‘Drill, drill, drill’: New energy council signals Trump to prioritize energy production

MAINE MORNING STAR • November 16, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement Friday afternoon that his pick for Interior secretary, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, would also coordinate a new council on energy policy is a sign the incoming administration will make energy production a core part of its domestic policy. A written statement from Trump said, “This Council will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation.” During the campaign, Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity he would be a “dictator” on the first day of his administration. “I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill.”

State gives Orrington trash incinerator $250K as facility rebounds from fire

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 16, 2024

Maine gave the company behind the Orrington trash incinerator a $250,000 grant this week, a day after a town official said he hopes the facility will be permitted to start accepting trash again later this month. The Eagle Point Energy Center, or EPEC, trash incinerator received the grant from the state through the Pandemic Recovery for an Innovative Maine Economy Fund on Wednesday. It was one of 48 companies to receive $7 million total in state funds. The plant, formerly known as Penobscot Energy Recovery Co., will use the grant for equipment that turns waste into fuel while removing some recyclable materials.

Company slated to break ground on $4B Loring aviation fuel facility next year

THE COUNTY • November 15, 2024

Plans are still underway to build a $4.13 billion sustainable aviation fuel facility at the former Loring Air Force Base, according to developers. In 2022, Washington D.C.-based DG Fuels announced its intentions to build within 1,240 acres of property at the Loring Commerce Center, creating 2,300 jobs during construction and 650 jobs once production begins. DG Fuels plans to revive an underground pipeline that once transported jet fuel from the Maine coastal town of Searsport to Loring Air Force Base. DG Fuels would use the pipeline to transport 33,500 barrels (557,500 gallons) of jet fuel from Loring to Searsport daily for shipment to airports along the northeastern U.S. DG Fuels expects to produce 190 million gallons of jet fuel at Loring every year using 1.7 million tons of wood biomass that would be transferred to Loring via local rail lines. Six biomass gasifiers would then use heat, steam and oxygen to convert biomass to hydrogen without needing combustion.

Ocean wind power supporters ponder future in Maine after Trump win

MAINE PUBLIC • November 15, 2024

On the campaign trail, president elect Donald Trump lashed out against ocean wind energy and declared he would stop the industry’s development. But offshore wind power supporters in Maine said while they expect roadblocks ahead, a single presidential administration is unlikely to derail the state's long-term plans. Chris Wissemann, the CEO of Diamond Offshore Wind is clear-eyed about what a second Trump administration means for his industry. "I think it's inevitable that commercial scale offshore wind slows down," Wissemann said. But he doesn’t expect Maine’s plans to build the first floating offshore wind array in the U.S. will come to a dead stop.

Maine Calling: Northern Lights

MAINE PUBLIC • November 15, 2024

This year has been declared one of the best periods to see the Northern Lights—and not just in places like Iceland and Norway. Many people in Maine have already been able to see the striking colors of the Aurora Borealis over the past year. Learn how this phenomenon occurs, why it has been so active recently, and where and how to view the dancing lights in the months to come. Panelists: Shawn Laatsch, Versant Power Astronomy Center (UMaine); Shawn Dahl, Space Weather Prediction Center (NOAA). VIP Caller: Elizabeth Dickerson, Maine Aurora Borealis Watch Facebook group.

Maine’s electric vehicle goals won’t take us where we want to go

MAINE MONITOR • November 15, 2024

The Maine Climate Council has just finished updating the state’s climate action plan, as required by law, and a key strategy in the draft plan is to put 150,000 electric vehicles on Maine roads by 2030. Despite good intentions, this seems doomed to fail. My dive into the latest statistics and the shifting electric vehicle markets suggests that state climate planners once again put aspirations ahead of reality. A closer look at how the market has reacted since 2020, when Maine first issued its climate action plan, indicates that the latest targets are not only unrealistic, but might not have their intended climate impact.

