Letter: EPA can’t accomplish critical goals with massive budget cut

SUN JOURNAL • March 8, 2025

When I was a child I lived next to the Androscoggin River. Toxic industrial waste flowed past my home and out to sea. Fish died by the millions. Between 1971 and 1978, the Environmental Protection Agency documented the environmental pollution caused by the paper industry’s chemical discharge and provided assistance to develop pollution controls. It provided financial assistance to states to monitor water quality. Today Maine residents can boat and fish the Androscoggin River. The EPA protects our health. Protecting our environment so we can all safely enjoy swimming, boating, fishing and hunting should be a priority for every Mainer. The EPA can’t accomplish these critical goals, to protect our health and safety, with a 65% budget cut. ~ Bonnie Brown, Industry

Opinion: Sea Grant funding whiplash a warning to us all

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 8, 2025

The vast majority of Maine’s commercial fishermen supported President Donald Trump. Yet he has determined that programs supporting their communities and businesses are “no longer relevant to the administration’s priorities.” Elon Musk has fired more than 100 workers at NOAA’s National Weather Service, which provides the forecasts integral to mariners’ safety at sea. They terminated scientists, including those who assess fish populations. Less science means more uncertainty, tighter catch limits and fewer fish coming across the dock. Then Maine Sea Grant found itself on the front lines of a “ready, fire, aim” offensive. This decision had nothing to do with legitimate policymaking or government efficiency. It didn’t even have to do with fishing. It had everything to do with sending a message that dissent will not be tolerated. ~ Michael Conathan, former Republican U.S. Senate staffer and managing director of an ocean policy consulting firm in Portland

Letter: All of Maine’s land is prime

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 8, 2025

Maine Monitor Editor Kate Cough wrote an informative piece last month about the need for “compensation rules for solar on farmland.” Questions were raised about amounts of compensation to farmers, as well as the potential for “’dual use’ panels that allow for some agricultural activity to continue, like growing blueberries or grazing sheep.” I learned that “about 10% of the state’s nearly 22 million acres are considered ‘soils of statewide importance.’ Of those soils, 800,000 acres are considered ‘prime,’ or land that is ‘of major importance in meeting the nation’s short- and long-range needs for food and fiber. I beg to differ. As one of nearly 22,500 Brunswick residents exposed to the sixth largest PFAS spill in the United States, I offer this paradigm shift: Every inch of our Maine soil is prime. Every inch of our soil on this planet is prime, whether for agriculture, forest, solar or housing. ~ Abbie Sewall, Brunswick

I never dreamed I would decorate my house with dead animals

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 8, 2025

I don’t remember my first piece of taxidermy. It might have been my first bear, taken in 2014. The bear now lies in the form of a rug along the back of the couch in my office. I have had the antlers from my first buck mounted along with the first crotch-horn, 6-point and 10-point bucks that I have taken. A cabinet that once held china dishes now holds 19 different skulls from 14 different types of animals. On top of the cabinet is a fawn. Six different furs hang along one wall. My moose is a fantastic square; 4 feet wide and 4 feet high. My traveling taxidermy show is a chance to educate non-hunters while highlighting my hunts and the animals that fill my freezer. ~ Erin Merrill

Maine’s ‘energy economy’ grows as Trump cuts loom over zero-carbon power

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 7, 2025

Maine’s “clean energy economy,” which encompasses jobs and business activities advancing carbon-free energy, expanded faster in 2023 than the state’s economy overall, benefiting from Biden administration funding that’s now in President Donald Trump’s crosshairs. A broad array of economic enterprises such as solar, wind and hydropower; geothermal generation; smart grid technology to manage electricity; lithium and other batteries; energy efficiency and electric vehicles comprise the clean energy economy, which grew to nearly $2.9 billion in 2023, or 3.2% of the state’s economy. It’s up from 2.7% the previous year, according to the 2024 Maine Clean Energy Report, commissioned by the Governor’s Energy Office.

Effort to replenish Maine’s depleted EV incentive program could also reduce electricity costs

MAINE MORNING STAR • March 7, 2025

Despite wanting 150,000 light-duty electric vehicles on Maine roads by the start of the next decade, the state ran out of funding for a key incentive program last year. However, a bill introduced Thursday could help fill that gap. The Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology held a public hearing for LD 585, which would amend language in the Efficiency Maine Trust Act to allow more flexibility in using certain program funds that are currently only used for subsidizing heat pumps. The bill would remove those limitations so certain revenue could be used for electric vehicles as well. This change could, in turn, reduce electricity costs for ratepayers.

