Maine environmental board nears decision on controversial 'clean car' rules

MAINE PUBLIC • March 13, 2024

State environmental regulators are expected to weigh in next week on a controversial "clean cars" proposal for Maine. But some state lawmakers say it should be up to the Legislature to decide on the zero emissions standards. The so-called "clean car" rules are opposed by many Republicans and have become a major issue heading into the election. They would require that roughly half of cars sold in Maine by the model year 2028 are either plug-in hybrids or fully electric. That percentage would increase to 82% of car sales by 2032. The Board of Environmental Protection was originally supposed to decide on the zero-emission standards late last year, but the vote was postponed due to the mid-December storm that knocked out power to tens of thousands of Mainers and flooded riverfront communities.

Maine's public retirement system says 'fiduciary duties' limit divestment from fossil fuels

MAINE PUBLIC • March 13, 2024

The 2021 law called for the Maine Public Employees Retirement System to end future investments in fossil fuel companies, and divest from current holdings by Jan. 2026, "in accordance with sound investment criteria and consistent with fiduciary obligations." At a meeting with lawmakers Tuesday afternoon, MainePERS CEO Rebecca Wyke explained that while some progress has been made in moving away from fossil fuels, fully eliminating those investments would conflict with the system's "fiduciary duties" to pensioners, as laid out in the state constitution.

This Orono forest has a pine tree so enormous it has its own name

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 13, 2024

A massive pine tree sits in a shady forest. One thick, moss-covered branch swoops out from its side, then arcs up, reaching for the heavens. A few feet up, a second large branch sweeps out and up in a similar fashion. High above, bunches of long emerald needles seem to brush the bright blue sky. Meet “Big Old Tree,” the enormous pine that’s featured on the Orono Land Trust logo. The tree is located at Jeremiah Colburn Natural Area, on land that was the catalyst for the formation of the Orono Land Trust.

Surviving fishing gear entanglement isn’t enough for right whales – females don’t breed afterward

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 13, 2024

Scientists estimate that before commercial whaling scaled up in the 18th and 19th centuries, there may have been as many as 10,000 North Atlantic right whales. Today, fewer than 360 individuals remain. Almost 90% of them have been entangled at least once. When whales become entangled, they use extra energy dragging the fishing gear. They may struggle to feed and slowly starve. Ropes wrapped around whales’ bodies can cause infections, chronic emaciation and damage to whales’ blubber, muscle, bone and baleen. Even when entanglement does not kill a whale, it can affect individuals’ ability to reproduce, which is critically important for a species with such low numbers. On Feb. 14, NOAA announced that a female North Atlantic right whale that died had rope deeply embedded in the whale’s tail likely from lobster fishing gear in Maine.

Oil and gas companies emit more climate-warming methane than EPA reports

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO • March 13, 2024

The oil and gas industry may be emitting about three-times the amount of climate-warming methane than government estimates show, according to a new study in Nature. Methane is the main component of natural gas, and it is also produced when extracting crude oil. Methane is among the greenhouse gasses heating the planet, and it is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Legislators want final say over Maine’s electric vehicle rules

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 12, 2024

The Legislature’s two top Democrats and a group of minority Republicans want to take control of Maine’s electric vehicle rules. A bill proposed Tuesday would give lawmakers, not a citizen board, the final say on clean car standards meant to curtail vehicle tailpipe emissions, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Jack Shapiro, climate and clean energy director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, criticized the new legislation, saying it would overturn consideration of what he called a ‘clean car standard.’”

Column: Woods, words and wanderings in the poetry of Charles Weld

MORNING SENTINEL • March 13, 2024

The book is “Seringo” by Charles Weld is a collection of freely formed sonnets generated from the poet’s excursions in the woods and in Henry David Thoreau’s journals. The two activities bleed over into each other. Which, I have to tell you, is exactly my experience too. It’s not always clear, in memory, whether you’re remembering walking the woods or remembering reading the journals. In “Seringo,” you’re doing both. ~ Dana Wilde

Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust will expand nature programs for students

FORECASTER • March 13, 2024

Additional field trips for elementary school students and outdoor research programs for high schoolers are in store at the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust. The land trust’s education program received a boost from a grant last month to help support its hands-on nature-based science programming for about 1,500 students and 75 teachers in the coming year. The education program is run by Cathance River Education Alliance, which merged with the land trust last summer. The land trust received the $20,000 grant from the independent research and development nonprofit organization Battelle.

