Maine asks judge to dismiss EV lawsuit that claims state is failing to reach climate goals

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 21, 2024

Maine officials asked a state judge Friday to dismiss a lawsuit by environmentalists accusing the state of failing to meet targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by not adopting a policy to boost the sales of electric vehicles. The Department of Environmental Protection is not required by law to adopt a policy expanding electric vehicle use and its “alleged failure or refusal” to adopt the policy is discretionary and not subject to judicial review, the state said in its response to an April 22 lawsuit by the Conservation Law Foundation, Sierra Club and Maine Youth Action. Emily K. Green, senior attorney for CLF, said in a statement that the state “would be better served by spending its time and resources to implement our climate law.

Maine saw nearly 100 heat-related emergency visits during heat wave

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 21, 2024

Between June 16 and June 20, heat-related illnesses prompted around 78 emergency room visits. Since the beginning of the year, Maine has recorded at least 131 emergency room visits prompted by heat illnesses. People over the age of 65 are several times more likely to die from heat-related illnesses and cardiovascular issues than their younger counterparts.

Sanford wood pellet manufacturer fined for repeated environmental violations, excess emissions

MAINE MONITOR • June 21, 2024

State officials voted Thursday morning to fine the operators of a Sanford wood pellet manufacturing facility $151,550 for a string of violations dating back to 2020. The violations – which include failing to meet testing deadlines, exceeding emissions requirements and failing to keep sufficient records — were ongoing even as the facility was awarded $600,000 in state funds in 2022. The money has not yet been distributed. The plant, operated by T&D Wood Energy LLC and formerly included Player Design, Inc., has been the subject of several complaints made to the state Department of Environmental Protection over the years, DEP staff said at a Thursday meeting.

Ocearch

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • June 21, 2024

OCEARCH is a data-centric organization built to help scientists collect previously unattainable data in the ocean while open sourcing our research and explorations. Open sourcing and inclusion at every level, and in real-time, allows the world to participate in our projects while being aware of the developing science. One of the programs is tracking white sharks along the U.S. East Coast, including Maine.

Opinion: If you can’t drink the water at school, what hope is there?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 21, 2024

There’s arsenic in the drinking water at our elementary school. If we have any credibility as a society responsible for the health and welfare of those not yet old enough to advocate for themselves, we need to make fixing that our top priority. Not destroying even more of our natural environment. ~ Heather Chase, Lyman

What does it mean to live in one of Maine’s nuisance bear hotspots

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 21, 2024

The hottest spot in the state for nuisance black bears is from Presque Isle to Van Buren, followed closely by central Penobscot County, just south of Bangor, according to the state. A nuisance bear is one that has become comfortable with people and the easy food opportunities they offer and won’t stay away. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife receives an average of 500 complaints a year about nuisance bears, mostly related to bird feeders and garbage. Maine has the largest bear population in the eastern United States, estimated to be from 24,000 to 36,000 animals, concentrated in the northern and central parts of the state. The state has a helpful Living with Black Bears website with more tips.

You can learn a lot in Bangor City Forest about where birds live

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 21, 2024

Birds are picky. They know exactly what they like. They will keep choosing to nest in the same area year after year. I am reminded of that whenever I walk into Bangor City Forest. There are 65 native tree species in Maine. Of those, 51 are hardwood and 14 are softwood. Each provides unique food resources to birds, whether it’s the seeds they produce or the insects that inhabit them. Bangor City Forest is the perfect place to discover what birds really want. Bird behavior is fascinating. ~ Bob Duchesne

Waterville native produces film about Donn Fendler’s ‘Lost on a Mountain in Maine’ experience

MORNING SENTINEL • June 21, 2024

Ryan Cook has come a long way from making movies as a 6-year-old in his native Waterville to soon launching the world premiere of his film, “Lost on a Mountain in Maine,” July 13 at the Waterville Opera House. Cook is one of the producers of the feature film, being screened as part of the upcoming Maine International Film Festival. It is the story of Donn Fendler, who in 1939 at age 12, got lost on Mount Katahdin while hiking with his family. He endured nine days in the wilderness while search parties scoured the terrain, lost 20 pounds and eventually made his way out of the woods to safety. The film, Cook said, is an adventure film and a family movie that incorporates the book’s story as well as interviews and recordings with Fendler.

Once promising Maine carbon capture company shutters

MAINE PUBLIC • June 20, 2024

In March, Running Tide Technologies was riding a wave of success. It announced it had locked 21,000 tons of carbon dioxide in the ocean off Iceland. The company delivered thousands of carbon offset credits to companies eager to show reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions. It had brought in $50 million in start up investment. But last Friday Running Tide suspended operations and laid off its remaining staff. Founder Marty Odlin points to changes in the credit market and other factors that made it tough to keep investors interested. And just days before Running Tide closed, an Icelandic newspaper published a searing investigation, raising questions about its importation of Canadian wood chips coated with limestone that it dumped in the ocean. Odlin said some of the employees Running Tide had at its peak are ready to carry on its mission, and that at least three new companies have already been started by former workers.

FBI says the 1996 murder of Unity College student and her girlfriend is finally solved

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 20, 2024

The FBI announced on Thursday that it had identified the suspect in the murder of a Unity College student and her girlfriend in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, in May 1996. Laura “Lollie” Winans and Julianne “Julie” Williams were murdered at their campsite near the Skyland Resort. DNA from several items of evidence was compared with the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System and matched with a mouth swab containing the DNA of Walter Leo Jackson Sr. Jackson died in prison in March 2018 in Ohio. He had a lengthy criminal history.

