Column: Phases of climate change denial

CENTRAL MAINE • August 7, 2024

It is well-known that climates are changing worldwide; and that human activities are primarily responsible for it. Nonetheless, there is still a sizable number of people who deny that any such thing as human-induced environmental trouble even exists. Planet-wide pollution and habitat destruction have led directly to environmental disasters, climate change and mass extinction of species. There is no doubt about this, according to the climate scientists. But the denial — which is the denial of reality itself — has been persistent and discouraging. Climate change denial has to be a finalist for a lifetime-achievement Darwin Award. ~ Dana Wilde

Educational Hike at Quabbin Reservoir, August 24

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • August 7, 2024

If you live in Massachusetts or will be visiting nearby, RESTORE, the Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter, and Save Massachusetts Forests are holding an educational walk through an undisturbed forest and a recent logging site on the Quabbin Watershed public lands. August 24, 2024, 10 am - 3:30 pm. Learn about the Quabbin Reservoir, its history, fauna, and climate action as well as the campaign to end logging on the state lands of the Quabbin, Ware, and Wachusett watersheds.

Hotel development in Portland booming as city seeks to amp up winter tourism

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 7, 2024

An increase in leisure and business travel to Portland over the last decade has prompted a hotel building boom that promises to bring hundreds of hotel rooms to the region. Can the city absorb that many rooms? Industry experts say yes. About 1,250 new hotel rooms have come online in the last 10 years. Portland has at least 750 hotel rooms in various stages of the planning process, and there are more than 400 in the works in the surrounding area. About 15 million people came to the state in 2023. They spent about $9.1 billion, up from $8.6 billion the year before – and stayed for longer, according to the state Office of Tourism.

Shellfish harvesting ban in part of Casco Bay expected to end later this week

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 6, 2024

A temporary ban on harvesting oysters, clams and other bivalve shellfish that went into effect Sunday is expected to last until Wednesday or Thursday, according to a scientist at the Department of Marine Resources. More than 2 inches of rain fell Sunday morning, causing runoff containing bacteria from fecal matter to enter Casco Bay, triggering the shellfish harvesting closure stretching from Freeport to Harpswell. It is the eighth rain-caused closure of 2024.

Downeaster reports record-setting ridership, revenue for 2024 fiscal year

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 6, 2024

The Amtrak Downeaster reported its highest ever ridership and revenue during the 2024 fiscal year, carrying nearly 600,000 riders between July 2023 and June 2024. The line broke ridership records in 10 out of 12 months. Ticket revenue over the fiscal year topped $13 million – $2.63 million more than the previous record, set in 2023.

Award-winning Crystal Spring Farmers Market turns 25

TIMES RECORD • August 6, 2024

The American Farmland Trust has voted the the Crystal Spring Farmers Market the “best in Maine” for the third year in a row. The tradition began in 1999. Tom Settlemire, then-president of Brunswick Topsham Land Trust, organized the inaugural market with the goal of supporting an environmentally sound food system. Nestled on 331 conserved acres, the event now boasts 40 vendors weekly from May through October. On a single day, thousands of visitors purchase goods, including food-insecure community members who can access local produce using Harvest Bucks and SNAP benefits. Most farmers markets are organized by farmers. Crystal Spring Farms, being run by a land trust, sets it apart.

Letter: American wildlife belongs to everyone, not just hunters

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 6, 2024

I totally disagree with V. Paul Reynolds’ outdoors column, “Let pros handle wildlife decisions.” He wrongly assumes only hunters can be “experts” in wildlife management. Allowing hunters to make “wildlife decisions,” is like appointing a coal lobbyist to run the Environmental Protection Agency. Before you label me un-American, I graduated from West Point and served for 32 years as an infantry officer, including 28 months of combat in Iraq. I have shot more types of weapons than most people and learned that shooting is not as fun when your target can shoot back. ~ Charles Mitchell, Belfast

Herbicide used on Maine crops banned for harming unborn babies

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 6, 2024

An herbicide used to control weeds on a variety of crops for decades was banned Tuesday under an emergency order by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The risk to unborn babies was too high for the agency to wait, it said. The order to control Dacthal, or dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, is the first action of its kind the EPA has taken in nearly 40 years. Studies found pregnant mothers exposed to the chemical can have children with low birth weight, diminished brain development and IQs, and challenged motor skills from changes in fetal thyroid hormone levels, along with impaired thyroid development.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg touts federal investments in Freeport visit

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 6, 2024

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg visited two bridge construction projects on Interstate 295 and participated in a panel discussing infrastructure in rural communities Tuesday during a stop in Maine to tout investments by the Biden administration. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed by President Biden in 2021, invests $1.2 trillion in American infrastructure, about half designated for transportation needs. A total of $2.5 billion has been earmarked for 312 projects in Maine, $1.5 billion of it for transportation projects including roads and bridges, public transport, airports, ports and waterways.

Where Tim Walz stands on climate

WASHINGTON POST • August 6, 2024

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is now the second name on Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential ticket. A schoolteacher turned politician, Walz was first elected to public office in 2006, when he flipped Minnesota’s rural 1st Congressional District. He won reelection five times before becoming Minnesota governor in 2019. Minnesota must move to 100% clean energy by 2040, as required by a bill the governor signed in 2023. He campaigned on the issue twice. In July, the EPA awarded Minnesota a $200 million grant to reduce emissions by restoring peatland, supporting electric-powered vehicles and reducing food waste. Walz has long advocated for climate reform. Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous wrote Tuesday of Walz: “He has worked to protect clean air and water, grow our clean energy economy, and see to it that we do all we can to avoid the very worst of the climate crisis.”