Climate action causes more harm than good for Mainers

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 13, 2024

Following a flurry of devastating storms that led to widespread  power outages and flooding in recent months, Maine politicians are posturing for more aggressive action on climate change. State policymakers are fighting the wrong battle: If Maine could flip a switch and eliminate all its carbon emissions tomorrow, it would make no observable or quantifiable impact on local, regional or global climates. It would, however, cause measurable economic harm to the average Maine family. No amount of state-level regulations, mandates, prohibitions, government subsidies or investments can reverse or prevent the weather events that afflicted Maine in recent months. Our first priority should be to protect energy options for all Maine families based on their needs. ~ Jacob Posik, director of legislative affairs at Maine Policy Institute, a free-market think tank

Opinion: This is a make-or-break year for the environment

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 13, 2024

President Biden has led the largest climate investment in U.S. history for CO2 and methane reduction, renewable energy, electrification, R&D and carbon monitoring. Donald Trump, is a champion of the oil industry. House Republicans are proposing to cut the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget enough to cripple the agency. They have suggested slashing the EPA administrator’s salary to $1. Trump will dismember EPA, build new roads through Alaska’s old growth stands in Tsongas National Forest, resurrect the Keystone pipeline for carbon-laden tar sands, and open up new oil drilling along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. American credibility around the world will sink while greenhouse emissions will soar, condemning us to decades of regrettable consequences. It’s a make-or-break year environmentally. ~ Jake Plante, author, “Reflections on the Environmental Movement and the Role of Governance”

This New England mountain trek is among my favorites

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 13, 2024

South Moat Mountain near Conway, New Hampshire, is one of my favorite mountain hikes. The 2,749 foot peak is particularly beautiful during winter. I included it in my book, “Mountains for Mortals — New England,” a mountain guidebook that features what I consider to be the 30 finest and most scenic mountain hikes in New England. The views were phenomenal. To the east was picturesque Mount Cranmore, with Mount Kearsarge slightly north. Moat Ridge extended north over Middle and North Peaks pointing toward the towering Presidential Range that was unfortunately enveloped in clouds.

Lewiston, Auburn to use federal funding toward riverfront improvements

SUN JOURNAL • March 12, 2024

Officials on both sides of the Androscoggin River will make improvements and bolster pedestrian access to riverfront areas after learning they will receive federal funding for the long-planned projects. Projects to improve the Simard-Payne Memorial Park area in Lewiston and extend Auburn’s Riverwalk received $3.9 million each in a congressional spending bill. Auburn’s Riverwalk expansion will extend the existing Riverwalk from Bonney Park along the Androscoggin River west and then south along the Little Androscoggin River to Washington Street.

Surry lobster dock destroyed by Sunday storm

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 12, 2024

Two months after many wooden piers along Maine’s coast were severely damaged or destroyed by a pair of storms, another storm has brought some additional destruction. Perry’s Lobster Shack in Surry, which functions as a lobster buying pier for local fishermen and as a seasonal takeout restaurant, was destroyed Sunday when it was submerged by storm surge in Union River Bay. The loss of the pier is the latest setback for working waterfront properties along the Maine coast, which are struggling to stay in business despite the impacts of climate change and sea level rise.

South Portland wildlife lecture series explores coexisting with coyotes

SOUTH PORTLAND SENTRY • March 12, 2024

As coyotes prepare for breeding season, residents are invited to learn more about these adaptable creatures and how to coexist with them. The Wildlife & Ecology Lecture Series at South Portland Public Library will host “Coexisting with Coyotes” on Thursday, March 14th at 6:00 pm. Presenters for the event include Sydney Raftery, City of South Portland Park Ranger; Maggie Maxwell, City of South Portland Animal Control Officer; and Geri Vistein, Maine Carnivore Conservation Biologist.

