Federal data suggests Maine had the highest electricity hike last year. The picture is not so clear.

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 5, 2025

New federal data shows that Maine had the biggest increase in residential electricity prices in the country over the last year. But state officials are criticizing the report, saying the numbers overstate what people pay here, though they acknowledge bills have climbed. The data, published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, shows that the price of a kilowatt-hour in Maine went up an eye-popping 36% from May 2024 to the same month this year. Maine officials say that while electricity rates are up since last year, the climb has been more gradual than the 36% hike shown by revenue changes.

Maine’s forest product industry feeling the effects of Trump’s tariffs on Canada

MAINE MORNING STAR • August 4, 2025

The Maine State Chamber of Commerce has been following the Trump administration’s actions on tariffs since the start of the year, said President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Woodcock. Woodcock said Monday that some individual companies and industries are already seeing a “dramatic impact.” In Maine, “our forest products industry is the one that is most affected with these specific industry, sector-level tariffs,” Woodcock said. The state imports 2.3 million tons of wood products annually, most of which comes from Canada. Prices for softwood lumber were nearly 17% higher than they were a year ago. On Thursday — one day before the deadline Trump set for reaching trade agreements with dozens of countries — he issued an executive order raising the tariff rate on goods imported from Canada to 35%. 

Opinion: Maine Legislature bucked national trends to protect wildlife

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 4, 2025

These are challenging times for conservationists who are dealing with a federal government and Congress emboldened to weaken federal environmental laws and slash funding and staffing at natural resource agencies. Thankfully, there remains a strong will to protect Maine’s environment in our state legislature. LD 497 protected significant vernal pools. LD 1868 moved up the timeline to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by the year 2040. LD 1543 establishd the Maine Green Schools Network to help promote environmental, outdoor and climate learning programs. LD 56 and LD 69 would have weakened or eliminated Maine’s single-use plastic bag ban, but failed to pass. LD 1340 created a Municipal Stream Crossing Fund. There are many more wins to celebrate — including funding for the Lake Water Quality Restoration and Protection Fund; establishing a Department of Energy Resources; and requiring a state study of the impacts of neonicotinoids on people and pollinators in Maine. ~ Ches Gundrum, Maine Audubon

Letter: Unsafe drinking water in Wiscasset must be addressed

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 5, 2025

Our residents at Whippoorwill Hill Mobile Home Park in Wiscasset are experiencing ongoing difficulties and dangers caused by unsafe drinking water, overflowing septic fields, water drainage problems. Our park’s drinking water, according to tests from Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services, contains a uranium level that exceeds the maximum contaminant level and “can cause cancer.” A local official warned me that a judge will likely ignore the existence of such a high uranium level. Judges in Lincoln County tend to satisfy the interests of landlords at the expense of the renters. ~ Tom Kurtz, Wiscasset

Recent Maine fishing deaths lead to new focus on safety training, remembrance

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 5, 2025

In the wake of several recent fishing deaths in Maine, the state and nonprofit groups have been expanding their efforts to train and protect commercial fishermen. A new nonprofit was recently started to help prevent accidents, and lawmakers recently created a commercial safety fund. Last month, the state’s first Commercial Fishing Remembrance Day was held to commemorate those who have died at sea. At a safety training Monday in Bucksport for commercial fishermen, lobstermen from across the state said they aren’t typically worried about their safety at work but had learned new things about preparing for and surviving emergencies.

Particle size matters: why wildfire smoke is so harmful

MAINE PUBLIC • August 4, 2025

Maine's air quality continues to suffer from lingering Canadian wildfire smoke. We asked health experts why exposure to smoky air is so harmful to our health. Wildfire smoke contains a cocktail of toxic pollutants. But Dr. Neelu Tummala, an ear, nose and throat specialist based in New York City, said the biggest threat is what's called "PM 2.5" — the fine particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in size. "The size matters because when people breathe in these particles, they're small enough to bypass the upper airway and travel down into the lungs," said Dr. Tummala. And eventually, they enter into the bloodstream. Dr. Tummala said these foreign particles can end up triggering the immune system and causing inflammation, which is especially risky for children, seniors, and those with underlying heart and respiratory conditions.

