Reports show ME clean energy projects can include wildlife protections

PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE • December 23, 2024

Wildlife advocates say it's possible to transition to renewable energy while protecting vital habitats and species. As Maine builds out its offshore wind infrastructure, advocates want regulators to use available data regarding seabed habitats when citing transmission cables. Veronica Ung-Kono is a transmission specialist with the National Wildlife Federation. She said wind energy is critical to countering the climate crisis - but species like lobster, oysters, and crabs help sustain the ocean ecosystem. "Because those cables will be buried under the seafloor," said Ung-Kono, "it's incredibly important that those species are prioritized in that decision-making process." Ung-Kono said two new reports provide a summary of research regarding wildlife and the power grid both on and offshore, and where data gaps remain.

Federal Court Declares Genetically Engineered Salmon Unlawful

FRIENDS OF MERRYMEETING BAY • December 23, 2024

A U.S. District Court has ruled the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) violated environmental laws in approving genetically engineered salmon. The FDA ignored the serious environmental consequences of approving genetically engineered salmon and the full extent of plans to grow and commercialize the salmon in the U.S. and around the world, violating the National Environmental Policy Act. The Court also ruled that FDA’s unilateral decision that genetically engineered salmon could have no possible effect on highly-endangered, wild Atlantic salmon was wrong and in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The FDA must now thoroughly analyze the environmental consequences of an escape of genetically engineered salmon into the wild. The plaintiff coalition, jointly represented by legal counsel from Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice, includes Friends ofMerrymeeting Bay.

Third right whale entanglement reported in a week

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 23, 2024

A third endangered North Atlantic right whale has been reported entangled in fishing gear within one week, this time off the coast of North Carolina. Two of the whales are so seriously injured they are expected to die.North Atlantic right whales are approaching extinction, with a primary cause of injury and death identified by NOAA Fisheries to be fishing gear entanglements and vessel strikes in both U.S. and Canadian waters. Maine fishing gear was linked to one of the deaths for the first time in October.

Maine ban on PFAS-laden products moves forward

MAINE PUBLIC • December 23, 2024

After a years-long delay, a state ban on some products containing harmful forever products may move forward. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection recently proposed rules that would gradually outlaw the sale of consumer goods with intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The family of chemicals has been used in a wide array of industries for decades. But there are recent heightened concerns about the chemicals' harm to human health and the environment. Under the rules nine categories of products including cleaners, cosmetics, cookware, textiles and ski wax would be banned in 2026. That prohibition would extend to most goods in 2032.

Greater Portland Landmarks gets new executive director amid lawsuit

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 23, 2024

Greater Portland Landmarks, started in 1964, does advocacy and education and manages the Portland Observatory. Four key employees, including the former executive director, left Greater Portland Landmarks in 2023. Part-time staff and volunteer board members kept the organization going. Kate Lemos McHale started in July as the new executive director. She watched as the Portland Museum of Art pursued expansion. She described their plan as “exciting” because of its use of mass timber and its reference to Wabanaki culture. However, she thinks the museum could have integrated a 19th-century building on Free Street into the design, and she is concerned about the policy implications if that building is demolished. Lemos McHale said she remains hopeful that the two institutions will find common ground. “I think the lawsuit is necessary, and what I have advocated for is really just to find a solution.”

Maine fishing piers still rebuilding from last winter’s storms

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 23, 2024

As Maine settles into another winter, some fishing pier owners have not fully rebuilt from the heavy storm damage they suffered during a pair of storms last January — and they’re concerned about what the coming months might bring. The heavy surf and storm surge that slammed into Maine on Jan. 10 and 13 pulled apart dozens of docks from Eastport to Kittery. Commercial fishing piers, private docks, marinas and waterfront restaurants all suffered from the destructive power of the waves.

How to spot the menagerie of birds even in the dead of a Maine winter

TIMES RECORD • December 22, 2024

Maine winters can be dark and barren, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great time to see birds. The colder months herald the arrival of dark-eyed juncos, the snowbirds, and other visitors such as finches (pine siskins and pine grosbeaks), which follow the cyclical crops of conifer tree cones. And they aren’t alone. Plenty of cold-adapted resident species, such as crows and blue jays, stick around, too. For those unwilling or unable to venture out, snow can draw birds to backyard feeders en masse, making them easy to observe from the warmth of indoors. Plus, they are easier to spot.