Baxter State Park officials warn eclipse-watchers of park closures, poor weather

MAINE PUBLIC • March 12, 2024

While many areas of Maine are actively seeking to draw crowds for the solar eclipse on April 8, officials at Baxter State Park are urging visitors to be cautious and consider other venues. Director Kevin Adam says much of the park will be closed, as is typical in the spring. He says campgrounds are closed, as are the roads through the park and trails on Katahdin. Unpredictable spring weather could mean several feet of snow or deep mud during the eclipse, Adam says. He says visitors should check out events and areas in the surrounding towns that will be better options for watching the eclipse.

Bath Climate Conversations: Demystifying Renewable Electricity Options, March 13

Are you interested in renewable energy, but you don’t know where to start?  Are you overwhelmed with the options and flyers that you get in the mail?  Come learn about different options for supporting renewable energy – whether it is installing it on your home, through a community solar subscription, or purchasing from a utility-provided renewable energy option.  You will leave this session empowered to decide which option is best for you and how to take the next step and support clean, renewable energy. This program part of a continuing series of Bath Climate Conversations focused on learning, discussing, and connecting around ways to sustain and support our vibrant town as climate change occurs. Hosted by Bath Climate Action Commission and the Patten Free Library in Bath and presented in person and on Zoom, March 13, 5:30 pm.. 

Maine fishermen take plea deal for herring dealing scheme

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 12, 2024

Five Maine fishermen and one fisherman from New Hampshire took a plea deal on Monday ending their trial on charges of catching and selling millions of pounds of unreported Atlantic herring, the Courier-Gazette reported. Glenn Robbins, 76, of Eliot; Ethan Chase, 46, of Portsmouth, N.H.; Neil Herrick, 48, of Rockland; Stephen Little, 58, of Warren; Jason Parent, 51, of Owls Head were indicted in January 2022 on 35 counts of conspiracy, fraud and falsifying fishing records, according to court records. Also indicted was Western Sea, Inc., the business that owns the Rockland-based vessel used to catch the fish. The defendants could receive sentences of up to a year in prison, fines of up to $100,000, and up to one year of supervised release.

Pentagon tries to dodge PFAS lawsuits over a product it helped invent

GRIST • March 12, 2024

The United States government said it is immune to 27 lawsuits filed by local and state governments, businesses, and property owners over the military’s role in contaminating the country with deadly PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.” The lawsuits are a small fraction of the thousands of cases brought by plaintiffs all over the country against a slew of entities that manufactured, sold, and used a product called aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF — an ultra-effective fire suppressant that leached into drinking water supplies and soil across the U.S. over the course of decades.

Editorial: Maine lawmakers should support outdoor recreation, send trail bond to voters

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 12, 2024

Maine has a long tradition of outdoor recreation. Hunting, fishing, hiking, paddling, skiing, snowmobiling, biking and other outdoor pursuits are part of the state’s brand. Increasingly, these activities draw people to Maine, both to visit and to live. These activities are also a vital part of the state’s economy. Outdoor recreation contributes $3 billion a year to the state’s economy and supports 41,000 jobs. Trails are an essential part of this equation. For the first time, Maine lawmakers have the opportunity to show support for a significant state investment in recreational trails. Lawmakers should pass LD 1156, a bond for $30 million for trails. Two-thirds support is needed to put the bond on the ballot, where Maine people will ultimately decide whether to support these investments in trails and outdoor recreation.

Maine PUC launches new series of discussions to hear Mainers' utility concerns

WGME-TV13 • March 12, 2024

On Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Double Tree hotel in South Portland, the Maine Public Utilities Commission will host the first in a series of coffee and conversation forums to hear general concerns Mainers have with their utilities. Commission chair Phillip Bartlett says in recent years the PUC has "heard from utility consumers more than ever,” adding customers want to know how utilities are being held accountable. Some other concerns customers can discuss include cost, reliability, and environmental impact.