Canadian wildfires cause hazy days

SUN JOURNAL • August 4, 2025

Smoke from Canadian wildfires made the sky over the Androscoggin River between Auburn and Lewiston on Monday appear as a blue-gray haze. The entire state was under an air quality alert issued by the National Weather Service, with particle pollution in the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” range.

All-Persons Trail nears completion in Rumford Community Forest

SUN JOURNAL • August 4, 2025

Work on an all-access looped trail in the Rumford Community Forest is nearing completion, according to Travis Dustin, lands coordinator for Inland Woods + Trails. The half-mile trail, called the All-Persons or Universal Trail, is built to accommodate wheelchairs, strollers and people using walkers and crutches. “This trail actually crosses a bunch of different habitats. We’re going to have a marshland area, where the stream coming down Scotty’s Brook pretty much starts along the trail, so everyone can see that,” Dustin said.

Rare yellow lobster caught in Maine off coast of Vinalhaven

WMTW-TV8 • August 4, 2025

A rare yellow-colored lobster was recently caught off a Maine island. Kaleb Dyer said he caught the yellow lobster, a hardshell male, off Vinalhaven and shared a video and photographs of the crustacean. According to the New England Aquarium, the odds of a naturally occurring yellow lobster are about 1 in 30 million. UNE marine sciences professor Markus Frederich has been working on noninvasive ways to extract genetic samples from lobsters to better understand the molecular basis for rare shell coloration. Frederich maintains a collection of strange-colored lobsters at the university's labs and has been documenting the progress of the offspring of an orange lobster named Peaches, who is housed at the university. According to Frederich and other scientists, commonly cited estimates such as 1 in 1 million for blue lobsters and 1 in 30 million for orange and yellow lobsters should not be treated as rock-solid figures.

Fact brief: Do lobsters have brains?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 4, 2025

No. Lobsters don’t have a centralized brain. Instead, they have a decentralized nervous system made up of 15 ganglia — clusters of nerve cells — that control different parts of their body. According to the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute, it is still “somewhat contested” whether this system allows them to feel pain, with researchers long debating the topic. While they have nerves that can detect harmful stimuli, that doesn’t necessarily mean they experience pain the way humans do. The debate over the most humane way to cook Maine’s most famous export has raged for years.

Bigelow Labs researching zooplankton's role in carbon storage

MAINE PUBLIC • August 4, 2025

Scientists at Bigelow Labs in East Boothbay are studying how zooplankton help to store carbon in the ocean depths through their daily migration. "It's the largest migration of life on Earth, and it happens every single day," said Karen Stamieszkin, a biological oceanographer at Bigelow Labs who has been studying zooplankton for years. Carbon capture and storage is a growing area of interest as companies become increasingly interested in purchasing carbon credits to offset their emissions. The most common type of carbon offset is usually land-based, like reforestation projects. Marine carbon sequestration is a newer field of study.

Offshore wind leasing is officially dead under Trump

MAINE MORNING STAR • August 4, 2025

Offshore wind leasing is effectively dead in the U.S. following a Trump administration order issued last week. Large swaths of U.S. waters that had been identified by federal agencies as ideal for offshore wind are no longer eligible for such developments under an Interior Department statement released Wednesday. In the four-sentence statement, the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said the U.S. government is ​“de-designating over 3.5 million acres of unleased federal waters previously targeted for offshore wind development across the Gulf of America, Gulf of Maine, the New York Bight, California, Oregon, and the Central Atlantic.” The move comes just a day after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered his staff to stop ​“preferential treatment for wind projects” and falsely called wind energy ​“unreliable.”

Mainers line up for the water at these 3 roadside springs

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 4, 2025

There are three roadside springs — all in Oxford County — that the state regulates, testing monthly for contaminants. On weekends, people line up to fill containers of various sizes to bring home for drinking and cooking, whether they have concerns about what’s in their tap water, believe this has to be healthier for them or prefer the taste — often all three. There used to be more, maybe 150 statewide when the Legislature passed a law in the late 1970s exempting them from state regulation. Many are gone, covered by highway crews to prevent traffic hazards or shut down by property owners after the state tried to require regular testing earlier that decade. The state still oversees these three because they meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of a public water supply.

