Opinion: I was a federal whistleblower. I know what an assault on science and regulation looks like.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 4, 2025

More information is essential to act in the public interest. The Clean Water Act led to a dramatic turnaround in water quality and ecosystem health, with a direct impact on the health of Americans. The willingness of politicians to reach bipartisan compromise to study the problem and regulate the offending industries was driven by a sense of fairness and accountability. Now that we face widespread toxic contamination again we should remember how science and regulation led to a more livable Maine. What we should not do is shoot the messenger. How we manage to uphold these values despite the best efforts of billionaires and mega-corporations will define Maine’s environmental and public health future. ~ Joel Clement, 10th generation Mainer and award-winning former federal whistleblower with a background in climate change, science, and the environment

Maine’s industry braces for impact from new tariffs

NATIONAL FISHERMAN • February 3, 2025

President Trump’s recent decision to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10 percent on Chinese goods will affect many industries. For the U.S. seafood industry, mainly focusing on lobstering, the new trade policies have sparked serious concerns about supply chain disruptions and economic consequences. Trump announced the tariffs on Saturday, February 1, and said they would go into effect on Tuesday, February 4. Industry leaders fear increased costs due to tariffs will create instability for American harvesters and Canadian partners. Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada, told Spectrum Local News, “These tariffs, if they actually happen, will badly impact Maine harvesters and the Maine lobster sector just as it will impact Canadians.”

Auburn, Lewiston advocating for more recreation as part of Great Falls dam relicensing

SUN JOURNAL • February 3, 2025

City officials on both sides of the Androscoggin River are working with environmental organizations to negotiate better river access and recreational amenities as the owner of the Lewiston Falls Hydroelectric Project looks to relicense the dams. Eric Cousens, executive director of public services in Auburn, said that since the hydropower facility is relicensed once every 30-50 years, this is the cities’ “one shot to advocate for fair and balanced use of the public river.” The cities and its partners in agencies such as the National Park Service are still far apart in negotiations with Brookfield on some requests, including timed releases, a portage trail, emergency and recreation access below the falls, and recreational flow info that can be made available in real time to the public for trip planning.

Maine and Canada's highly integrated lobster industries may face impacts under potential tariffs

MAINE PUBLIC • February 3, 2025

Trade experts say American consumers should expect higher prices for lobster, under a proposed 25% tariff on Canadian goods. The Maine and Canadian lobster industries are highly integrated, said Kristin Vekasi, a political science professor with the University of Maine. Some lobster that is caught here in Maine is shipped to Canada, where it's processed and sold to third markets, or back to the United States. Vekasi said if Canada eventually imposes retaliatory tariffs on American lobster, there's a possibility that the same product will be taxed twice.

The Maine lumber industry, with close business ties to Canada, braces for possible tariffs

MAINE PUBLIC • February 3, 2025

Maine exports about 2 million tons of wood products annually, and imports 2.3 million tons – mostly from Canada, according to a recent industry report from the Maine Forest Service. Lumber industry officials are concerned the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs could hurt business, said Patrick Strauch, Executive Director of the Maine Forest Products Council. "Maine's forest economy is really intertwined with both Quebec and New Brunswick, Strauch said. "We're concerned about a broad tariff and how it would distrust disrupt the economy."

Maine benefited from $2.2B in US clean energy spending and incentives

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 3, 2025

Maine businesses and residents and Wabanaki Nations benefited from an unprecedented $2.2 billion in federal clean energy spending and private investment incentivized by Washington, an environmental group said Monday as it warned of what’s at stake if President Donald Trump follows through on promises to scuttle Biden administration initiatives. The largest share, $866.3 million, is for distributed energy, according to the report by the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Distributed energy is the use of smaller generation units on the consumer’s side of the meter such as rooftop solar panels and battery storage.

