Brunswick group organizing to do widespread PFAS screening in wake of toxic foam spill

TIMES RECORD • November 11, 2024

In the wake of the worst toxic firefighting foam spill in Maine’s history, a renters organization is working to better inform the public and widely test for toxic forever chemicals in Brunswick Landing. The Brunswick Renters Organization is compiling requests for a bulk order of home test kits for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — better known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.” The aim, it said, is to create a database of contamination levels around the former Brunswick Naval Air Station while raising awareness about the long-running history of military contamination.

US top climate negotiator: ‘We won’t revert back’ as Trump prepares to take over

ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 11, 2024

During the first day of the U.N. climate talks, COP29, Climate Adviser John Podesta struck a defiant but realistic tone in a press conference. He said Trump will likely pull the United States out of the landmark Paris Agreement and try to roll back many of the Biden Administration’s signature climate moves, including the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that included $375 billion in climate spending. “Are we facing new headwinds? Absolutely. But we won’t revert back to the energy system of the 1950s. No way,” Podesta said. “Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable.”

Editorial: Offshore wind leases sold despite Trump pledge to end industry

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 11, 2024

Donald Trump, who was elected president on Nov. 5, has pledged to end offshore wind “on day one.” Industry experts believe he could slow, but not stop, the growth of renewable energy in the U.S. Last month’s lease auction, held just before the election, lends credence to this assessment. Eight offshore wind leases were sold. The fact that companies, including Central Maine Power owner Avangrid, purchased leases to install offshore wind turbines is an endorsement of the potential for this relatively new form of electricity generation. More data needs to be collected about the potential impact of offshore wind on marine species, including endangered right whales, and on commercial lobster fishing. But, last month’s federal lease auction shows there is serious interest — despite threats to hamper the industry from the next president — in developing offshore wind to help meet growing demand for renewable energy.

How Donald Trump could hamstring Maine’s offshore wind projects

ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 10, 2024

Opponents of offshore wind energy projects expect President-elect Donald Trump to kill an industry he has vowed to end on the first day he returns to the White House. “We are going to make sure that that ends on Day 1,” Trump said in a May speech. “I’m going to write it out in an executive order. They destroy everything, they’re horrible, the most expensive energy there is. They ruin the environment, they kill the birds, they kill the whales.” Numerous federal and state scientific agencies say there is no evidence linking offshore wind preparation to a spate of whale deaths along the U.S. East Coast. Commercial fishermen in Maine said they hope the Trump administration will undo policies designed to help build and approve offshore wind projects. Trump is unlikely to end projects under development but might have more leverage over ones still in the planning stage.

Maine dams face an uncertain future

MAINE MONITOR • November 10, 2024

As Maine’s aging dams require significant investments to meet stringent environmental standards and continue operating, will their owners double-down and do what it takes to keep them running, or will state influence and local opposition send them to retirement? These complex decisions are more urgent than ever. Maine must fulfill its quickly approaching renewable energy goals, and is pursuing more wind and solar projects to do so. Meanwhile, state policies on water quality and fish passage are more influential than ever, and proponents of aquatic habitat restoration are galvanizing to flood public comment forums on dam operation licenses with pro-dam removal messaging. What happens with Maine’s remaining dams could have dramatic implications for the communities that have been shaped by these structures for centuries and for the state’s renewable energy portfolio. 

A conversation about what will happen to Scarborough Marsh

MAINE MONITOR • November 10, 2024

Maine salt marshes are a key tool in the fight against climate change. For centuries, many of Maine’s coastal marshes were able to slowly build their surface, moving and growing to avoid rising seas. But as a warming world causes oceans to rise more rapidly and storms to intensify, the marshes are having a harder time keeping up — and as development presses in, they have little place to go. In this podcast Kate Cough, editor at The Maine Monitor, and Steve Pinette, a retired geologist and a leader in efforts to protect Scarborough Marsh, talk about the impact of climate change on Maine’s marshes.

Volunteers want to set up free firewood banks all across Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 10, 2024

Maine has a lot of trees and a lot of people who can’t afford firewood to heat their homes. It’s not always easy to connect the two. Groups of Mainers are trying to do just that by opening volunteer-run “wood banks” that operate like food pantries by offering free firewood to people as temporary fuel assistance. If the Maine Wood Bank Network reaches its goals, it will meet a clear statewide need for help to heat homes. About 10 percent of Maine households, or nearly 56,000 homes, use wood as their main source of heat. That’s up from 4 percent in 2015. Twenty-one percent of homes burn wood as a backup source of heat.

You can visit some of Maine’s giant boulders

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 9, 2024

Deep in the forest near my house, massive boulders lie scattered along a hill, chunks of granite so tall they dwarf surrounding trees. These types of glacial deposits can be found throughout Maine, and the stick season — the drab period between brilliant fall foliage and winter wonderland — is the perfect time for finding them. Many parks and preserves feature trails that are designed to visit them, including on Tunk Mountain in eastern Maine, on the edge of Kidney Pond in Baxter State Park, at the Debsconeag Ice Caves, Bubble Rock in Acadia National Park, Bass Rock in Webb Lake, and Daggett Rock in Phillips.

