Climate change fight heads to Maine's waterways

NEWS CENTER MAINE • December 4, 2023

The fight against climate change never stops in Maine, especially when it comes to the Pine Tree State’s waterways that are being polluted by increased storm runoff.  Levels have been running high the last few years, according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Levels are so high that the Kennebunk River has been formally classified as impaired for bacteria by Maine’s DEP.  "If we’re having higher frequency storms, it’s really important then to enhance your vegetative buffer," Alex Brown, a conservation technician with York County Soil and Water Conservation District, said. But the climate change fight isn't just about action; it’s about education, too. "This area here, it does serve a purpose for a vegetative buffer, but it’s also serving an educational purpose, too, for golfers that came out here today to help educate the public how to manage their waterfront properties," Brown said.  

Maine loon population dips for a 2nd year, but the chicks are booming

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 5, 2023

The population of a beloved Maine bird, the common loon, dipped for the second straight year, but wildlife surveyors said they are heartened by an increased number of the bird’s chicks. Maine has the largest number of common loons in the eastern U.S., and the state is critical to the species’ breeding population. The loons are listed as endangered or threatened in some other New England states and beyond. Maine Audubon, which conducts a loon count every year, said Monday it projects a population of 2,892 of the birds based on this year’s results. That is down slightly from a year ago and about 16% lower than the 2021 total. However, Maine Audubon’s biologists said they aren’t worried, in part because the number of loon chicks climbed from 298 in 2022 to 411 this year.

Column: The news about our planet is bad

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 4, 2023

Jim Hansen, the climate scientist who delivered the original wake-up message to the U.S. Congress in 1988, has used new data to work out the “equilibrium climate sensitivity.” The news is bad. The ECS — how much warming we will get in the long run from doubling the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere — is much higher than we thought. We were expecting an extra 3 degrees; we will get five. Hensen also reckons that all the visible pollution we put into the sky was cooling the planet by reflecting incoming sunlight back into space. But we are rapidly cleaning it up, because it’s bad for people’s lungs. That means we are rapidly losing our protective global sunscreen. Hansen suspects these changes have lost us 1 degree’s worth of cooling — and in terms of average global temperature a degree of lost cooling is just as bad as a degree of extra warming. It may be time to start taking this climate stuff seriously. ~ Gwynne Dyer

Emerald ash borer quarantine expanded to 14 of Maine's 16 counties

MAINE PUBLIC • December 4, 2023

Fourteen of Maine's 16 counties now have quarantines to try to limit the spread of the emerald ash borer into more ash trees. The expansion of the quarantine includes part of northern Aroostook County and portions of counties in southern Maine. State horticulturist Gary Fish says the destructive pest is likely being spread by people taking infested firewood to their camps. “If you're going to buy firewood, buy it within 10 miles of where you're going. If there's plenty of ash around, emerald ash borer only moves about a mile or two on its own. If there's not a lot of ash around, it has been known to fly as far as 10 miles to get to another ash tree."

Cape Elizabeth farm among 5 across state poised for expansion after receiving federal grants

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 3, 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development announced last week that five Maine farms had won the competitive Value-Added Producer Grant funding. Along with Balfour and Ledgeway farms, Fields Fields Blueberries in Dresden, Herbal Revolution Farm & Apothecary in Union, and the William H. Jordan Farm in Cape Elizabeth secured funding totaling more than $1 million to support and expand their agriculture-based businesses.

Mining rulemaking process begins; Committee rejects water bill

MAINE MONITOR • December 3, 2023

The state will begin a rulemaking process next week aimed at clarifying what counts as a metallic mineral, changes prompted by the discovery of a massive lithium deposit in Newry that the Monitor has been reporting on for the past two years. The changes, which will have to be approved by the citizen Board of Environmental Protection as well as the state Legislature, would allow the mining of certain metallic minerals to be exempt from the state’s stringent mining regulations so long as a mining operation could prove that it wouldn’t pollute the environment around it. A mining operation that’s exempt from the metallic mineral rules would still be regulated under another law, such as the state’s quarrying standards. Those standards are far less stringent, and meeting them is also less costly for developers

Fiddler crabs, brought to Maine by climate change, may be harming salt marshes

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 3, 2023

With climate change consistently bringing warmer temperatures to the Gulf of Maine, there is another unfamiliar species making its way north along the coast, and it might not bode well for Maine’s salt marshes. Fiddler crabs, small crabs that get their name by having one claw that is noticeably bigger than the other, have spread up the coast as far as Maine’s midcoast, according to a recent scientific study. And they appear to be harming the growth of grasses in the marshes where they can be found.