Auburn rail line to Portland should be a trail, lawmakers told

SUN JOURNAL • March 6, 2025

Maine lawmakers are under growing pressure to yank up the state-owned railroad tracks between Auburn and Portland and create a 26-mile bicycle and pedestrian trail that would cost as much as $36 million. The proposal is being met with mixed reviews. Lewiston resident, Stephen Burger, said, “Connecting Auburn to Portland via bike path would support the economies of all the towns along the way” and would likely prove “a tourist draw for the many cyclists who visit our state from away — again, an economic benefit.” Charles Hunter, an executive with the Vermont-based Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services, said the proposal “could create impediments for any future rail service to return to the Portland-Auburn route,” though a second line exists that is still in use.

Paul LePage is exploring a run for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 6, 2025

Former Gov. Paul LePage is exploring a run for the seat held by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine’s 2nd District in a surprise attempt at a political comeback. LePage was last on the state’s political stage in 2022, when he lost to Gov. Janet Mills. LePage is a hero among Maine’s conservative grassroots. Despite the recent loss and his status as a deeply polarizing figure across Maine, he would likely ward off others in his party from seeking the seat. Since he left the Blaine House six years ago, LePage has mostly been a resident of Florida. He must return to Maine to run, although he would not be required to move to the 2nd District.

Gov. Mills says tariff back-and-forth creates ‘significant economic uncertainty’

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 6, 2025

Gov. Janet Mills is calling on President Donald Trump to stop pursuing tariffs against Mexico and Canada. The tariffs would increase prices for Mainers and businesses operating within the state “and cause havoc to our economy,” Mills reiterated Thursday. Maine deals heavily with Canada, including $6 billion in goods that were traded last year, Mills’ office said. Maine also depends more on oil for heat than any other state, with more than 80% of the state’s fuel and gasoline coming from its northern neighbor. “There’ll be a little disturbance, but we’re OK with that. It won’t be much,” Trump said. Concerns over the tariffs’ impacts have already roiled the stock market, which saw major drops this week.

Conservation groups contest federal review of Kennebec River dams

MAINE PUBLIC • March 6, 2025

Conservation groups say a flawed federal review of fish passage plans for dams on the Kennebec River could doom endangered Atlantic Salmon. John Burrows from the Atlantic Salmon Federation said changes approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will not restore fish to the river. "The only way to do that is to remove some of these dams, and FERC has just written that off," Burrows said.

New leader of embattled Brunswick Landing authority outlines priorities

TIMES RECORD • March 6, 2025

Daniel Stevenson was appointed the new executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority on Monday. He will be overseeing the cleanup of one of the worst environmental disasters in the state’s history. “Right now, the most important priority is public safety, both in the immediate and long term,” he said. “Brunswick Landing is full of potential. We can nurture young tech startups and businesses that move Maine into the 21st century. Although the chemical release is unfortunate, things are coming together here. We will continue working with the Navy, EPA and DEP, putting science first in all our efforts — from release cleanup work and ongoing monitoring to redevelopment.“

Money from New England grid operator could be used to promote electric vehicle subsidies in Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 6, 2025

Maine could gain more than $2 million from New England’s electricity grid operator to help pay for electric vehicle subsidies through a proposal in the state Legislature. The measure would allow Maine to use funding from one of several electricity markets operated by ISO-New England, the region’s grid operator. It is part of a larger effort to expand the use of zero-emissions transportation. Transportation accounts for nearly half of the carbon emissions in Maine and expanding electric vehicle use would help the state achieve its target of reducing greenhouse gases by 45% in 5 years.

Maine Turnpike drops plans for Gorham Connector

MAINE PUBLIC • March 6, 2025

The Maine Turnpike Authority is dropping its controversial Gorham connector project, a proposed four-lane highway that would run from South Portland through Westbrook and Scarborough to Gorham. Instead, state transportation authorities say they will undertake a comprehensive effort to find ways of easing persistent rush hour traffic in the region. Turnpike officials spent more than a dozen years and millions of dollars pursuing a five-mile toll road that would connect Portland’s western suburbs to the interstate. But growing public opposition to the $330 million project led the Turnpike to pause it last year. Now all work has stopped while the state conducts fresh research on the issue.