Column: Blame the ducks for your bird identification problems in the fall

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 15, 2024

Waterfowl identification in autumn is hard. Blame the ducks. Most ducks won’t let you get within shotgun range during hunting season, so you need to identify them at a distance. Even then, they’re likely to fly off as you approach. Blue-winged and green-winged teal are named for their bright wing patches, but those are hidden on a sitting duck. Duck identification may require three steps.
Step one: Is the duck a dabbler or a diver?
Step two: What size is it?
Step three: What are its plumage field marks?
~ Bob Duchesne

Column: Explore the natural beauty of the Downeast Coastal Conservancy’s many preserves

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 15, 2024

The Downeast Coastal Conservancy was formed 15 years ago through the merger of the Quoddy Regional Land Trust and the Great Auk Land Trust, both organizations with more than 20 years of conservation experience. DCC today has over 7,000 acres and 72 miles of Washington County shoreline under its stewardship umbrella, with more in the works. “We’re preserving ecologically important lands and protecting access to cherished local spots,” said Colin Brown, DCC’s Executive Director. “We’re looking at key gaps, the pieces of the puzzle that connect wildlife corridors and tie the interior forests to the coast. We’re also putting resources into outreach and education to get and keep more people connected to our preserves.” ~ Carey Kish

How Democrats could ‘Trump-proof’ Maine laws

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 15, 2024

Trump’s second term could greatly affect Maine, a rural state that backed Vice President Kamala Harris last week but saw its more conservative, northern half support Trump for the third straight election. Trump has already vowed to halt offshore wind projects on “day one” of his new term, which would end Maine’s ambitious plans on that front. “It’s important to start recognizing a Trump presidency is incompatible with our climate goals,” Lucy Hochschartner, the climate and clean energy director for Maine Conservation Voters, said. Trump rolled back more than 100 environmental rules during his first term and removed the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement meant to reduce global emissions. Rep. Dick Campbell, R-Orrington, the lead Republican on the Legislature’s environment committee, criticized advocacy groups for warning about Trump and said they have “destroyed Maine with their overreactions.”

Trump Taps Fossil Fuel Apostle to Run Interior Dept

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • November 14, 2024

On Thursday, President-elect Donald Trump chose North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to head the Department of Interior. Doug Burgum was at one-time a rival for the Republican presidential nomination. He became wealthy from selling his software company to Microsoft for $2,100,000,000. Burgum will oversee management of more than 500 million acres of public land, including all national parks and endangered species programs. He will have a key role in leasing federal land for oil, natural gas, and coal development to deliver on Trump’s promise to “drill, baby, drill,” which will exacerbate climate chaos and accelerate the race to the apocalypse.

Sen. Daughtry sets sights on PFAS in role as Senate president

TIMES RECORD • November 14, 2024

Sen. Mattie Daughtry said she plans to address PFAS contamination for her next term. Daughtry, who was recently reelected as a state senator and chosen to be Maine Senate president, plans to continue work on addressing the outfall from the Brunswick toxic foam spill that occurred in August. Daughtry said she plans to continue monitoring things happening at Brunswick Landing, where an airport hangar fire suppression system malfunctioned and released 1,450 gallons of a PFAS-containing, aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) concentrate mixed with 50,000 gallons of water in August. Daughtry said she wants to ensure the neighborhood is thriving and safe for the residents that work there and that impacted communities at Brunswick Landing, a former Naval Air Station, are able to get their water tested.

Conservation group plans to sue salmon farm operator over coastal pollution

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 14, 2024

The Conservation Law Foundation intends to sue a Canadian aquaculture company for what it says are Clean Water Act violations at 13 sites in Maine where the business “grows millions of salmon in 150 cages.” The group said in a statement on Thursday that Cooke Aquaculture “regularly pollutes Maine’s iconic bays and negatively impacts recreation and the lobstering and fishing industries.” Cooke Aquaculture responded with a statement Thursday night, saying the CLF’s claims were “false, misleading and lack any substantiating evidence.”

Avangrid sues NextEra, claiming it sabotaged power corridor through western Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 14, 2024

Avangrid Inc., the parent company of Central Maine Power Co., has sued NextEra Energy in federal court, accusing the energy giant of causing more than $350 million in business damage as it tried to sabotage the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission line project. It’s the latest round in a yearslong legal dispute over the $1.5 billion line in western Maine intended to bring hydropower from Canada to the New England electric grid. NextEra delayed the transmission line with “baseless challenges to and appeals” of permits that were ultimately approved, Avangrid said.