Climate change has brought more extreme rain, snow to Maine

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • December 3, 2023

Maine is getting wetter across all seasons, but it is the increasing intensity of the precipitation – and the flooded basements, crop disease, and washed-out culverts and roads that can come with it – that has climate planners, farmers, and engineers scrambling to prepare. While the future impact of sea level rise is a top concern in Maine and other coastal states as the climate warms, the increasing frequency of extreme weather events here is already having statewide impacts.

Opinion: The efficiency of local heat

SUN JOURNAL • December 3, 2023

Wood indisputably boasts the best carbon footprint of any widely available heating energy source. This undeniable truth stems from the fact that wood pellets are composed of biogenic carbon (unlike geologic carbon) assembled as sawmill residues, low grade forest products, and arboricultural waste wood. ~ Leslie B. Otten, founder, owner and CEO of Maine Energy Systems, the largest wood pellet central heating system manufacturer in North America

Pollute less, profit more: How Maine industry is rewarded for cutting down emissions and wastewater

MAINE MONITOR • December 2, 2023

A state tax exemption benefits industrial companies for cutting down on pollution but also draws millions of dollars away from small-town tax revenue, and never expires. The state statute that outlines the exemption provides an incentive for industrial companies in Maine to abide by environmental regulations: Install equipment that reduces your facility’s air or water pollution, and you’ll pay less in property or sales and use taxes. Unlike other tax exemptions that fall under the auspices of the state tax agency, Maine Revenue Services, this “pollution control” exemption is administered by DEP. It requires no approval from the municipality that may be affected by it and lasts as long as the facility operates.

Commentary: Do 70,000 people really need to be at a climate confab?

BLOOMBERG • December 2, 2023

How many people do you think it takes to hammer out a global climate agreement? 500? 5,000? 50,000 Apparently, the correct answer is 70,000. That’s about how many people are expected to turn up in Dubai over the next few weeks for COP28, the latest United Nations climate confab, which started on Thursday. This is up from 49,704 at COP27 last year in Egypt, and 38,457 at COP26 in Scotland. Attendance has more than tripled since 2019. In COP’s early years, attendance averaged just 5,000. Whether this explosion is a sign that the world is taking climate change more seriously or just the bloat that naturally accumulates around gatherings of humans who control large pools of political and financial capital remains to be seen. ~ Mark Gongloff

Letter: US needs a grid upgrade to accommodate more renewable energy

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 2, 2023

In July, Gov. Janet Mills signed into law “An Act Regarding the Procurement of Energy from Offshore Wind Resources” — officially putting Maine on the way to becoming a major player in clean energy production. (Not only for our own state, but for the entire northeast region!) However, for this opportunity to become a reality, there must be a national energy grid that has the capacity to effectively conduct “clean” electricity within Maine and beyond. A foundational step towards this end is outlined in the BIG WIRES Act, which would establish requirements for inter-regional transmission of electricity so that, during extreme weather events, energy could be easily shared. I encourage Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins, and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, to sign on as co-sponsors of this important measure. ~ Tom Berry, Kennebunk

Maine DEP says Milbridge violated monitoring rules involving discharges into river

MAINE MONITOR • December 2, 2023

The town of Milbridge violated rules regarding monitoring of treated wastewater discharged into the Narraguagus River earlier this year, according to state environmental regulators. The Department of Environmental Protection said Milbridge failed to complete required effluent monitoring, failed to report the missing monitoring and failed to report “exceedances’’ into the river. The notice followed letters of warning from the DEP, in January and May, for similar violations. Lewis Pinkham, the town manager, said Milbridge will not face a fine. He said the town hired a new contractor to run the sewage treatment plant over the summer, replacing the one who had not kept the monitoring up to date.