Yarmouth Farmers Market sees abrupt end, vendors pivot

FORECASTER • February 3, 2025

Following the approval of a development project at the market location, the market manager said the Yarmouth Farmers Market will no longer be possible in the summers. “In short, the market has unforgiving deadlines. I’m one volunteer, and I cannot launch an eight-month enterprise each year with uncertainty,” wrote Sinclair in the announcement. “For all these reasons, I realized it was the right time to call it quits,” said Sinclair, who has operated the Yarmouth Farmers Market for nine years after taking over management from the town of Yarmouth.

American bald eagles are having a moment, ecologically and culturally

ASSOCIATED PRESS • February 3, 2025

Along the long road from American icon to endangered species and back again, the bald eagle — the national bird of the United States, often seen against a clear blue sky — is having a moment. The eagles find themselves in an environmental updraft of sorts since the early 2000s, when the federal government took the thriving birds off its endangered species list with more states following suit. Culturally, too, the animals are soaring. In December, Joe Biden signed legislation making the raptor the country's national bird (thought that was already the case? More in a bit).

Massachusetts teen seriously injured in Eustis snowmobile crash

SUN JOURNAL • February 3, 2025

Three people were injured Saturday morning, including a 17-year-old Massachusetts teenage boy who was seriously hurt, when snowmobiles crashed into a stopped machine. A group of eight snowmobilers were traveling east on the Tim Pond Snowmobile Trail towards Eustis. As the group was stopping, five of the snowmobiles crashed into each other. Due to the remote area where the crash occurred, the teen was taken by a snowmobile rescue sled over 12 miles to an awaitingambulance, and then he was taken to the hospital in Farmington.

Body of missing scallop fisherman recovered from sunken boat

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 3, 2025

A team of highly skilled volunteer divers found and removed the body from inside the cabin of the 34-foot fishing vessel “Sudden Impact” around 7 a.m. Sunday, according to the Department of Marine Resources. The body of the second fisherman has not been found. Chester “Chet” Barrett and his son Aaron, commercial scallop fishermen from South Addison, were reported missing Jan. 18 by a family member when they didn’t return from a trip that began at Cobscook Bay State Park. Officials have not identified the body found Sunday, but an online update for the family said that they believe it was Chet Barrett.

Renewable energy generation grew again in New England last year

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 3, 2025

ISO New England says renewable energy generation grew again in the region last year, continuing a long term trend. Electricity generation from large-scale solar arrays was up 18 percent over the year before. Electric output from wind farms grew by 7 percent. While wind development has leveled off, new solar projects keep coming online. The six New England states still get more than half of their electricity from natural gas generators and nearly a quarter from nuclear plants.

UMaine study of last winter's snowmobile season reveals drop in revenue generated

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 3, 2025

A UMaine study of last year's snowmobile season revealed that $582 million was generated by the industry, but it was $128 million less than the year before. Jessica Leahy, study author and professor in the School of Forest Resources at UMaine, said stakeholders like power sports companies and chambers of commerce reported the 2023-2024 winter season was not good for snowmobilers. "I think snowmobilers need to adapt to how they are approaching that sport.” Some towns in western Maine are getting creative and building movie theaters and bowling alleys for visitors when the snowpack is lacking.

Donald Trump’s Second Term Will Be Bad News for Endangered Ocean and Coastal Animals

THE REVELATOR • February 2, 2025

The re-election of Donald Trump has scientists and conservationists like me worried about the wildlife and wild places we’ve dedicated our lives to protecting. This is especially true for ocean and coastal natural resource management and endangered species conservation, given Trump’s ongoing rhetoric. He’s attacked climate science and supported a plan to dismantle the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There are also reasons to be concerned about the scientists working to study and protect these species, who could find themselves out of work or actively persecuted.

Trump says Americans could feel ‘some pain’ from his new tariffs

ASSOCIATED PRESS • February 2, 2025

President Donald Trump said Sunday that Americans could feel “some pain” from the emerging trade war triggered by his tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China. The trade penalties that Trump signed Saturday at his Florida resort caused a mix of panic, anger and uncertainty, and threatened to rupture a decades-old partnership on trade in North America while further straining relations with China. Trump is placing a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods, with a 10 percent tax on oil, natural gas and electricity. Canada is imposing 25percent tariffs on more than $155 billion on U.S. products. Despite Trump’s claim that the U.S does not need Canada, one-quarter of the oil that the America consumes per day is from its ally to the north. Mexico’s president also announced new tariffs. Outside analyses make clear that Trump’s tariffs would hurt the voters that he intended to help.

