Climate change splits Maine lawmakers trying to aid storm-ravaged coastal towns

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 22, 2024

Maine lawmakers mulling how to help coastal communities devastated by back-to-back storms this month are airing ideas that are shaped by partisan splits on climate change. Democrats want to boost clean energy and climate resiliency investments for coastal communities, while Republicans wary of new programs and taxes are eyeing money from any budget surplus to create a relief fund. Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, said the state first wants to see how much federal funding is available for help. The clock is ticking. Maine’s long-term energy plans — ranging from offshore wind and electric vehicles to natural gas pipelines — are hardly uniting lawmakers.

Proposed Brunswick-Rockland excursion train would include fine-dining car

TIMES RECORD • January 21, 2024

Another company has proposed an excursion train from Brunswick to Rockland that would include a fine-dining car, marking the latest attempt to revive passenger service on the 57-mile Rockland Branch. Delaware-based AmeriStarRail wants to launch its service, MidCoast Maine Central, in May. It would include six daily, roundtrip train runs with stops in Bath, Wiscasset and Newcastle. A locomotive would carry several cars consisting of coach, first-class and fine-dining sections, with a capacity of 200–300 passengers.

Whispers of the Allagash

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • January 21, 2024

In the summer of 2022, Friends and Family set off to Maine's North Woods on a three day fly fishing trip in search of plentiful wild native brook trout in their wild places. What they didn't know was that Bob Johnson, registered Maine guide and lodge owner, had a few unique surprises for them that not many anglers have the chance to experience. But what came from catching these fish turned into far more than just another fly fishing story.

Gardiner business owners gut-punched by flood insurance revelations

MAINE MONITOR • January 21, 2024

Roger Bintliff’s Corner Brew in Gardiner was flooded on Dec. 19. When that storm hit last month, Bintliff thought he was OK. He had invested in a hefty insurance policy that would cover up to $400,000 in damages. But with over $100,000 in damages, Bintliff was blindsided when he found out his insurance wouldn’t cover the losses because his policy was not flood-specific. Had Bintliff lost his equipment to a fire, he would have been covered, but not by a flood. As Maine riverfront and coastal communities prepare for wetter and more frequent storms, sea level rise and flooding that experts attribute to human-caused climate change, they also must reckon with the intricacies of a flood insurance market with narrow definitions and, for most flood-prone properties, increased premiums.

There’s no offseason for Maine farmers as they strive to survive the winter months

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 21, 2024

Thousands of Maine farmers are diversifying their operations, tracking market trends, and making the most of technology and innovation to stay productive and profitable – even when the ground is frozen and fields are covered with snow. And while the need to make ends meet through the winter months is nothing new in agriculture, the challenges facing farmers have only intensified, including rising costs, labor constraints, global competition and climate change. The strain has taken a toll. Maine has 7,600 farms, down 7% from 8,136 farms in 2007.

Portland’s peninsula and commercial center vulnerable to floods

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 21, 2024

At the end of the century, when a rapidly warming Casco Bay is predicted to have risen another 4 feet because of climate change, a big storm that blows in hard from the southeast on a new moon tide – like the one that hit us on Jan. 10 – could spell disaster for Portland. Much of Commercial Street, which was built on filled land, would be overrun by up to 10 feet of water, along with its shops, bars and restaurants beloved by locals and tourists, as would the working waterfront that serves the area’s lobster and fishing fleet.

How the Maine coast will be reshaped by a rising Gulf of Maine

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 21, 2024

Between the two storms that hit the coast on Jan. 10 and 13, and the Dec. 18 storm that wreaked at least $20 million in damage to 10 Maine counties, there’s almost no way a Mainer could have missed the impact of this extreme weather, which can be traced back to climate change. By 2030, two-thirds of Maine’s coastal sand dunes are expected to be submerged and 43% of its sandy beach area lost. It will overrun many homes and businesses if they don’t take steps to mitigate the impact of sea level rise through managed retreat to higher ground or adaptation measures.