Opinion: Let’s get specific about defending Maine’s outdoors

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 4, 2025

Americans love their public lands, but budget proposals and policy changes signal a shift away from bipartisan dedication to preserving our shared lands. The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is one of the most successful conservation programs in U.S. history, with broad support across the political spectrum. Because it is funded through offshore oil and gas revenues, it doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime. Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order that created a commission to advance efforts to conserve public lands and water. However, in contradiction to the commission’s own goal, the White House budget proposes a 90% cut to LWCF programs. In Maine, LWCF has helped protect Acadia National Park, Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, the Appalachian Trail, and our beloved state and local parks. Outdoor recreation is a $4 billion industry in Maine, supporting nearly 30,000 jobs. Tell your members of Congress to reject any cuts to or diversions of LWCF. ~ Betsy Cook, Trust for Public Land

Maine cities are promoting native plants. Here’s how you can too.

SUN JOURNAL • August 3, 2025

Plant sellers are reporting more people turning to native plants. “Native plans are best known for their support for wildlife and pollinators and their ability to withstand harsh winters, our hot, dry summers, and also wet seasons as well,” said Matt Bilodeau of Longfellow Greenhouses in Manchester. “They are plants best suited for our environment.” Andrew Tufts, program manager of Bringing Nature Home at Maine Audubon, said the organization has helped several cities, including South Portland and Bangor, as well as schools across the state incorporate native plants into their landscapes or as an educational opportunity for schools. Native plants provide food for native insects and animals that in return support a healthy ecosystem.

Waterville’s Pine Ridge trails getting $158,000 upgrade

MORNING SENTINEL • August 3, 2025

The project to rehabilitate and build more than 4 miles of trails is funded with a $69,650 state Department of Conservation grant, $78,150 from a city recreation bond and $10,000 from the city 's airport fund. The  Waterville Parks and Recreation Department partnered with the Outdoor Sport Institute for assessment and recommendations for the trail system rehabilitation. Kennebec Messalonskee Trails, of which Pine Tree Trails are a part, and the Central Maine Chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association, also got involved. The Kennebec Messalonskee Trails system includes more than 60 miles in Waterville, Winslow, Fairfield, Oakland and Benton.

Letter: Experience the healing power of Maine’s wild places

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 3, 2025

With all the uncertainty and rising hate in the country, I’m grateful to live in Maine. Our wilderness is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, especially the state’s whitewater rivers. This state reminds me that real connection doesn’t come from screens or headlines — it comes from shared experiences, from nature, from being fully present. I’ve guided people from all over the country, and without fail, they leave a little lighter than when they arrived. That’s the power of Maine’s wild places. ~ Billy-Joe Smith, Standish

Letter: Our environment is at its breaking point

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 3, 2025

It is clear as glass our adaptable democracy is one of humanity’s successes but, when broken, glass shatters. We are close to shattering our environment. If we do, democracy will fall close behind. Earth has a disease never before experienced by humans, global warming, due to our carbon burning addiction. As an engineer, I understand that global warming will cause billions, yes billions, of people now living in mid latitudes to die of heat and starvation. Worldwide violence and confusion will result. We have an American administration (Trump) in denial of climate disaster and actively eliminating diversity programs like solar energy which could wean us from carbon. If we are to have human survival and world peace we must turn away from his environmental disregard. Our time is wasting. ~ Phillip Davis, West Gardiner

Column: Why Maine shorebirds are so hard to identify (and how to get started)

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 3, 2025

I customarily preach that bird identification is easier than it looks, and anybody can do it. Alas, that wisdom does not apply to shorebirds. Here are some tips, tricks and shortcuts to get you started. First, rather than trying to identify each bird, first sort them all into different piles. One pile is all the shorebirds listed in your field guide that are unlikely to be in Maine. Next to that pile is a pile of shorebirds that are findable in Maine, but not at the seashore. Next, sort by size. Most shorebirds on Maine’s mudflats are gradually migrating southward from their nesting territories in the subarctic. They’re trickling in now, and the trickle will become a torrent by mid-August. The wave will begin to subside after Labor Day. Now is the time to play in the mud. ~ Bob Duchesne

Orrington trash incinerator says it will start accepting waste this month

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 2, 2025

The owner of the Orrington trash incinerator said it will start processing trash as a transfer station in August, but the state says it hasn’t issued the required license. EPEC has a solid waste incinerator license but not a solid waste transfer license, according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Currently, trash from 42 municipalities is collected and taken directly to Juniper Ridge Landfill.