Mills opens public comment on offshore wind plan

MAINE MORNING STAR • April 25, 2024

Maine initiated its next step in the process of procuring offshore wind by asking for public input to inform future planning. According to a news release Wednesday from the Governor’s Energy Office, the state issued a Request for Information (RFI) that will be open until June 21 for members of the public to comment on the state’s plan for offshore wind development. The document has more than a dozen questions the public can respond to about implementation, fishery protection, ports and more; however, it is not soliciting actual offshore wind project proposals at this time. 

The Arctic is Greening: A View from Baffin Island, Apr 29

BOWDOIN COLLEGE • April 29, 2024

Climate warming is initiating several major changes to polar regions. In the Arctic, warmer and wetter conditions are causing landscapes to green, as treelines move northward and vegetation becomes more productive. Arctic greening has the potential to change local ecosystems, northern communities, and the Earth system. In this presentation, Bowdoin Professor Phil Camill will offer insights on arctic greening worldwide and will showcase, with a photo tour and some preliminary data, the view from one of his research sites: Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada. At Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Visual Arts Center, Beam Classroom, April 29, 7:30 pm.

Fort Halifax Park in Winslow to reopen Friday after monthslong closure

MORNING SENTINEL • April 25, 2024

Fort Halifax Park, which sits at the confluence of the Kennebec and Sebasticook rivers, has been closed to the public since the Dec. 18 flood damaged the park’s bandstand, washed away benches and took chunks of earth as it went. The park will reopen this week while the town continues to work to replace the stage and rebuild other amenities.

Understanding the Air We Breathe

COLBY COLLEGE • April 25, 2024

Associate Professor of Chemistry Karena McKinney studies biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), or in layman’s terms, the emissions from trees. “As an atmospheric chemist, I’m looking at chemical processes related to air quality and climate. My research has been focused specifically on plant emissions of organic compounds, which affect atmospheric composition, and how they interact with other, human-made emissions,” said McKinney. “Forest emissions contribute to small particles that form in the atmosphere that generally have a cooling effect on climate. As climate changes, the trees change, which impacts the emissions, and it becomes a feedback loop. I want to understand how it’s changing.”

Lawmakers, advocates at odds with Mills over right to sue in farmworker minimum wage bill

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 25, 2024

Lawmakers and advocates who support a bill to give farmworkers protections under Maine’s minimum wage law are frustrated by a veto from Gov. Janet Mills, who has argued that lawmakers’ changes to the bill would jeopardize farmers’ financial security. Mills’ veto of L.D. 2273 on Tuesday hinged on an amendment made in the Labor and Housing Committeeto strike a provision in the original bill that placed enforcement duties with the Maine Department of Labor rather than allow farmworkers to pursue private litigation in response to alleged violations. The governor said she offered a compromise that would allow employees to seek a right-to-sue letter from the Department of Labor, but it was rejected by the committee. In order to override the governor’s veto, lawmakers would need two-thirds support in each chamber, which is unlikely.

Opinion: Renewable gas will help Maine reach its climate goals

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 25, 2024

Recently a proposal called for banning the expansion of gas distribution systems in Maine even though natural gas is lower emissions and lower cost than other fuel sources. While I’m relieved the proposal in the Legislature was rejected, it remains troubling. As a farmer, I feed the state, my family, my friends and my neighbors. In 2019, Summit Natural Gas approached us to create one of the nation’s first community dairy digesters at our farm. Today, that digester is providing many economic, energy and environmental benefits by capturing the methane from the manure at our farm and using it to create a carbon-negative gas that takes more emissions out of the air in the form of captured methane than is put back into the air when burned at the burner tip. I hope we can once again lead in Maine’s way by preserving energy choice and making sure the RNG facility at our farm isn’t Maine’s last. ~ Jenni Tilton-Flood, Flood Brothers Farm, Clinton

High Peaks Alliance welcomes seasonal recreation ranger

DAILY BULLDOG • April 24, 2024

Matthew Kusper has been involved in the conservation industry since 2018 when he joined his first Conservation Corps. Since then, Kusper has embarked on trail projects in the Carolinas, Alabama, Virginia, Kentucky, Colorado, and Maine. First exposed to the highlands of western Maine during his thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2019, he returned to the region in 2021 to lead the MATC’s trail crews for two seasons. Kusper will oversee the trails, campsites, and Leave No Trace outreach in the Bureau of Parks and Lands’ Bigelow Preserve & Flagstaff Lake Public Land, Crocker Mountain, Mt. Abraham, and newly conserved Barnjum areas.