In a first, New England governors push transmission boost to bring wind, hydropower through Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 6, 2025

The more populous southern New England states need electricity and northern Maine offers abundant opportunities to deliver wind energy from Aroostook County and hydropower from Canada. Tie the two together with a more than $1 billion transmission upgrade, and renewable energy will flow without impediments to the rest of the region. And with the cost split among the six states, Mainers will reap tremendous benefits at a bargain. That’s the first-of-its-kind pitch made by New England’s governors to the region’s grid operator. One project nearing completion is the 145-mile NECEC transmission line, which is expected to bring 1,200 MW of Canadian hydropower to the New England grid. More than 34% of construction is completed, and the project is expected to come online in 2026.

MDOT to review alternatives to Gorham Connector

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 6, 2025

Maine transportation officials have agreed to take a fresh look at traffic congestion west of Portland and consider solutions other than the controversial Gorham Connector proposal. The Maine Turnpike Authority has asked the Maine Department of Transportation to lead a two-year study that will include reviewing how the pandemic changed some of the underlying reasons for the 5-mile, four-lane toll highway extension. The decision follows a year of community conflict over the connector proposal and growing negative feedback “from the public and civic leaders who have called for a broader, more holistic and multimodal approach to addressing the region’s mobility challenges.”

Bid to protect lobstering by extending Maine’s maritime jurisdiction could be unconstitutional

MAINE MORNING STAR • March 6, 2025

Two bills from Sen. Joseph Martin (R-Oxford) that seek to assert state sovereignty and ownership up to 12 and 24 nautical miles off the state’s coast are scheduled to have a public hearing Thursday before the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee. Just two years ago, similar legislation was brought forward and failed. At the time, both the Maine Department of Marine Resources and the Maine Lobstermen’s Association raised concern that such a change is legally fraught and wouldn’t result in the desired outcome of protecting lobster fisheries, leading both entities to oppose the bill.

I had this up-close encounter with a Maine bear family

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 6, 2025

“Would you like to hold a bear cub?” asked Randy Cross, a biologist from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Randy had the stellar reputation of being the person who knew more about black bears than probably anybody in the country. I was thrilled to have been asked to go along with a group of 20 others on an outing led by Randy to learn about the bear population in our state.

Canadian company says it will open in northern Maine because of tariffs

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 5, 2025

Grand Falls Agromart, a Canadian fertilizer company located 3 miles from the Hamlin, Maine, border crossing plans to set up a facility in northern Maine next year, saying it is the only way to stay in business and circumvent the bilateral trade tariffs that went into effect on Tuesday.

Maine energy prices, already costly, expected to rise as Trump tariffs take effect

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 4, 2025

Tariffs that took effect Tuesday targeted all products from Canada and Mexico, hitting particularly hard in Maine, where residents depend more heavily on heating oil than in any other state. President Donald Trump slapped 25% tariffs against all goods, with energy facing a 10% tariff. Consumers of heating oil and propane will feel the hit by the end of the week, he said, and households that are struggling to make their payments will now pay 10% more. “This will be a hard pill to swallow,” said Patrick Woodcock, president and CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and ex-director of the Maine Energy Office. More than 80% of heating fuel and gasoline is imported to the state from Canada. ISO-New England, the region’s grid operator, said it estimates it would be on the hook for $66 million to $165 million a year to pay a 10% to 25% tariff on electricity imported from Canada. “In a worst-case scenario, the ISO could be forced to seek bankruptcy protection and the federal government could restrict or ban Canadian electricity imports into New England until the duties are paid,” it said.

Bills to find and destroy Maine’s toxic firefighting foam win over legislative committee

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 5, 2025

Spurred on by last year’s Brunswick Landing chemical spill, a Maine legislative committee unanimously endorsed two proposals Wednesday that would catalog, collect and destroy the state’s unwanted stockpile of toxic firefighting foam. The bills, plus one other that would require all foam to be removed from Brunswick Landing, have met with enthusiastic support from the Brunswick community, including many neighbors who say they don’t want another community to endure an accidental spill like the one that upended theirs. If approved by both chambers, the bills would still require appropriations committee approval because of the combined $5.2 million price tag.