Yard South developer withdraws controversial plan in South Portland

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 4, 2024

The developer of Yard South, a controversial mixed-use proposal to redevelop the city’s former World War II shipyard property, has withdrawn its rezoning request amid organized opposition from residents. PK Realty had submitted a rezoning request in July for a proposal that would have added about 1,000 residential units, including 100 subsidized, a waterfront park and other community amenities within 15 to 20 years. “It’s just become really apparent that the city doesn’t have a process in place to manage a project of this scope and scale,” Packard said Monday.

New England grid reports greenhouse gas reductions

MAINE PUBLIC • November 4, 2024

Greenhouse gas pollution from electricity generation slid 4% in 2023, according to a new analysis from regional electric grid operator ISO-New England. Last year's drop in climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions is linked to mild winter and summer temperatures that limited periods of high electricity demand. Falling natural gas prices in 2023 also made that fuel more economical than coal or oil for electricity generation, the grid operator added. But the growth of solar and wind power played a role in curbing greenhouse gas pollution too.

Groundbreaking eelgrass pilot restoration takes root in Casco Bay

TIMES RECORD • November 4, 2024

Eelgrass, or Zostera marina, is found along the Atlantic coast from Chesapeake Bay to Maine, but its population has declined drastically in recent years. According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, more than 50% of native eelgrass has receded. Many factors have contributed, from stormwater pollution to invasive green crabs munching on the grass beds. Hidden out of sight, the aquatic plant plays a key role in coastal environments and has captured the attention of scientists. Ecologically, it provides a habitat for dozens of juvenile species, from striped bass and blue crabs to lobsters, mussels and bay scallops. Local scientists are embarking on an underwater climate solution — a pilot-scale restoration of eelgrass to capture carbon emissions and mitigate effects.

Portland to consider temporary moratorium on new hotel projects

MAINE PUBLIC • November 4, 2024

The Portland City Council on Monday night will consider a six-month moratorium on new hotel projects and expansions. Supporters say it would give city officials time to review inclusionary zoning rules passed in 2019. Those rules require that developers provide one unit of low-income rental housing for every 28 hotel rooms that are built in Portland, or they must pay a fee. Moratorium backers argue that no affordable housing units have been built by hotel developers in the five years since the rules were approved and that the fees aren't enough to cover the true costs of new housing construction. The proposed moratorium would not apply to projects that have already submitted applications.

Maine experiencing ‘abnormally dry’ fall, heightened wildfire concerns

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 3, 2024

The state of Maine has seen a dry fall so far with parts of the state expected to remain in moderate drought conditions into November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recorded 3.61 inches of precipitation in the Portland area from September through October this year, 5.41 inches below normal. Dry conditions are expected to continue into November.

Letter: Vote yes on Question 4 to support Maine’s outdoor economy

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 1, 2024

Outdoor recreation is a critical component of Maine’s economy. Many towns in Maine rely primarily on outdoor recreation for economic stability. However, Maine does not have a history of investing in this industry. If we pass the Maine trails bond, which is Question 4 on the Nov. 5 ballot, we will invest 30 million into designing, maintaining, and creating trails all over Maine. This bond can help Maine to capitalize on its crucial, yet fragile, outdoor recreation industry. ~ Kyle Arthenayake, Waterville

It’s all about the grid: the past, present and future of energy in Maine

MAINE MONITOR • November 3, 2024

Maine Monitor editor Kate Cough, in a Mitchell Center talk, explored the past and future of energy in Maine. The talk focuses on the changes that have shaped Maine’s energy landscape since the late 1990s, when the Legislature effectively banned grid owners from owning and operating generation plants, and how those changes have influenced today’s landscape as the state looks to incorporate more renewable energy sources and meet its climate goals.

Opinion: Maine delegation should take a page from the history books on climate action

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • November 3, 2024

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered a mostly forgotten address to Congress in which he detailed how “a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels” would affect future generations. It took nearly 60 years to heed his advice. The rich history of past bipartisan cooperation on climate change should be used as inspiration for the Maine delegation to protect and/or build on Biden’s recent successes, the approach depending on whether a climate action supporter or denier wins the White House. ~ Chelsea Henderson, author of “Glacial: The Inside Story of Climate Politics”

Clearing of trees on Sears Island concerns area residents

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 2, 2024

Workers have recently cleared some trees on the midcoast island that Maine is trying to develop as a staging facility for its proposed offshore wind industry. While state transportation officials say that clearing was meant to prepare the site for geotechnical work by a subcontractor, a representative of the group that oversees a conservation easement on the state-owned island argued that it was not given proper notice of the work. It was the latest case of area residents who are trying to protect Sears Island objecting to how the state is pursuing its goal of starting an offshore wind industry in the Gulf of Maine, after the project was recently dealt a setback when the federal government denied Maine’s request for a $456 million grant to help pay for it.

On opening day of deer season, some hunters largely unfazed by PFAS advisory

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 2, 2024

Hunters who got off to a quick, successful start to the season Saturday morning in areas around two new “Do Not Eat” advisory areas said they avoided the affected areas and were not concerned about contamination in nearby places.

From Maine to Miami: The ‘Ghost Forests’ Haunting Coastlines

WOOD CENTRAL • November 1, 2024

“Ghost Forests” appear from Maine to Miami and bend back around the Gulf of Mexico, leaving gaunt tree skeletons” stripped of leaves and bark. Gradually, forests and bogs give way to more salt-tolerant thickets. As the globe warms, sea levels rise, and more saltwater encroaches land, “invading seawater advances and overtakes the freshwater that trees rely upon for sustenance,” according to NOAA. “The salty water slowly poisons trees, leaving a haunted ghost forest of dead and dying timber.”