In Maine, questions follow federal funding freeze

MAINE MONITOR • February 2, 2025

Several programs appeared to be in jeopardy last week when the Trump administration abruptly announced a freeze on federal payments for grants and other programs. On Wednesday, the administration rescinded the order behind the freeze but said it stood by its intention to have agencies evaluate their programs to ensure they align with Donald Trump’s priorities. When the freeze memo came down, nonprofits across the state suddenly lost access to their funds, putting a wide array of programs, including environmental research, in jeopardy.

Opinion: Return of land to Penobscot Nation will make history

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • February 2, 2025

In the heart of Maine’s North Woods, a historic land transfer is unfolding that could reshape the relationship between Indigenous people and their ancestral lands. Last year, the nonprofit Trust for Public Land (TPL) announced that it would acquire 30,000 acres of land and return it to the Penobscot tribe. As an investor in nature and conservation projects, I know how rare this type of transaction is. This land transfer presents a chance to right historical wrongs and restore Indigenous stewardship to a significant portion of Maine’s wilderness. ~ John Ambler, Pollination, a climate and nature investment and advisory firm

Letter: Offshore wind development pause is short-sighted

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • February 2, 2025

On Jan. 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order that halts leases for offshore wind development in federal waters. One justification was to provide time to examine the impact on whales. What contributes to whale deaths is climate change. Offshore wind could help address climate change without bringing harm to marine life. If this administration is truly concerned about whale deaths, it would do better to increase wind development and focus on other ways to mitigate climate change. ~ Erica Bartlett, Portland

Aroostook snowmobile industry grapples with 2nd year of low snow

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 2, 2025

After last year’s dismal snowmobiling season, Aroostook County outdoors enthusiasts hoped for better this year. While it has certainly been colder the snow has been minimal. Lack of snow has been a big problem statewide, because businesses rely on winter visitors to spend money on lodging, gas, food and more. In the winter of 2022-23, snowmobiling contributed about $710 million to Maine’s economy, according to a University of Maine report released Friday. But that fell last year to about $582 million, due largely to scant snow. Nearly 10,000 fewer Mainers registered snowmobiles. If that trend continues — and experts on climate change say it will — it may take some out-of-the-box thinking to keep the seasonal economy going.

Here are some of the winter pleasures of Moosehead Lake

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 2, 2025

I’ve returned to Moosehead many times over the years, but recently I enjoyed an extended stay. I contemplated hiking in Little Moose Public Land or visiting Big Moose Ski Area, where I could downhill ski and cross-country ski on groomed trails. But in the end, I settled on hiking Mount Kineo. You have to take a boat to Kineo during the summer. But during the winter, when the lake ice is safe, you can walk or ski over to the mountain. And that’s what we did. On our last morning there, we clipped into our cross-country skis and struck out across the ice to visit Lily Bay State Park. I attempted to read the story stamped into the snow. Wildlife tracks dotted the forest floor — the cloven hoofprints of deer, the leaping pattern of squirrels and the tiny imprints left by mice and voles. ~ Aislinn Sarnacki

Experts warn Maine lobster industry may take a hit due to Trump's tariffs

WGME-TV13 • February 1, 2025

Mainers are bracing for the 25% percent tariffs that President Donald Trump plans to levy on Canada and Mexico on Saturday. We could soon be seeing higher prices on wood products, vehicles, and seafood. USM Economics Professor, Dr. Rachel Bouvier, says the rise in tariffs Trump plans to apply could have a detrimental impact on the Maine economy, as Canada is one of Maine's biggest trading partners. "We have trade worth about $7.5 billion dollars," said Bouvier. "Imposing these tariffs is not really going to help with the trade deficit. I think that's something that his advisors are trying to advise him on. But I don't know if that message is really getting through."