Bethel artist Mattie Rose Templeton illustrates importance of dark skies

BETHEL CITIZEN • April 24, 2024

Bethel artist Mattie Rose Templeton grew up off-grid “in the dark” and rather ironically is the illustrator for the Appalachian Mountain Club’s first children’s book, “If You Can See The Dark.” The book teaches children about the importance of dark skies for animals, plants and people. She said the book, in part, promotes AMC’s Maine Woods International Dark Sky Park at the edge of the North Maine Woods. It’s an expanse of more than 14,000 square kilometers of largely uninhabited forest land that stretches from Monson, Maine, to the Canadian border. According to the AMC website, the region is one of the darkest places remaining on the East Coast.

Two-year pilot project will study staggering decline of eelgrass in Casco Bay

MAINE PUBLIC • April 24, 2024

Friends of Casco Bay and other conservation groups said they'll launch a two-year pilot project this summer to study an alarming decline of eelgrass in Casco Bay. Eelgrass meadows are a vital fish habitat that reduce erosion, buffer the effects of ocean acidification, and capture carbon. State mapping shows eelgrass habitat in Casco Bay has decreased by 54% in just four years. Casco Baykeeper Ivy Frignoca said the pilot project will study two healthy eelgrass beds that could shed light on what is causing the decline.

Firefighters from several towns battle woods, grass, brush fires in Farmington

SUN JOURNAL • April 24, 2024

Firefighters from several towns battled woods, grass and brush fires in two locations Tuesday. A woods fire was reported about 3:30 p.m. at the intersection of Mosher Hill Road and Federal Row on the Farmington/Industry line. A Central Maine Power Co. power line was sparking at the top of a utility pole and ignited grass. About 20 minutes later a second fire was reported in West Farmington caused by a campfire Monday night that wasn’t completely extinguished.

Indoor farm in Westbrook secures nearly $60 million in financing, with 2025 opening in view

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 24, 2024

The developers of a four-story hydroponic farm said Wednesday they have secured nearly $60 million in financing to wrap up construction and begin operating early next year in the city’s downtown. Vertical Harvest Farms, an indoor farming company focused on microgreens, said $59.5 million in financing will advance its work to develop and operate the 51,000-square-foot vertical farm. The Westbrook business is expected employ 47 workers, with half the workforce including people with intellectual and physical disabilities, CEO Nona Yehia said.

Federal grant for Scarborough Marsh climate work hailed as ‘monumental’

SOUTH PORTLAND-CAPE ELIZABETH SENTRY • April 24, 2024

The Scarborough Land Trust and its partners will receive $1.4 million in federal coastal resiliency funding that is expected to have a lasting impact on the Scarborough Marsh. “This is really a monumental point for the history of the marsh,” Andrew Mackie, director of the Scarborough Land Trust, said. The grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is part of a $123 million package, over $10 million of which is going to efforts in Maine. Many of the partners involved in the grant, including the town, are already working on marsh studies and conservation projects. The funding allows for further collaboration.

There are a lot of fallen pine cones in Maine right now. Here’s why.

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 24, 2024

A combination of factors has likely led to an unusually large amount of pine cones in Maine this year. In fact, it’s a “special” time in the cycle that only happens every five years or so, according to Dr. William Livingston, director and associate professor of forest resources at the University of Maine. Livingston, who is also chair of the Multi-state Project on White Pine Health, noted that like other tree species, white pine will typically only produce a large number of cones every three to five years. That’s known as a “mast” year, and the Pine Tree State is now experiencing the fruits of that windfall production that happened this past fall, he said.