In Stonington, threats to fishing community and lost access to mainland

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 21, 2024

As the state’s top lobster port, Stonington is keen to protect its fishing fleet’s ability to trap, sell and ship its catch from this bridged island in Down East Maine to far-flung destinations for as long as the Gulf of Maine is cold enough to sustain them. Warming waters are nudging lobster populations ever northward, but the Jan. 10 and 13 storms served up a harsh reminder that climate change poses more immediate threats to the island: the powerful one-two punch of sea level rise and storm surge. The causeway linking Stonington to the mainland was under 18 inches of water shortly after Jan. 10’s high tide. People cut off from local emergency services during monthly high tides now.

In Kennebunk, some beaches and oceanfront areas will be inundated by 2050

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 21, 2024

With their sandy beaches, sizable seasonal communities and thriving tourism appeal, sea level rise has the potential to sucker punch some of Maine’s most iconic coastal communities, including Bar Harbor, Old Orchard Beach and Kennebunk. It will take Kennebunk months, if not years, to recover from the Jan. 10 and 13 storms that washed away beachfront streets and seawalls, damaged seasonal homes and historic hotels, and gouged the beaches that regularly land the town atop travelers’ lists of best beach towns. Beach erosion can lead to the loss of tourism dollars along Maine’s southern coast.

Column: When it comes to deer hunting, the more you know the better

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 21, 2024

Deer communicate more by scent than vocalization. Body language is also very important to both. Deer just seem to recognize it innately, while we have to read books on it. Biologists believe that from a single whiff of urine, a deer can recognize much about the other deer that deposited it, including sex, fitness, and quite possibly individual identity and status within the local population. They can also figure out pretty quickly when there’s a stranger in town, so minimizing your presence through scent control and stealth is important. The more you know, the more successful you’ll be at deer hunting. ~ Bob Humphrey

Column: There’s nothing radical about clean cars rule

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 21, 2024

We can no longer think of “climate change” as a distant danger to us, like when the sun runs out of hydrogen and dies in 2 billion years. It’s happening now. I’m in favor of the Legislature being in charge of authorizing and enforcing car standards that meet the federal Clean Air Act. Roughly 50% of Maine’s carbon dioxide emissions come from “transportation.” We’ve got to figure out ways to reduce that. I absolutely want more electric vehicles on the road, and we need more infrastructure to make that happen. I’m concerned that the Maine GOP isn’t interested in helping. I’m worried that rather than taking the issue of emission elimination seriously and balancing the needs of our economy and the needs of the environment, they’ll just yell about it to win votes on the campaign trail. ~ Victoria Hugo-Vidal

Column: Who’s nesting in January?

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 21, 2024

On this cold Sunday, while we read the news in the comfort of our homes, let’s take a second to acknowledge the feathered parents sitting on nests right now, incubating eggs that will become the next generation of our backyard birds. One of the most well known of these early nesters is the bald eagle. A tiny black-capped chickadee only needs about two weeks after hatching to fledge, but a massive bald eagle can take up to 14 weeks. Rivaling our eagles for the “Eager Nester” award is the great horned owl. ~ Maine Audubon staff naturalist Doug Hitchcox

Editorial: We need to rethink rebuilding – and think about retreating

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 21, 2024

Recent storms have wreaked more havoc up and down the coast of our state, ripping through sand dunes, homes, businesses and other structures. The overwhelming instinct – whether on the coast or inland – is to take immediate steps to repair and rebuild. For most of history, this approach was a sound one. In 2024, however, it does not hold up. Funding that might otherwise be used for rebuilding or resisting storms’ effects can be channeled into the cost of relocation. The writing’s on the wall; the cost is going to become human and involve the loss of life unless we take the appropriate steps to move out of harm’s way.

