Opinion: Climate crisis should be a priority in November’s election

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 23, 2024

It’s hard to believe that the U.S. electorate would vote for someone who, using the terminology of the UN secretary general, is steering us “on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.” It’s even harder to believe that the Republican Party’s platform is devoid of any mention of addressing the climate crisis, which is beginning to devastate our planet. Their goal most closely related to climate is to become the world’s dominant energy (aka oil and gas) producer, which is only adding (fossil) fuel to the fire. The absence of the inclusion of the climate crisis in the Republican platform presents an imminent danger to our country and planet. ~ Tony Ferrara, Brooksville, retired associate professor and coordinator of Climate Action Net

Maine organic farming group sues EPA over forever chemicals

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 23, 2024

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association joined a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to regulate the amount of forever chemicals allowed in sewage sludge. “MOFGA has had to divert significant staff time and financial resources to assisting farmers dealing with PFAS contamination from land-applied sewage sludge,” the lawsuit alleges. “The organization responded with nearly all staff hands on deck to provide affected farmers.” MOFGA is country’s biggest state organic farming group. It created a PFAS Emergency Relief Fund that has handed out more than $1.5 million in direct support to more than 50 affected farm families.

First Lyme disease vaccine in 20 years tested at midcoast hospital

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 23, 2024

The midcoast has the highest rates of tick-borne illnesses in Maine, which is why the state’s biggest health care system chose its Rockport hospital — Pen Bay Medical Center — as the site for research on a proposed new vaccine for Lyme disease. If the vaccine is determined to be safe and effective, it would be a huge advance, as there has not been a Lyme disease vaccine on the U.S. market in more than two decades. As of July 15, there had been 135 cases of Lyme confirmed in Knox County so far this year, which translates to a rate of 328 cases per 100,000 people — the highest in Maine. Several other coastal counties also lead the state in Lyme disease rates for this year, with 251 cases per 100,000 in Lincoln, 247 per 100,000 in Hancock and 216 per 100,000 in Waldo.

Opinion: We set out on the Appalachian Trail. Mistakes were made.

WASHINGTON POST • July 23, 2024

Mistakes were made, an instructive combination of inexperience and overconfidence. On June 30 we drove up to Baxter State Park and hiked the comically rocky 3.3 miles from Roaring Brook to Chimney Pond, perched halfway up the north side of Mt. Katahdin in a spectacular bowl of cliffs. My 19-year-old son, Mica, and I set off to climb Katahdin, because our Appalachian Trail starts at its summit. Katahdin is not especially big. But it is, out of all proportion to its height, a difficult mountain to climb. We ascended the Saddle Trail from Chimney. The last four-tenths of a mile is straight up a loose sand and gravel landslide scar, on a continuous forty-degree slope. Despite that, I’ve seen more than one person climb Katahdin in Crocs. Mistake Number One: Underestimating how much energy climbing Katahdin took out of me. ~ Rusty Foster

Opinion: The alternative to voting Democrat is hard to stomach

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 23, 2024

Not voting or, worse, switching sides because of the upcoming change, will have dire consequences for this country, its citizens and the world order. What is the potential danger? The answer: Project 2025. Authored and supported by hundreds of far-right Republican extremists and organizations, Project 2025 is a “cook book” for implementing authoritarian rule and MAGA ideology. A sample menu includes gutting laws protecting workers and the environment. Indigestion or “bon appétit?” ~ Sigrid R. E. Fischer-Mishler, Harpswell

Letter: Republican values leave other Americans behind

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 23, 2024

Republicans have turned into themselves to find agreement, and that agreement is one of denouncing the other party vs. coming up with ways to solve our many pressing issues of the day. Global warming is real. The Republican agreement is founded in hate and otherism, and that is not the American way. Or at least I hope it is not because if it is — and we will learn on Tuesday, Nov. 5 — no one will be safe when the party in power decides that our community, and what we believe in, are not welcome. ~ Tracy Floyd, Cape Elizabeth

Lawsuit shows divide between Janet Mills and Maine environmentalists

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 23, 2024

After multiple rounds of destructive flooding and storms dating back to December ravaged a vast chunk of Maine, environmentalists took the state to court and argued that Gov. Janet Mills is not acting with enough urgency to meet her own climate goals. The Conservation Law Foundation, Maine Youth Action and Sierra Club filed their lawsuit in April against the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Board of Environmental Protection. The DEP released an update in June that showed emissions were 30% lower than 1990 levels as of 2021 and that Maine was 91% of the way to meeting the 2045 carbon neutrality goal, thanks largely to carbon storage in trees and wood products. But the environmental groups suing Maine argued the state has missed statutory deadlines. Attorney General Aaron Frey’s office has asked the court to dismiss the case.

More Atlantic salmon could be in the Penobscot watershed than you think

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 23, 2024

“In the 1990s the Atlantic Salmon Commission gave IFW some captive broodstock that they were not going to use any more for egg production. We then stocked a number of waters with these retired brood Atlantic salmon in late fall,” according to state fisheries biologist Greg Burr. How many of these Atlantics are actually getting up the Penobscot River tributaries and into Maine lakes? Historically regarded as an anomaly or a fluke, is this fisheries event more commonplace than we once thought? So far this year, a little more than 200 Atlantic salmon have been tallied at the fish passage counting station on the Penobscot River. Another question: “Will Atlantic salmon breed with landlocked salmon?” Why not? DNA wise, they are identical fish.

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.