Maine’s shrimp fishery, a victim of climate change, to stay closed indefinitely

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 1, 2023

New England’s long-shuttered shrimp business, which fell victim to warming waters, will remain in a fishing moratorium indefinitely, fishery regulators ruled on Friday. The shrimping business was based mostly in Maine and produced small, pink shrimp that were a winter delicacy in New England and across the country. The industry has been in a moratorium since 2013 in large part because environmental conditions off New England are unfavorable for the cold water-loving shrimp.

Atlantic salmon are rebounding in the Sandy River. Cold waters provide refuge as the climate warms

MAINE PUBLIC • December 1, 2023

The Sandy River is an improbable salmon stream. It's not been known for its salmon runs in recent years, and it's blocked by four dams. But despite all that, biologists say the salmon population is growing in this tributary of the Kennebec. And the river's cold water could provide a refuge for the endangered species as the climate warms. The federal goal of a self-sustaining run of 6,000 wild adult salmon returning to Maine rivers would bring an end to protections under the Endangered Species Act.

Maine Climate Council reports progress in fight against climate change

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 1, 2023

Maine has met or exceeded most of the goals of its first climate action plan, but is falling short of hitting its electric vehicle and land conservation targets, according to a new report. Maine surpassed its 100,000 heat pump goal this year, installing at least 115,492 pumps since 2019. It is now working toward a new goal of 275,000 by 2027. It also has exceeded its goal of creating 100 community resiliency partnerships – 175 and counting. State agencies have weatherized 12,705 homes since 2019 and will have surpassed the goal of 17,500 homes by 2025, a year ahead of schedule. Maine is “on track” to meet its 2030 goal of providing renewable energy to consumers, but will have to invest in more renewable energy projects to meet Gov. Janet Mills’ accelerated goal of 100% clean energy by 2040. Maine is falling short of its goal of conserving 30% of its lands by 2030. About 22.2% of Maine lands are currently protected [loosely defined], but the number is increasing so slowly that hitting that goal is a long shot. Maine lags furthest behind in its electric vehicle targets. The goal is 219,000 electric vehicles operating in Maine by 2030 but Mainers now own only 12,369 electric vehicles.

Moscow residents approve ban on commercial solar farms

MORNING SENTINEL • December 1, 2023

Residents at a special town meeting Thursday voted to prohibit commercial solar farms, opting to go a step further than many other towns in central Maine when it comes to restricting the development of large solar projects. Moscow joins a growing list of Maine municipalities that have passed measureslimiting or temporarily prohibiting solar farms. But it is unclear if any other places have adopted permanent bans like Moscow’s. What’s also unclear is if the ordinance is even legal.

Wind developer to start erecting turbines in western Washington County

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 1, 2023

More than nine years after it was first publicly proposed, and nearly a year after it was approved by state environmental officials, construction is about to begin on a commercial wind farm in western Washington County. Downeast Wind, a project of Virginia-based Apex Clean Energy, has hired Woolwich-based Reed & Reed as the general contractor of the wind power project, which will include 30 turbine sites spread out among various locations in the town of Columbia and in townships 18 and 24 in the state’s Unorganized Territory.

Cities must replace harmful lead pipes within 10 years under new Biden plan

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 30, 2023

Most U.S. cities would have to replace lead water pipes within 10 years under strict new rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency as the Biden administration moves to reduce lead in drinking water and prevent public health crises. Millions of people consume drinking water from lead pipes and the agency said tighter standards would improve IQ scores in children and reduce high blood pressure and heart disease in adults.

Phippsburg’s Basin Oyster Project awarded $190,000 grant

TIMES RECORD • November 30, 2023

A small oyster-farming operation in Phippsburg is getting a big boost in the form of a $190,000 grant. The Maine Community Foundation awarded the Basin Oyster Project a $190,000 grant, money that will fund the growing sustainable shellfish restoration and research for another two years. The project got its start back in 2019, when a pilot started by Nature Conservancy employees Jeremy Bell and Amanda Moeser in Phippsburg’s Basin Preserve was handed over to Kelly and Herrigel along with a Limited Purpose Aquaculture license and $1,000 in funding. Four years, plenty of collaborators and two $20,000 grants later, the BOP has two 40-by-10-foot floating oyster bags that Phippsburg resident Kelly helps tend to by kayak.