University of Maine System won’t allow hunting on its lands

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 1, 2024

The University of Maine System will not allow hunting on most of its nearly 15,000 acres across the state. Site supervisors on some of the system’s farms and forest lands had allowed hunting against university policy, according to Samantha Warren, system spokesperson. About a dozen people were told they could hunt on university research farms this year. She did not specify which properties were involved and did not say whether the permission to hunt would be rescinded. “UMaine’s weapons policy is consistent with those of all other public universities within the University of Maine System and we are not aware that hunting has been authorized on any other public university property,” Warren said.

Congress urges President to designate Frances Perkins Homestead as national monument

MAINE PUBLIC • November 1, 2024

Members of Congress are urging President Joe Biden to designate the Frances Perkins Homestead in Newcastle as a national monument. Forty-two members wrote to the president, citing Perkins' accomplishments as the first female cabinet member and longest-serving Labor Secretary, one of the architects of the New Deal, and champion of programs such as unemployment insurance and Social Security. The Homestead is currently a National Historical Landmark, but a national monument designation, they argue, would further the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of empowering the National Park Service to recognize contributions women have made to our country.

Maine BEP wrestles with fees for solar, wind impacts

MAINE MONITOR • November 1, 2024

Northern and downeast Maine should be excluded from aspects of rules intended to protect large undeveloped tracts of land from the development of solar, wind and high-impact transmission lines, members of the Board of Environmental Protection recommended at a meeting earlier this month. The rules are part of new fee programs being developed by the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry that would require certain large-scale energy projects to pay for impacts to high-value habitat or large swaths of undeveloped land in an effort to direct development away from those areas. In directing DEP staff to remove northern and downeast Maine from part of the proposal, board members also reasoned that the state already has mechanisms in place to compensate for impacts.

Winslow considers demolishing former junior high, but $450,000 environmental cleanup must come first

MORNING SENTINEL • November 1, 2024

As town officials move to demolish the abandoned junior high building, officials say hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of environmental remediation must be done before any work can begin. The nearly 100-year-old former school at 6 Danielson St. has sat largely unused for four years since being replaced by the new junior high school down the street.

Commercial alewife fishing may return to this Maine town

PENOBSCOT BAY PRESS • November 1, 2024

Bailey Bowden, chair of Penobscot’s alewife committee, just received news he’s been hoping to hear for a decade. On Oct. 23, the quasi-governmental Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission approved the management plan for shad and river herring, including alewives, submitted by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. That state plan includes a proposal to reopen Penobscot’s commercial fishery at Wight’s Pond. There is still a process under state law before commercial harvesting can occur during next year’s spring alewife migration and spawning. “We have to get approval at the annual town meeting,” Bowden said.

Massachusetts ratepayers to pay extra $512M for CMP hydropower corridor

ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 1, 2024

Three Massachusetts utilities and Central Maine Power’s parent company have agreed that Massachusetts ratepayers must shoulder $512 million in additional costs caused by delays in construction of a power transmission project in Maine that will allow Canadian hydropower to reach the New England power grid. Proponents said Wednesday that the project still represents a good deal. The project had to overcome multiple hurdles. It won all regulatory approvals, but work was halted after Maine voters rebuked the project in a November 2021 referendum. A jury concluded the referendum was unconstitutional because it violated the developers’ vested rights.

Bangor had its warmest Halloween on record

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 1, 2024

This Halloween was the warmest on record for Bangor. The high hit 78 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday. That surpasses the old record of 71 degrees, set in 1956. It’s also the warmest high for Bangor so late in the year. The previous record high was 75 degrees, set on Nov. 6, 1938. In Caribou, Thursday’s high of 77 degrees surpassed the previous record — 69 degrees — for Oct. 31, set in 1989. Houlton saw a record high 73 degrees, surpassing the record of 70 degrees, set in 1956. In Millinocket, trick-or-treaters were treated to a high of 75 degrees, breaking the record of 71 degrees set back in 1989.

Offshore wind is on the ballot in a midcoast legislative race

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 1, 2024

Rep. Reagan Paul, R-Winterport, is a conservative Republican running for re-election in House District 37, in part based on her opposition to offshore wind development around Searsport. Her challenger, Democrat Scott Cuddy of Winterport, has been involved with the Maine Labor Climate Council, a group that has been pushing for the development of offshore wind. But the effort has spawned an odd coalition of opponents, including tribal representatives, conservatives who oppose offshore wind energy because they argue it would threaten the fishing industry, and area residents who aren’t necessarily opposed to offshore wind but want to conserve Sears island. Some citizens have put their liberal beliefs aside to support Paul in the race.

Column: There’s coastal beauty – and so many trails – from Kittery to Calais

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 1, 2024

For the second edition of AMC’s “Best Day Hikes Along the Maine Coast” I re-hiked every trail, re-measured every mile and took new photographs. All the trail maps were updated. I also added 10 noteworthy new hikes to the guide, sprinkling them into the mix along with 40 originals. Tackle all 50 from York County, the Casco Bay region and the Midcoast to Acadia National Park and Downeast Maine and you’ll have hiked 194 miles. ~ Carey Kish