Plant-based buildings are being reimagined in Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 23, 2024

The walls of a straw house are under construction in a former boat shop at a Rockland industrial park. They aren’t the stacked bales of a hand-plastered homestead; they’re panels of compressed Maine plants industrially sealed in Maine wood. Croft, a young company that expanded here from a former sardine cannery nearby, hopes to shake up the building industry — plus many other aspects of housing, farming and life in Maine. It’s part of a growing network here and across the country reexamining plant-based building materials. The underlying concepts aren’t new, but much of the movement today is focused on capturing carbon from the atmosphere in response to concerns about human and environmental health tied to modern construction. 

Leaving dog poop on hiking trails is a health hazard

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 22, 2024

Dog waste has long been a problem in public outdoor spaces, in trail networks and on beaches. In addition to being disgusting, it is a public health concern, and can harm the environment and wildlife. Dog waste has become such a concern that Acadia National Park changed its regulations, making it a citable offense for pet owners to leave their pets excrement anywhere in the park. In June 2018, the park launched a new Bark Ranger Program to encourage dog owners to learn and practice good etiquette. In the program, BARK is an acronym for:
— Bag your poop.
— Always wear a leash.
— Respect wildlife.
— Know where you can go.

Letter: Offshore wind can help power Maine’s future

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 22, 2024

Offshore wind development is an unparalleled economic investment for Maine. Building an offshore wind port itself would provide thousands of jobs. This port would harness skills Maine workers already have, from manufacturing and metalworking to engineering and design. More young Mainers finishing their education, whether studying engineering at the University of Maine or building trades at technical colleges and high school tech programs, would have the opportunity to join Maine’s workforce. An influx of young workers and families into our historic communities such as Searsport would keep our economy healthy, strong and sustainable well into the future. ~ Cason Snow, Bangor

EPA awards $4.3 billion to fund projects in 30 states to reduce climate pollution

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 22, 2024

The Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $4.3 billion in grants to fund projects in 30 states to reduce climate pollution. The money will go to 25 projects targeting greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, electric power, commercial and residential buildings, industry, agriculture and waste and materials management. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine will get a total of $450 million to accelerate adoption of cold-climate heat pumps and water heaters.

Northern lights possible over Maine this week as active solar season flares up again

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 22, 2024

Maine stargazers may be able to see the northern lights again, with another solar storm forecasted to wash over some of the state’s skies this week. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that a moderate solar storm will begin around 8 p.m. Tuesday before peaking at around 2 a.m. Wednesday, giving central and northern Maine another chance at seeing the aurora borealis. Locally, the agency predicted the best viewing would be happening in the Skowhegan area and points north.

Maine among multi-state coalition awarded federal grant to accelerate adoption of heat pumps

MAINE PUBLIC • July 22, 2024

Maine is among a coalition of New England states that will receive $450 million in federal funding to reduce climate pollution through a Heat Pump Accelerator project. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the money will fund efforts in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut to accelerate the adoption of both air-source and geothermal heat pumps, as well as heat pump water heaters.

Maine town declares a ‘right to fish’

HARPSWELL ANCHOR • July 22, 2024

Harpswell has a new right-to-fish policy intended to protect the town’s working waterfronts and fishermen. The policy has a provision protecting fishermen from nuisance complaints about sights, sounds or smells that might result from fishing activities, like operating boat engines or storing fishing traps on private property. Maine law already prevents such complaints against fishermen who are operating in line with applicable laws or rules. Harpswell’s fishing industry is hundreds of years old. The town has a fleet of 385 fishing vessels that generates about $68 million in gross annual revenue.

Great white shark sighting in waters near Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth

MAINE PUBLIC • July 22, 2024

The town of Scarborough has issued a warning after several reported sightings of a shark in southern Maine. Harbormaster Daryen Granata said a commercial fisherman first saw a shark off of Richmond Island Thursday. Paddle boarders reported seeing a shark off Crescent Beach Friday, and there was another sighting off Pine Point beach in Scarborough over the weekend.

Working waterfronts from Kittery to Eastport to receive $21.2 million for storm recovery

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 22, 2024

Dozens of Maine’s maritime businesses are set to receive more than $21 million in disaster relief to repair damage caused by a series of intense winter storms that decimated the state’s working waterfronts. Gov. Janet Mills announced on Monday that 68 Maine working waterfronts will receive $21.2 million in grants from the Working Waterfront Resilience Grant program. The money will help businesses reconstruct and improve damaged piers, rebuild and restore support buildings like bait sheds, and repair and upgrade fuel and electrical systems.

Maine awards $21M to storm-damaged working waterfronts

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 22, 2024

Nearly 70 working waterfront properties that were severely damaged or destroyed by back-to-back storms in January are getting $21.2 million in state funding to pay for repairs. The grant awards were announced Monday by Gov. Janet Mills. The properties, spread out along the coast from Kennebunk to Lubec, are considered important pieces of the working waterfront infrastructure that support Maine’s $600 million commercial fishing industry. The funds have been awarded through the state’s Working Waterfront Resilience Grant Program and are part of $60 million in state funding that the Legislature authorized through the supplemental budget in May.

Community solar is booming in Maine, but who owns the projects?

MAINE MONITOR • July 21, 2024

Maine’s community solar program, commonly known as net energy billing, has been wildly successful in incentivizing the development of small-scale solar power projects. They’ve popped up like mushrooms as developers chase the deals codified by state lawmakers, allowing them to sell power at a premium above market rates. Some critics point out that the situation has also allowed large corporations and private equity firms to pocket Maine ratepayers’ cash. A Maine Monitor analysis found it’s hard to track this pattern but corporate press releases offer glimpses that show developers have bundled projects, then sold them to some of the world’s largest corporations and investment firms.

