AUGUSTA, Maine – Today, at a news conference and public hearing, public health and conservation advocates strongly criticized a proposal by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that would roll back pollution standards that protect Maine’s air from harmful smog and other air pollution. In his final months in office, the LePage Administration is Read More
Climate Change
Climate change and global warming pollution harm Maine people, wildlife, and our environment. Global warming, also known as climate change, is caused by a blanket of pollution that traps heat around the earth. This pollution comes from cars, factories, homes, and power plants that burn fossil fuels such as oil, coal, natural gas, and gasoline.
Climate-changing pollution knows no boundaries. It enters the atmosphere, spreads across the globe, and traps heat around the earth for 50-200 years after it is emitted. That is why we need to reduce global warming pollution now, because our children, and their children, will still feel the effects of global warming for years to come. Currently, the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are at their highest levels in hundreds of thousands of years.
Learn how you can reduce climate-changing pollution and advocate for a cleaner, healthier Maine.
Maine Shouldn’t Go Backward on Ozone Regulations
Bangor Daily News editorial Ozone is harmful, sometimes deadly, pollutant. Maine has worked with 11 other states to our west and south to successfully reduce ozone levels. But the pollutant remains problematic, especially in the summer when the Maine Department of Environmental Protection issues warnings about high ozone levels encouraging people at risk for respiratory Read More
Poll Shows Maine Voters Ready for Action to Address Climate and Support LMF and National Monument
Augusta, Maine – Today, the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) released the results of a public opinion survey on the attitudes of likely Maine voters on a range of environmental and energy issues. The survey was completed in April by the Portland-based research firm Critical Insights. The results are being sent to more than Read More
Climate Change to Have Drastic Effects on Gulf of Maine Lobster and Clam Fisheries, Studies Say
New work by academic researchers details how warming waters will drive some of the state’s key commercial species north and expose others to predators. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — Two new scientific studies are highlighting the current and future impacts that rising ocean temperatures will have on lobster, Read More
June Trial Set for Lawsuit Over South Portland’s “Clear Skies” Law
by Juliette Laaka The Forecaster news story SOUTH PORTLAND — The lawsuit challenging the city’s Clear Skies Ordinance is scheduled to go to trial June 18 in U.S. District Court. The City Council transferred more than half a million dollars to the ordinance defense fund Tuesday in anticipation of the trial, and approved zoning changes Read More
Climate Change Panel Outlines National Security Threats Posed by Rising Sea Levels
Even the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery could be affected by the end of the century, according to a member of the panel moderated by Sen. Angus King. by Dennis Hoey, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story Members of a climate change panel told an audience of about 500 Thursday night that U.S. military Read More
Retired Marine General Sees Climate Change as National Security Threat
By Susan Sharon Maine Public news story A retired Marine general and expert on national security is in Maine Thursday to discuss what he sees as one of the biggest threats to stability: climate change. General John Castellaw says there are currently 32 locations around the world where conflict, aggravated by climate change, is affecting Read More
EPA Administrator’s Reversal of Clean Car Standards Harms Health of Maine Air, People
Augusta – Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt has indicated his intent to deem America’s cleaner car standards “inappropriate,” reversing the agency’s previous determination that they should continue as planned. The standards require increasingly less-polluting cars for model years 2022-2025 and were adopted with support of automakers and after intensive analysis. “With this cleaner Read More
The End of Maple Syrup? Climate Change Threatens Maine’s Iconic Maple Sugar Industry
NRCM news release Windham, Maine – Today, at a news conference at Cooper’s Maple Products, maple producers, a forest expert, a representative from Senator King’s office, and a conservationist described the effects climate change may have on maple syrup production in Maine. In advance of the 35th annual Maine Maple Sunday (coming up March 25), Read More
