated from just six. That’s why officials say that boaters must prevent these plants from spreading in the first place.

Opinion: Pine Tree Power provides a path to a cleaner, more resilient Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 12, 2023

We have before us this November a golden opportunity to clear a path to a modernized grid that’s reliable, built to handle the clean energy transition, and affordable to all Mainers. Voting “yes” on Question 3 removes the two biggest obstacles now blocking this path to climate crisis solutions, namely the investor-owned corporate utilities Central Maine Power and Versant, and replacing them with a nonprofit, publicly owned Pine Tree Power company. What do CMP and Versant have against renewable energy? It’s more profitable for them to build transmission lines carrying power from distant generation sources than to facilitate local microgrids, especially ones where clean power, like solar and wind, is generated and stored close to where the power is used. ~ Amy Eshoo, Maine Climate Action Now

Vermont utility wants to end power outages by offering batteries. Could it work in Maine?

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 12, 2023

Green Mountain Power, which serves about 270,000 homes and businesses, submitted a plan to regulators on Monday asking for approval to invest $30 million to lease television-sized batteries to homeowners that would draw on clean energy from solar panels and wind turbines. The utility’s new Zero Outages Initiative aims to save on expensive grid repairs and expansions by investing another $250 million in stronger cables and buried power lines in vulnerable areas. It would seem natural for Maine to adopt a similar program, but while there is interest in expanding battery use in Maine, utilities here said they are unlikely to pursue a similar initiative any time soon due to legal constraints and high costs.

Opinion: Maine DEP can protect our health, not polluters’ profits, with cleaner cars and trucks

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 12, 2023

Clean air should not be controversial. Exposure to air pollution is known to cause and worsen asthma, lung disease and cancer. Recognizing the urgency of our climate crisis, Maine has adopted a bold climate goal to reduce Maine’s emissions 45 percent by 2030. In order to mitigate the impact of climate change and clean up harmful air pollution, we must act now to cut our transportation emissions and accelerate the transition to zero-emissions across the sector. the Maine Department of Environment is considering two life-saving programs that will clean up Maine’s transportation. As long as the Maine DEP doesn’t fall for their fear tactics, the agency will continue to see overwhelming support for these rules from community members, clean air advocates, health experts and business leaders. ~ Matt Cannon. Maine Sierra Club

Commentary: Maine needs climate change action, not distraction. Vote ‘no’ on Question 3

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • October 12, 2023

Question 3 seeks to buy out Maine’s two investor-owned utilities. Because I inherently prefer a publicly owned model, I initially believed this proposal would improve our situation. But it became clear to me that ownership structure is not the most important factor in how a utility performs. This referendum pursues an ideological goal without considering the significant risks to ratepayers, the grid’s functionality and Maine’s ambitious climate change agenda. It fails to consider the downsides, with too many supporters believing “it can’t get any worse,” though that is far from the truth. Climate change demands a response as ironclad as our grandparents’ World War II effort. We already have the power to ensure our utilities do their part, so we have little to gain by experimenting with other ownership models. We need action, not distraction. ~ Former Rep. Tina Riley (D), Jay

Letter: Protect Auburn’s resources with Harmon

SUN JOURNAL • October 12, 2023

Auburn is blessed with clean water and prime farmland. Those resources must be protected if Auburn is to thrive. To do so requires collaborative leadership on the City Council and active citizens. Jeff Harmon as mayor would offer that leadership. Auburn’s current mayor has pursued scheme after scheme to dismantle the protections in the agricultural district and around Lake Auburn. ~ Bonnie Lounsbury, Auburn

Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument: Place, Politics, & a Prognosis, Oct 12

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • October 11, 2023

Conservationist Ken Olson talks about the embattled creation of Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument. Established in 2016 by President Obama, the monument is comprised of nearly 90,000 acres on the eastern boarder of Maine’s Baxter State Park. At Tin Mountain Conservation Center, Albany, NH, and on Zoom, Oct 12, 7 pm.

Land Trust adds 721 acres to Two Bridges Preserve

ADVERTISER DEMOCRAT • October 11, 2023

With assistance from The Conservation Fund, Western Foothills Land Trust has added 721 acres to Twin Bridges Preserve, extending public access on both sides of Route 117 in Otisfield, Norway and Harrison. This marks the second expansion of Twin Bridges Preserve this year. In March WFLT acquired 100-acre pieces adjacent to the Edwards Mills land. The new preserve configuration includes two miles of frontage on the Crooked River, 47 acres of wetlands, bog shoreline on Little Pond, as well as deer winter and stream habitat.

Rattlesnake history in Maine: The monster, the myth, the medicine

ADVERTISER DEMOCRAT • October 11, 2023

Even before colonial times, timber rattlesnakes never occupied a large area of Maine. By the end of the 19th century the reptile was effectively exterminated. Bridgton Historical Society Assistant Director Michael Davis recently spoke at the Hebron Historical Society about the mysteries and disappearance of Maine’s only known venomous snake. While there are still pockets of timber rattlers in other parts of New England, Maine is the only state of the lower 48 to have no reported population.