Boothbay-based Bigelow scientists detect rare sign of climate resilience

TIMES RECORD • June 20, 2024

A team of Boothbay researchers examined 60 years of data (1958–2015) on microscopic plankton in the North Atlantic. In a study published in “Frontiers of Marine Science,” the researchers contributed the first basin-level view of how the distribution of mixotrophs varies, detecting an increase in abundance as the Gulf of Maine warms. The study confirms that the ocean is changing at the molecular level, and since mixotrophs are flexible in how they get food, they possess resilience to global warming. If mixotrophs replaced the base of the planktonic food web, it would impact all oceanic life, including local seafood and the imperiled right whales that Maine is federally required to protect. Plus, microbial life in the ocean produces half the oxygen on Earth. Huge changes in the planktonic community would alter how much oxygen is available for humans to breathe.

Opinion: Maine Legislature did a lot to protect Maine wildlife

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 20, 2024

Maine Audubon testified on 80 individual bills in Maine’s 131st Legislature. Five of the most important wins for Maine wildlife:
• LD 1895 is about promoting safe offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine.
• LD 958 will protect loons from lead poisoning.
• LD 670 will set bird-safe building guidelines.
• LD 57 adds animals to the Maine Endangered Species Act.
• LD 2101 improved the enforcement of shoreland zoning.
There are many more wins to celebrate — including increased funding for the management of aquatic invasive species, expanding the consideration of impacts to endangered species, and protecting the rights of Mainers to plant native plants. We fell short on some bills, though, including: efforts to advance smart growth principles. ~ Francesca Gundrum, advocacy director, Maine Audubon

Maine home insurance rates are rising. Blame climate change.

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 20, 2024

Maine homeowners are facing the second-largest home insurance rate hike in the country, and climate change is to blame, according to an industry analysis. While Maine is one of the most affordable states for home insurance, premiums are expected to increase 19% this year.

Bangor sets new daily high temperature record during Maine heat wave

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 20, 2024

Thursday marked the third day of an oppressive heat wave that has been hanging over the state since Tuesday, bringing extreme conditions with it. Bangor on Thursday set a new daily high temperature record, reaching a high of 96 degrees. Millinocket saw a high of 97 degrees, breaking the daily record of 95 degrees, set during the 2020 heat wave.

Central Maine’s L.C. Bates Museum has preserved natural history for more than a century. Now it must preserve itself.

MORNING SENTINEL • June 20, 2024

Deborah Staber has been the director of the L.C. Bates Museum for more than 30 years. She can’t remember a time when there wasn’t some sort of renovation or preservation work going on at the museum. Staber describes the museum as “one of the last remaining collections of cabinets of curiosities in America.” In addition to the ongoing effort of preserving its extensive collection of natural and human history, Staber says the museum is always working to preserve itself, too. As the museum celebrates the 100th anniversary of its first taxidermized animal exhibits, Staber hopes that the renovation work now will help keep one of the country’s most unique and eclectic museums thriving through the next 100 years.

Opinion: Portland’s preserved lands deserve better protection

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 20, 2024

The Presumpscot River Preserve is one of the only conservation areas and trail networks within Portland city limits, the largest freshwater input into Casco Bay, an untouched nature preserve that provides essential habitats to hundreds of species. A Miami-based real estate developer pursuing a permit to build a major condo development abutting the Presumpscot River Preserve, proposes to demolish 14 acres of forested habitat and wetlands. This same developer built a retirement community in Saco that was plagued by construction deficiencies. We need to create affordable housing units, but when conserved lands are on the line, we need to be more discerning about the who and the how of housing development in Greater Portland. ~ Robert Benak, Protect Presumpscot

Letter: Climate report a call to action

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 20, 2024

The key takeaway from Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s recent greenhouse gas report should be that the state has a long way to go in cutting overall carbon pollution. Its optimistic conclusion that we remain on track is focused on net emissions, accounting for storing emissions in our trees and coastal wetlands. But this only works if today’s healthy forests and wetlands remain as they are for years. And we know that climate change threatens that stability — in fact, it’s happening right now via wildfires, devastating invasive species, droughts, storms, rapid sea level rise and record-breaking heat waves on land and sea. The report shows that we need to cut overall carbon pollution, not remain complacent with business-as-usual. ~ Dan Amory, Portland

Letter: Traffic considerations for Roux Institute

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 20, 2024

Since the Roux Institute site plan has been approved by the Portland Planning Board, tempered with concerns about so much traffic using one street for entry and exit, perhaps the Roux Institute could do something else to help alleviate the problem. They could rebuild the old railroad trestle to the Eastern Prom. It could be a pedestrian/bike/ebike path directly linked to the Eastern Promenade Trail or it could go big and make it a narrow gauge railway since the old railroad tracks are still there across from them. ~ Peter Ferrante, Portland

Letter: Prioritize housing over scenic views

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 20, 2024

A letter writer recently expressed concern for views to be lost if building height limits increase, (“Building height limits will forever eclipse scenic views,” June 14). When considering supporting this proposed height limit, I would ask our fellow citizens to consider that the loss of a view, no matter how lovely, can’t be compared to the lack of a home, no matter how humble. ~ Zoe Gaston, South Portland

Willard Beach added to list of state’s impaired waters

CAPE ELIZABETH SENTRY/SOUTH PORTLAND LEADER • June 19, 2024

Willard Beach will soon be added to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s list of impaired waters because of the persistent bacterial contamination in the water last summer. The designation does not mean the beach is unsafe for the public, city officials said at a City Council workshop last week, but recognizes the consistency of the issue and makes the city eligible for grants to fix it from the DEP. While only stormwater is expelled into the water at Willard Beach, it can sometimes be contaminated when damaged pipes in the sewer system leak into the stormwater system.