Former mill town selected to house world’s largest duration energy storage project

MAINE MORNING STAR • August 6, 2024

A major investment may be on the horizon for a former mill town that is set to become home to the world’s largest multi-day energy storage system thanks to a nearly $150 million federal grant. Gov. Janet Mills and members of Maine’s congressional delegation announced a $147 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop the energy storage system at the former Lincoln Pulp and Paper Mill. The system is designed to enhance grid resilience and optimize the delivery of renewable energy. According to the governor’s office, the sizable grant is part of a larger $389 million regional grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for New England states to strengthen the electric grid and advance the use of clean energy.

The case for bear hunting

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 6, 2024

Most people who have experienced the Maine bear hunts — even those who never tagged a bear — come away with a special memory that lingers long. Bear meat, contrary to the myth, is excellent table fare if properly handled and processed. Hunting bear over bait is not a slam dunk. It’s not too late. You can either contact a Maine bear guide, or you can undertake your own unguided bear hunt. You need to start baiting in early August. ~ V. Paul Reynolds

Repurposed Lincoln paper mill could become world’s largest energy storage system

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 6, 2024

A one-time paper mill in Lincoln is slated to become the world’s largest energy storage system after the project won a $147 million federal grant, Gov. Janet Mills announced Tuesday. Mateo Jaramillo, chief executive officer and co-founder of Form Energy, a Somerville, Mass., energy storage technology and manufacturing company that’s a partner in the project, said the 85-megawatt multi-day battery system would have the most energy capacity of any battery system announced yet. Energy storage is increasingly important as wind and solar power projects replace fossil fuels.

South Portland surfing startup cuts back on waste by turning fishing nets into boards

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 6, 2024

Mike Ballin, 25, and business partner Luke Diehl, 34, are on a quest to turn old fishing nets into surfboards that last longer and are better for the environment than traditional ones. They founded the startup, Blueprint Surf Co., with three targets in mind for their boards: a minimal carbon footprint, high durability and a strong structure that will help surfers cruise the waves for years to come.

Failure of wind turbine blade off Cape Cod raises questions for Maine officials

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 6, 2024

The collapse of a wind energy turbine blade off Massachusetts in mid-July exposed a weakness in communications about environmental and mechanical hazards, raising an issue that Maine may have to address as it plans its own wind power presence in the Gulf of Maine. Debris from the broken turbine blade, about 350 feet long and manufactured by GE Vernova, washed up on Nantucket beaches. Residents posted photos of fiberglass and foam littering the tony island’s beaches. The online images sparked a tug-of-war between environmentalists who said the incident should not set back efforts to promote zero-carbon energy and skeptics who said the incident proves that wind energy can pollute the environment.

Maine’s emerging chemical threat in our home appliances

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 5, 2024

An environmental threat is emerging in Maine and throughout the world from the refrigeration chemicals that replaced ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons after they were banned in 1987. The toxic compound, trifluoroacetic acid, or TFA, is a byproduct of the chemicals now widely used in aerosol products and to cool refrigerators, air conditioners and heat pumps. It is produced when those chemicals, known as hydrofluorocarbons, degrade. TFA is widespread and has been increasingly found in drinking water and rain worldwide in recent decades, causing environmental experts to worry about possible undetected health risks. So far, Maine and the federal government are not regulating or testing for TFA, which is considered by many to be a forever chemical.

Whale carcass washes up on Kennebunk shore

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 5, 2024

A humpback whale carcass washed up on the shore of Kennebunk over the weekend, after it floated for weeks from the coast of Massachusetts to Wells. The whale, a female officials called “Lollipop,” washed up on Strawberry Island – off the Kennebunk coast – overnight Friday into Saturday, News Center Maine reported. From there, the body was floated into the bay and toward Libbys Point, where crews loaded it up and brought it to a composting facility. Lollipop was at least the third dead whale found in Maine waters in as many months.

Algae blooms, fueled by climate change, are threatening Maine's fresh water

NEWS CENTER MAINE • August 5, 2024

More lakes in Maine are being impacted by potentially toxic algae blooms, according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. "There are about 30 lakes in the state that routinely support algae blooms," state lake biologist Linda Bacon said. "Over the last 10 or so years, a few new ones have popped up, and we attribute those new bloomers for the most part to climate change."

Researchers are on a mission this summer to learn more about right whales in the Gulf of Maine

MAINE PUBLIC • August 5, 2024

Every spring, North Atlantic right whales were once known to migrate northward from their calving grounds off the southeastern United States to feed in the Gulf of Maine. But that all started to change 15 years ago when the endangered whales were seen in the Gulf less frequently, and researchers shifted their focus to the areas where larger aggregations were known to be in Cape Cod Bay and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Gulf of Maine has lacked consistent survey effort since then. This summer, the Maine Department of Marine Resources is launching its own research program, an initiative that includes the acoustic monitoring, these boat surveys and now monthly flights over the Gulf of Maine to search for right whales. Eventually, researchers will also monitor and sample for copepods, a type of zooplankton, that serve as a critical food source for right whales.

New commuter bus between Lewiston, Auburn, Portland gets mixed reviews so far

SUN JOURNAL • August 5, 2024

The Maine Department of Transportation’s new commuter bus service linking Lewiston, Auburn and Portland, called LAP, is in its third week of operation, with several daily trips between the three cities. The pilot bus service is set to run for at least two years. In June, Concord Coach Lines stopped service out of Lewiston. Almost a month later, LAP came along to attract some of the hundreds of workers who commute between Lewiston, Auburn and Portland daily. The pilot service has already left some passengers feeling frustrated with buses running behind schedule and sometimes not showing up at all. As of Monday, the times on the website were not accurate and not updated, the buses do not have GPS trackers on them, at least four of the six stops on the LAP’s route were unmarked.