Opinion: Business community must fill leadership gap on climate

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 9, 2024

Former President Donald Trump’s reelection, along with a Republican Congress, ensures that leadership on climate policy is likely to plummet in priority while global warming targets fall further out of reach. Without government regulation and incentives designed to reduce our environmental footprint and save money, other entities must step up and lead the country toward a clean, robust, innovative economy. The business community working together is the most logical agent of change. Our organizations are uniquely prepared to help businesses act on climate change, meet its challenges and seize the opportunities it presents to build a more prosperous, sustainable economy for the future. As leaders, we have a responsibility to take this issue seriouly and take action. It’s everyone’s business. ~ Joe Cutatone, Alliance for Climate Transition, and Jeff Marks, ClimateWork Maine

Greene residents to consider 600-plus acre solar array project, among largest proposed in Maine

SUN JOURNAL • October 8, 2024

Greene town residents will once again be asked to decide if they want to accept a large solar array project that planners say would bring money and jobs to the town. Swift Current Energy’s so-called Greene Apple Solar Project would spend roughly $200 million dollars setting up solar arrays across 600 acres that would connect to the Central Maine Power grid system.

Farmington students stage climate protest in wake of Trump's win

MAINE PUBLIC • November 8, 2024

A group of students at Mt. Blue High School in Farmington staged a walk out Friday to demand climate action by politicians in the wake of Donald Trump's election win. It was part of a wider day of protests organized nationally by the Sunrise Movement, a youth climate action organization. Senior Maya Kellett, who organized the protest hopes it will raise awareness and help to build community at her school. President-elect Trump has called climate change a 'hoax', promised on the campaign trail to roll back climate policies, outlined plans to open publicly owned lands to drilling, and has claimed he would stop wind power development 'on day one' in office.

Fire danger high for about half of Maine amid dry, windy conditions

MAINE PUBLIC • November 8, 2024

Fire danger is high for about half the state of Maine due to unusually dry and windy conditions. With no significant precipitation expected in the coming days, the danger is expected to stay high throughout the weekend except in northernmost Maine where the threat is low. Kent Nelson, a Forest Ranger Specialist with the Maine Forest Service, recommends that people limit all outdoor burning, even if the state is yet to fall under a total burn ban.

Column: The leaves can stay through the warmth of May

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 8, 2024

In my last column, I made my annual plea, channeling my inner Lorax, for readers to consider prioritizing wildlife during their backyard winter preparation. The simplified request is to “leave the leaves” as this provides critical wintering habitat for wildlife. Often, when we make suggestions like “leave the leaves” or do “No Mow May” there is pushback: people love their non-native flowers, they like the look of a grass lawn, etc. It is important to acknowledge here that this isn’t an all-or-nothing kind of thing; do what you can, as every little bit helps. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox

Column: When will the next rut happen? Same time next year

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 8, 2024

I’m going to share a little secret on how to accurately predict peak rut every year. It never changes from one year to the next. There’s a good reason for that, especially in northern deer. Selective pressure pushes peak breeding into a relatively narrow window of time. If fawns are conceived too early in the fall and subsequently born too early in spring, there won’t be enough food available for nursing mothers; too late and they won’t have time to grow big enough to survive their first winter. Nature continually tests the limits and that produces exceptions over the long term, but fawns conceived closest to the peak period have the best chance for survival. So when will the rut occur this year? The same time it did last year, and the year before, and the year before that. ~ Bob Humphrey

Column: It took me 40 years to find this bird, then experts said it wasn’t real

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 8, 2024

It took me a long time to add a hoary redpoll to my life list. Now, it’s no longer considered a separate species. In July, the American Ornithological Society decided it’s just a frostier version of the common redpoll. I feared this day would come. If only 9-year-old me had known bird listing would get so complicated, I might have taken up stamp-collecting. ~ Bob Duchesne

Brunswick Landing authority launches search for new director

TIMES RECORD • November 7, 2024

The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority launched its search for a new executive director this week, nearly a month after its former director resigned in the wake of a disastrous chemical spill that the entity is on the hook for. The MRRA Board of Trustees announced Thursday it was seeking a new leader for the entity charged with redeveloping the former Brunswick Naval Air Station, now known as Brunswick Landing. The search comes nearly three months after an airport hangar that MRRA operates spilled 1,450 gallons of a toxic firefighting foam concentrate mixed with 50,000 gallons of water. The aftermath has entailed a massive remediation effort as well as public outrage and concern for MRRA’s handling of its response to the spill.

Acadia had its busiest October ever

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 7, 2024

Acadia National Park just had its busiest October ever. The National Park Service estimates Acadia had 567,466 visits last month. That was 10,000 more visits than the park had during October in 2021, which was its busiest year on record with just over 4 million total visits across all months. Last month also included the busiest day ever in the park — regardless of time of year — when 3,636 vehicles drove through the Sand Beach entrance station on Oct. 13, the Sunday of Indigenous People’s Day weekend.

Maine DEP to encourage 'nature-based' erosion control

MAINE PUBLIC • November 7, 2024

Projects that use biodegradable materials to stabilize coastal shorelines may receive automatic approval under a new rule proposed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The agency reported a surge of applications to control and repair erosion caused by powerful winter storms this year. Shoreline stabilization projects currently have to go through individual review by department staff. But under the proposed regulation, such installations could be approved through permit by rule. Instead of applying, landowners could submit a form for their project that confirms it is eligible and meets the program standards. It's a way to streamline the permitting process as the state expects more coastal damage from storms driven by climate change. It will also encourage using wood, native plants, natural fibers and other "nature-based" techniques to manage erosion.

Letter: The environmental cost of electric vehicles

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 7, 2024

Many people believe that electric vehicles should help create a more green and economically gentle environment. I disagree. EV production causes a shockingly high amount of pollution. There are other big issues. Some of the biggest polluting factors are agriculture and clothing. ~ Giuseppe Aulisa, Bangor