Judge rules in Popham Beach property access case, but questions remain

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 14, 2024

Two longtime neighbors suing each other over access to their neighborhood beach in Phippsburg have gotten some answers about who is allowed on what property, but a judge couldn’t decide what to do with some of the contested areas. Justice Thomas McKeon ruled Thursday that the beach’s intertidal zone – the area between the ocean’s high and low tides – is open to all subdivision owners for recreational purposes. But he wouldn’t rule on other disputed areas, such as the land above the high-tide line and between the Tappen and Hill cottages, which are separated by two empty lots.

Editorial: Trump should listen to Exxon on climate policy reversals

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 14, 2024

Darren Woods, the CEO of Exxon Mobil, has urged the next president not to overturn all of the Biden administration’s climate policies. He also urged Trump not to pull the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate, which Trump did during his previous term in the White House. Woods, one of the only energy company executives to attend COP29, United Nations global climate negotiations currently happening in Azerbaijan, repeatedly noted that delaying action to reduce greenhouse emissions would only make it harder to address the challenges brought by our changing climate. Woods also discounted Trump’s pledge to expand oil and gas production in the U.S. Oil production is at a historic high in the U.S. and there is no current demand for more production. Trump should listen to Woods, an energy expert, when it comes to energy and climate policy.

Topsham scrap metal company fined $42,000 after alleged Clean Air Act violation

TIMES RECORD • November 14, 2024

A Topsham scrap metal shredding facility will pay $42,613 to settle a dispute with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA announced Tuesday. The EPA alleges that Grimmel Industries, Inc., violated the Clean Air Act because it didn’t have the correct air emissions license for its shredder, which limits the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may be released into the air, and failed to meet “technology requirements.” Additionally, EPA alleged that the company failed to get a Clean Air Act Title V operating permit.

Maine Calling: Native Plants

MAINE PUBLIC • November 14, 2024

It may not be planting time, but it’s planning time. Adding native plants to your yard or landscape is best carried out with some thoughtful preparation. Learn how to successful nurture more native plants in your surroundings, which plants suiti what environment, what can be done between late fall and springtime, and what “slow gardening” is all about. Panelists: Andrew Brand, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens; Heather McCargo, Wild Seed Project; Cathy Rees, Native Gardens of Blue Hill. VIP Caller: Tara Roberts Zabriskie, videographer; producer, “The Buzz on Native Plants,” Moosey

Drifting pesticide plumes, dousing the wrong lawn: Maine looks to crack down on errant spraying

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 14, 2024

The board regulating pesticide use in Maine is considering stiffer penalties for companies that repeatedly violate pesticide rules. Mosquito Squad of Southern Maine more than once has sprayed the wrong lawn. Previous violations included employees not spraying correctly, keeping incomplete records and pesticides drifting onto others’ property due to wind and misapplication. More than 6.2 million pounds of yard care pesticides were brought into Maine in 2007 — a sevenfold increase since 1995 that coincided with the explosion of yard care companies in Maine, according to the most recent figures from the pesticide board. The trend fell to 5.7 million pounds in 2011 when Mainers turned to more organic lawn care companies, according to the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. Additional pressure to cut pesticide use is coming from a 2021 law in Maine forbidding pesticides containing intentionally added per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, also known as forever chemicals, from being sold in Maine starting in 2030.

Maine-based solar power developer lays off 40 workers

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 13, 2024

A slowdown in the U.S. solar energy market has forced the Maine-based developer ReVision Energy to lay off about 40 workers, representing 8 percent of its staff, according to company officials. Founded around 2008, ReVision now has offices in Montville and South Portland, as well as in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. It installs solar arrays, heat pumps, backup batteries and water heaters for residential, commercial and municipal customers, according to its website. It had 484 employees in 2023.

President Biden is a lame duck, too. And we have a to-do list for him

NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION • November 13, 2024

Before President-elect Trump takes office, President Biden has a couple more months to continue protecting and enhancing our national parks. At the top of NPCA’s list is the opportunity to establish new national monuments through the Antiquities Act. In Maine, Biden could turn the Frances Perkins Homestead into a national monument that would interpret the life and legacy of the first female U.S. Cabinet member. As Secretary of Labor under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from 1933 to 1945, Perkins formulated policies and programs that bolstered the economy and helped working people across the country. The protections she secured for American workers are cornerstones of our society today, including Social Security, a minimum wage, unemployment insurance and a ban on child labor.