How a USDA federal grant will benefit Brunswick school district

TIMES RECORD • July 22, 2024

Full Plates Full Potential, a Brunswick-based nonprofit, plans to use $7.4 million in federal grant funding to bring local seafood to school meal programs, improving nutrition access. The group will distribute funds to seven organizations across the state, including the Maine Coast Fisherman’s Association. While the four-year pilot program, which begins in September, aims to improve food access and the quality of school meals, it can also expand to other areas. MCFA Director of Strategic Initiatives Susan Olcott said the $608,606 Brunswick received will add new, multicultural options to the lunch line, strengthening a more resilient food system for local producers.

Volunteers hit the water for 41st annual Maine Audubon Loon Count

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 22, 2024

Volunteers set out on lakes and ponds across Maine early Saturday morning to take a snapshot of the status of a bird that is near and dear to Maine’s heart. The Maine Audubon Loon Count has tallied the bird’s population each year since 1983 with the help of more than 1,600 nature enthusiasts. The final results for this year won’t be released for several weeks, but last year’s count estimated 2,892 adult common loons and 411 chicks living south of the 45th parallel, a line that runs from Rangeley to Calais. Though 2022 and 2023 saw decreases in adult loon numbers, estimates have trended upward since the ’80s.

Letter: Gorham Connector – why are we doing this?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 22, 2024

The Maine Turnpike Authority’s Gorham Connector is estimated to cost $230 million-plus to complete; the project is opposed by many local citizens and is projected to have limited impact on future commute times. Why are we doing this? It is a speculative investment that solves a problem that currently does not exist. Does the MTA have a crystal ball showing the future? No for-profit company or group of investors would ever invest in such a venture. ~ Charles Hamblen, Gorham

Column: Maine’s ugliest bird vomits on intruders

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 22, 2024

Normally, I’d rhapsodize about all the beautiful songbirds that have kept us entertained for the last two months. Instead, I offer a 180-degree twist, with an ode to potentially the homeliest bird in Maine — the turkey vulture. Sure, it’s hard to love a bald bird with the dress and demeanor of a mortician. There’s actually a lot to love. Like all scavengers, vultures play an important role in nature, helping to limit the spread of disease. The first nesting turkey vultures in Maine weren’t discovered until 1982. They’ve been proliferating ever since. It’s not uncommon to see vultures standing next to an eagle, feasting over the same roadkill. However, a vulture on a nest might find itself in a vulnerable spot. In such cases, its chief defense is to vomit on the intruder. That’s usually a sufficient deterrent. ~ Bob Duchesne

A historic cleanup of the Penobscot River is finally beginning

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 22, 2024

Left on its own, the Penobscot River could take 80 years or longer to diffuse the estimated 9 metric tons of mercury spilled into it from a chemical plant in Orrington between 1967 and the early 1970s, according to experts studying the river. But a 2022 Maine U.S. District Court consent decree could speed up the river’s return to safe water by decades. The decade-long cleanup will require some of the mercury to be covered and other contaminated sediments to be removed, but scientists must figure out the best areas to do that for the biggest impact. They are getting ready to carry out their plans starting with a pilot project later this year and are seeking input from the public.

More Maine roads may be abandoned as climate change brings worse floods

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 22, 2024

As climate change causes heavier storms in Maine, transportation officials say they’ll more frequently have to answer questions about whether to maintain low-lying roads that are prone to flooding, whether driven by tides and winds along the coast, or by intense rainfall in other parts of the state. In some areas, officials may decide to permanently close low-lying sections of a road, rather than spending money to fix them over and over again, or improve a minor road when alternate routes already exist.

Gorham Connector plan’s public review timeline gets extended

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 21, 2024

The Maine Turnpike Authority will extend its timeline for public comment and permit applications for the increasingly controversial Gorham Connector project, the agency has announced. The goal is to ensure a thorough review and integration of public feedback and accommodate upcoming leadership turnover at the authority, a spokesperson said. The authority has spent at least $4.5 million acquiring land needed to build the 5-mile, four-lane spur, which is expected to cost well over $200 million to complete. The project faces mounting concern from opponents who believe it will worsen suburban sprawl and the commuter traffic congestion it’s meant to tame, as well as people who want to prevent it from cutting through Smiling Hill Farm.

Rip currents are on the rise in Maine, along with swimmers in distress

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 21, 2024

Lifeguards at some of Maine’s most popular swimming beaches are reporting unexpected fallout from the series of high-water storms that battered the state’s shoreline last winter: More swimmers are being pulled into rip currents and need to be rescued. The high winds, high tides and high waves that destroyed fishing docks and coastal roads from Kittery to Cutler also reshaped the surf zone, dumping sand scoured from dunes and beaches out beyond the low-tide mark to create a new system of largely invisible underwater troughs and sandbars. As of Thursday, lifeguards have rescued 39 distressed swimmers from Old Orchard Beach rip currents this summer, and the tourist season has only just begun. Rip currents account for about 80% of the 60,000 rescues conducted each year at U.S. beaches.

Can Maine’s coastal restaurants survive climate change?

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 21, 2024

Seasonal seafood restaurants dot Maine’s coastline from York to Eastport. They date back about a century. Like lighthouses, rocky beaches and lobster (which they inevitably prepare), they are practically synonymous with Maine. From lobster shacks (with decks, walk-up windows and picnic tables) to their plusher siblings (with roofs and dining rooms), these scenic, quintessential eateries are imprinted on the memories of generations of Mainers and visitors. But as the string of storms that pummeled the state’s coastline last winter demonstrated, such cherished summertime destinations are at grave risk from climate change. And not just the physical structures, either; the fast-warming waters in the Gulf of Maine threaten their menus of local fish and seafood.