What it means when you see purple paint on a tree

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 11, 2023

Have you ever been out in the woods and found a tree with a purple stripe painted on it? And if so, what did you do after that? The correct answer, it turns out, is to turn around and exit the area. In recent years, the use of purple paint as a way to designate areas where access to land is limited to those who’ve received advance permission from the landowner has become quite prevalent. The state’s “purple paint law” went into effect in 2011.

Mitchell Center to host talk on the role of productive disagreement in lake associations Oct. 16

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 11, 2023

The Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine will host a talk, “Productive Disagreement’ at the Lake: The Role of Deliberation in Lake Associations” at 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 16. Katie Swacha and Elizabeth Payne share theoretical concepts about democratic deliberation, paired with personal experience applying those concepts at a local lake association to offer strategies for productively negotiating differences, reaching agreements, and taking action.

Column: Distinct personalities make the spruce grouse my favorite bird

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 11, 2023

The reason I love spruce grouse is that each one I’ve met has a distinct personality. No kidding, really. Male spruce grouse typically return to the same breeding spot each spring. If you know where that is, you can often find the same bird on the same territory every year. You can get to know them as quirky individuals. That is how I came to realize that each grouse is distinctive. I’ve made the acquaintance of dozens. When I get to know a bird, I give it a name. Not only can you get to know particular birds, but you can spend time with them. Males on territory don’t flee. In fact, often they will try to make you flee. Spruce grouse in Maine are more annoyed by people than fearful of them. ~ Bob Duchesne

Don't be fooled by its pretty orange berries: Asiatic bittersweet is a nasty invasive

MAINE PUBLIC • October 11, 2023

It's found all around New England, an aggressive climbing vine that grows wildly out of control along roadsides, can topple trees and take over entire woodlots. Asiatic bittersweet (not to be confused with the American variety) snuffs out native trees, shrubs and plants. If there's a vacant building in your neighborhood, chances are the vine has made its mark. And don't be fooled by its eye-catching, yellow-orange berries in the fall: this plant is one of the worst.

Public Advocate says dump competitive energy supply market

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 11, 2023

The Office of the Public Advocate recommended to the Legislature in February that the 23-year-old market allowing consumers to choose their electricity supplier should be phased out. The market has failed to reduce rates for home customers and advance Maine’s climate goals. Electricity Maine, a unit of Spark Energy in Houston, was sued in federal court by customers who alleged fraud and deceptive practices in its marketing to Maine customers. The suit alleged that the company promised customers that they would pay no more than the standard rate for electricity, but then increased prices after initially charging lower rates. Spark Energy agreed to a $14 million settlement of the suit in 2020.

Maine watchdog seeks to have Electricity Maine’s license revoked, says it overcharges

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 11, 2023

Maine’s consumer advocate is asking the Public Utilities Commission to revoke an electricity supplier’s license to do business in the state, accusing it of overcharging customers. Public Advocate William Harwood said Electricity Maine violated state law and administrative rules by transferring accounts of its customers, without their consent, to a variable rate as high as 40 cents per kilowatt hour. The public advocate called it an “unfair and deceptive” trade practice. That rate compares with 17.6 cents per kilowatt hour that most Mainers pay.

Editorial: Freight railroad free-for-all is unacceptable

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 11, 2023

Our freight railroads need a lot more oversight. The privately owned freight railroads responsible for most of Maine’s train traffic are responsible for policing themselves. This means that, at any given time, the state knows little to nothing about the tracks and what is being transported on them, and is entitled to little to no information. L.D. 1937, which has robust bipartisan support, seeks to reverse the most restrictive elements of the 2015 state public records law that allows the railroads to keep information from the public. This proposal has been met with resistance by the railroads. The more we know, the more we can better regulate the freight tracks and trains running through our communities.

92-year-old Aroostook farmer still harvesting potatoes

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 11, 2023

Gene Lenentine has worked 82 potato harvests, and at age 92, he’s still climbing on tractors at 6 a.m. to help bring in the crop. Born Whitney Eugene Lenentine on Jan. 27, 1931, in Bridgewater, Gene, as everyone calls him, was on one end of a two-man crosscut saw when he was 8 years old and picking barrels of potatoes at 10. The Hodgdon resident has been working mostly seven days a week since; the key to his longevity and active life, he said.

Letter: Don’t fall for promises from Pine Tree Power supporters

SUN JOURNAL • October 11, 2023

As a retired, lifelong Mainer, I’m voting no on Question 3 because I believe it would increase our costs, not lower them. The ballot question says Pine Tree Power will “acquire” existing utilities. Well, we are the ones who must pay for that acquisition, and every number I’ve seen is at least $10 billion. I have nine children and 38 grandchildren, and I know they would be the ones stuck with decades of debt payments. I am voting no on Question 3 this Nov. 7. ~ Susan Madore, Lewiston

Maine public highlights UMaine researchers protecting trees and traditions from emerald ash borer

UMAINE • October 10, 2023

University of Maine researchers are helping preserve brown ash trees and the Wabanki traditions they support from emerald ash borer and train others to fend off the invasive insects. One of those traditions includes basket making. “When I interacted more with basket makers and harvesters I gained a deeper understanding of the cultural significance of brown ash, in terms of its ties to one of the creation stories of the Wabanaki people, of all four tribes in Maine,” said John Daigle, UMaine professor of forest recreation management and citizen of the Penobscot Nation.