A year since the region saw disastrous flooding, western Maine officials say they’re better prepared

MAINE MONITOR • December 22, 2024

When an atmospheric river threatened to bring a deluge of rain and snowmelt to Maine earlier this month, parched waterways helped shield valley towns from the flooding they saw last December. It wasn’t just luck. Farmington town manager Erica LaCroix said the modest infrastructure projects and emergency response protocols that the town has completed in the flooding’s aftermath gave her confidence that her community was better prepared for a potential disaster. Weak, undersized culverts have been expanded, and emergency resources have been moved out of flood zones. LaCroix and other inland Maine town officials have strengthened their communication protocols to share resources and streamline their emergency response plans. Over the past twelve months, Farmington and other Franklin County towns have participated in a number of county-led disaster response exercises and have created contingency plans for various worst-case scenarios, all with the expectation that more severe floods are imminent. 

Letter: Full switch to EVs is premature

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • December 22, 2024

Full adoption of electric autos is worth single digits to the climate “crisis,” if — and only if — the grid is 100% green. The U.S. grid is 17% green. While we like to claim Maine’s grid is 70% green, one can debate the meaningfulness of that claim while connected to a national system that is 17% green. The change to electric vehicles is decades premature and harmful to the environment until the grid is 100% green. Add to that the damage to multiple Third World countries while we extract rare elements and, worse yet, using labor practices we would not tolerate in Western countries. Add to that the fact that electric vehicles cost much more, especially buses. Add to that EVs sell only with large subsidies while the U.S. is $34 trillion in debt. This makes no sense. ~ Brian Jones, Gorham

Letter: Do not fall for arguments against going green

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • December 22, 2024

In his recent opinion piece (“You want climate action in Maine? Be my guest,” Nov. 29), Jacob Posik of the climate change-denying Maine Policy Institute (MPI) is, once again, speaking for the oil and gas industry and not for the people of Maine. He doesn’t understand the cost of inaction. Standing down on modernizing our energy systems, as espoused by MPI, means sacrificing our fishing communities, winter recreation businesses and local forest and agricultureindustries. It also threatens our cherished way of life like hunting, blueberry picking and skiing. What we can’t afford is to be misled by pawns for Big Oil masquerading as neighborly economists, encouraging us to give up on what we love about Maine. ~ Philip Conkling, Camden

Early numbers from deer and bear seasons show near-record kills

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 22, 2024

Maine had near-record bear and deer seasons and a successful moose hunt in 2024. Preliminary numbers show that the deer kill was the second highest ever at 42,258. The bear kill was 3,787, the second highest in the past five years, and the moose hunt logged 2,608 cows and bulls out of the 4,105 permits issued.

After last December’s floods, one western Maine town dredged the river. Now they must undo it.

MAINE MONITOR • December 21, 2024

First came the snow. In early December 2023, a powerful storm dropped more than a foot of snow across Maine’s western mountains, with Franklin County recording the highest totals in the state. Then came the rain. The Kennebec, Androscoggin and Saco rivers swelled, and hundreds of roads closed. The devastation was swift in Phillips, a town of roughly 900 people some 15 miles northwest of Farmington. The town’s response, which included dredging part of the river and constructing berms, provoked a notice of violation from the state. The Sandy River is considered prime fish habitat, particularly for the endangered Atlantic salmon. Town officials deny they did anything wrong. A year has passed since the storm, but the debate continues, and a restoration plan is due early next year.

Massive New Brunswick wind farm project gets green light from province

TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL • December 20, 2024

The Brighton Mountain Wind Power project will be built on heavily forested J.D. Irving timberlands in northern New Brunswick about 25 km east of the Maine border. The first phase will have 34 wind turbines. Phase 2 will add another two dozen turbines.

U.S. Senate approves bill to fund urban parks, trails

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 20, 2024

The U.S. Senate approved a bipartisan bill Friday cosponsored by Maine’s U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King to fund parks and outdoor trails in urban and low-income areas. The Outdoors for All Act, which passed unanimously, will help provide outdoor recreational opportunities for people in the country’s largest cities by funding the creation and expansion of existing parks, open spaces, trails and playgrounds. Those spaces also help provide shade, tree cover and cleaner air. The approval was applauded by Maine environmentalists.