Letter: Republican attitude toward climate change leaves me cold

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 21, 2024

Why is it that Republicans offer no climate solutions in their platforms as they run for office? Or worse, why is it that many of them deny global warming exists? The proof of it is in the businesses that must shut down as they are repeatedly damaged by coastal flooding. Republicans complain we cannot afford to invest in our infrastructure, despite that fact that doing so is what made our country great. Young voters should realize that ignoring or denying a problem does not make it go away. The facts don’t change if you ignore them or fail to plan for your future. ~ Tracy Floyd, Cape Elizabeth

Letter: Ordinary citizens at mercy of climate change

MORNING SENTINEL • January 21, 2024

Between tornadoes, mass flooding, and massive rainfalls, the ordinary citizen is at the mercy of climate change. The fossil fuel industries and the government of developed countries around the world have known about the effects of CO2 on the environment since 1950s. Yet they behave in a short-sighted manner for greed and power at the expense of the citizens throughout the world and planet Earth. Populations of animals will go extinct because they cannot adapt to the rapidly changing environment. Please vote for candidates in this coming election who have the backbone and courage to stand up and make legislation to save our planet and the future of our children. ~ Susan Surabian, Skowhegan

Letter: If storms surprised you, you haven’t been paying attention

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • January 21, 2024

Why is everyone so surprised at the destruction wrought by last week’s storms? For decades, climate scientists have warned of impending damage to coastal communities resulting from rising sea levels and increasingly extreme weather. Whether one believes that human activity or natural meteorological cycles are to blame, the data clearly indicates that low-lying areas adjacent to the sea are in grave danger. Let this be our wake-up call. ~ Chris Korzen, Portland

Letter: Everyone should make climate a priority

CENTRAL MAINE • January 21, 2024

Climate change is causing severe costly impacts and Maine has not been spared. NOAA released an early January report stating that there were 28 billion-dollar weather disasters in the US in 2023, with a price tag of $92.9 billion, not including December’s East Coast storms. It is critical that our state and federal legislators know our concerns about global warming and the need for legislative action. Transitioning from fossil fuels is the only way to protect our irreplaceable planet for future generations. The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 5744) would reduce emissions by pricing carbon fuels at their source and sending the cash back to American households. ~ Pauline Paré, Etna

State is using ‘community science’ to study golden eagles in Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 21, 2024

Maine has already brought the bald eagle back from the edge of oblivion after the pesticide DDT nearly wiped out the birds in the state. Today, the state is home to a healthy population of bald eagles estimated at more than 800 nesting pairs, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The birds were taken off the endangered species and threatened species lists by 2008. Now, the Maine Golden Eagle Study is part of a large-scale regional effort to better understand golden eagle abundance, distribution, movements, and habitat use in eastern North America.

Record number of disasters show climate crisis urgency in storm-weary Maine

MAINE MONITOR • January 20, 2024

In the past year and month, record-breaking weather extremes in line with the expected impacts of a warming world have brought disruption, destruction and even death to all corners of Maine. It feels like something has shifted — more than ever, Maine people have been forced to confront the consequences of climate change not as a future hypothetical, but as a present reality. “It’s overwhelming,” said Hannah Pingree, the co-chair of the Maine Climate Council, in an interview with The Maine Monitor. “The last month has made us all feel like, ‘Oh, wow, these climate impacts are really here. I didn’t think these things would happen so soon.’”

Record number of disasters show climate crisis urgency in storm-weary Maine

MAINE MONITOR • January 20, 2024

In the past year and month, record-breaking weather extremes in line with the expected impacts of a warming world have brought disruption, destruction and even death to all corners of Maine. It feels like something has shifted — more than ever, Maine people have been forced to confront the consequences of climate change not as a future hypothetical, but as a present reality. “It’s overwhelming,” said Hannah Pingree, the co-chair of the Maine Climate Council, in an interview with The Maine Monitor. “The last month has made us all feel like, ‘Oh, wow, these climate impacts are really here. I didn’t think these things would happen so soon.’”