Winslow looks to revitalize its downtown, improve pedestrian walkability in new 10-year plan

MORNING SENTINEL • April 24, 2024

New storefronts, restaurants and other businesses along Bay Street. Unified architectural design standards. Encouraged pedestrian walkability. Preparation for the impacts of climate change. This is the vision laid out in a new comprehensive plan for Winslow, in which town officials have described their goals over the next decade for making community improvements. Winslow Town Manager Ella Bowman said that the comprehensive plan will maintain Winslow’s rural character while advancing new development downtown.

Utility opposes new rules for heat pumps popular in Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 24, 2024

Versant Power is pushing back against a new approach to broaden the use of heat pumps, which already are a key part of Maine’s toolbox to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Efficiency Maine Trust, a quasi-state agency that promotes energy efficiency, has shifted its rebate program to incentivize electric pumps that heat an entire house rather than one or two rooms. Versant Power opposes a shift to whole-house electric heat pumps, saying affluent homeowners and developers will benefit.

Letter: Support the rapid development of offshore wind

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 24, 2024

The plan is for floating offshore wind turbines to provide about 50% of the electric power Maine will need by 2040. More great news is that experts predict offshore wind will provide between 10,000 to 30,000 new, good jobs for Mainers. The most hopeful part of this wind story is the amount of energy the U.S. may be able to get from East Coast offshore wind. The Department of Energy says the goal is 30 gigawatts by 2030 and 110 GW by 2050. This will go a long way toward replacing fossil fuel use and will slow the progression of climate change and clean the air. Please tell our legislators to support the rapid development of offshore wind. ~ Nancy Hasenfus, Brunswick

Opinion: Wildfire smoke is coming for the US again. We’re not ready.

BLOOMBERG • April 23, 2024

Canada’s emergency preparedness minister has warned repeatedly that an unusually dry and warm winter, combined with what might be an unusually dry and warm spring and summer, could lead to another terrible wildfire season. Global heating made last year’s intense fires in eastern Canada more than twice as likely. As long as people keep burning fossil fuels and spewing heat-trapping gasses into the atmosphere, the planet will warm even more and wildfires will become more frequent and intense. Wildfire smoke could cause as much as 27,800 U.S. deaths per year by 2050. Democrats in Congress last year introduced two bills to address the problem on a national level. Neither bill stands a chance in the Republican-controlled House. While we delay, lives and livelihoods risk being lost to wildfire smoke. Shun the outside air and wear some kind of mask, preferably an N95, when you must venture out. ~ Mark Gongloff

Gov. Janet Mills vetoes her farmworker wage bill citing litigation change by lawmakers

MAINE PUBLIC • April 23, 2024

Governor Janet Mills has vetoed a bill that would establish a minimum wage for farmworkers and allow them to receive cost-of-living increases. The proposal was brought forward this year by Mills herself after she vetoed a similar initiative last year. The current bill would allow farmworkers to earn the state’s minimum wage – currently $14.15 per hour. But the governor said a change to her bill by lawmakers compelled her to veto it. The amended version would allow farmworkers to sue their employers, a prospect that the governor said goes well beyond her proposal which would have left wage enforcement up to the state labor department.

Gov. Mills vetoes 3 bills, including measure to set minimum wage for farmworkers

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • April 23, 2024

Gov. Janet Mills vetoed three bills on Tuesday, including measures that would have set a minimum wage for farmworkers in Maine and allow them to engage in certain labor-related activity. She also rejected a bill that would have required the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill to treat water discharge so that it does not exceed the drinking water standards established by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

Protective artificial dune could be in Scarborough Beach future

SCARBOROUGH LEADER • April 23, 2024

Work is nearly complete at Scarborough Beach State Park to repair damages from January’s storms and a plan to prevent similar storm damage with the use of an artificial dune is taking shape. The storms drove seawater and beach sand up the long, narrow path to the parking lot. Greg Wilfert, director of the park, said, “We lost 6 to 10 feet of dune depth, but the dunes did their job,” and will have time to naturally recover this summer. Beaches in the southern part of the country have used artificial dunes with success. At Scarborough Beach, a rectangular box about 10 feet wide and 3 feet tall filled with silt or sand could be placed at the beach entrance to the path. There would still be room for people to walk around the dune box on both sides.