Brunswick Landing leaders respond to clean water petition over PFAS spill

TIMES RECORD • December 20, 2024

The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority has acknowledged a petition that called on the entity to address the risk to private wells after Brunswick Landing saw Maine’s worst toxic firefighting foam spill in 30 years, though the agency did not commit to any specific action that was requested. The petition, signed by 161 residents and Brunswick State Representatives Dan Ankeles and Poppy Arford, called on MRRA  to commit to short and long-term safe drinking water access at no cost to residents, as well as providing funding for certified, monthly PFAS testing. MRRA’s response, which is dated Dec. 19, noted that it got the petition last week and that it was too early to say whether private drinking water sources were impacted by the spill, or if any well issues stem from legacy contamination at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station.

Greenville nonprofit launches campaign to purchase local ski mountain

MAINE PUBLIC • December 20, 2024

A Greenville nonprofit is launching a fundraising campaign to purchase Big Moose Ski Resort, the latest development in a long-running saga over the mountain's future. Friends of the Mountain has leased and operated the ski hill for over a decade. Board president Amy Lane said the group has weathered multiple rounds of investors proposing to buy and develop the property, only to see those plans fall through time and again. "We cannot waste any more time trying to come up with a solution. It's already been so many years," she said. Lane's group is partnering with the Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corporation to raise $6 million to purchase the mountain outright. Lane said she hopes to be able to raise the money by the end of 2025. She said her group has already invested around $150,000 this season in snowmaking equipment.

Maine Republicans take aim at public advocate nominee

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 20, 2024

GOP lawmakers say they will use Heather Sanborn's confirmation hearing to promote their agenda to limit offshore wind and incentives for solar developers. Rep. Reagan Paul, R-Winterport, a member of the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee, said in the Republicans’ weekly radio address that members of the party plan to take advantage of the hearing to promote their energy policies, which are essentially the opposite of the priorities of most Democrats.

Mainer rescued after his limbs froze on NH mountain

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 20, 2024

Patrick Bittman, 28, of Portland, set off alone Wednesday evening to watch the sunrise from Mount Lafayette in the White Mountains. Near the top of Franconia Ridge, Bittman encountered deep and blowing snow, but when he decided to turn back, he couldn’t find the trail and descended into the Dry Brook drainage. Bittman called for help about 8:15 a.m. Thursday when he could no longer move through the deep snow because his limbs froze and he became hypothermic. By 3 p.m., the clouds lifted, allowing the Army National Guard to reach Bittman by helicopter and lower a medic to assist him and hoist him before the clouds moved back in. Bittman was immediately flown to Littleton Regional Healthcare.

Maine engineers speak out against limits on riprap

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 19, 2024

Engineers from across Maine expressed concern Thursday about proposed new rules that are meant to encourage natural methods for restoring and protecting the state’s shorelines, but that would restrict the use of harder protections such as seawalls and layers of stone known as riprap. During a hearing before the state Board of Environmental Protection, some of the opponents said that they generally support nature-based solutions to protect shorelines — such as vegetation and biodegradable materials like logs — but they argued that the proposed rules would be too restrictive for coastal property owners who have long relied on the stronger protection offered by riprap. The BEP is accepting feedback on the rule change until Jan. 13.

Part I: The rich and corporate retreats replace families and ‘sports’ in Maine camps

TIMES RECORD • December 20, 2024

Peaking in the early 1900s at some 300, commercially run Maine sporting camps today number a few dozen, as many have closed or been sold to private individuals or corporations that no longer take paying guests. At the same time, some remaining camps are thriving. Maine’s first camps were influenced by the development of grand, private “camps” (read “mansions”) in New York’s Adirondack mountains. Guidebooks and other publicity in the late 1800s brought attention to the Rangeley Lakes area of western Maine and eventually to northern regions of the state. The more rustic camps there targeted traveling sportsmen. The future of sporting camps is “uncertain given the number of issues that they face,” wrote Catherine Cyr, associate curator at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath in her master’s thesis about Maine camps.