NRCM, Sierra Club Maine, NRDC, NWF Conservation groups gathered in Portland today to express concerns about efforts to pipe tar sands crude oil from Canada into the United States, citing proposals to build a massive new pipeline across America’s heartland and the possibility that tar sands could flow from Canada through Maine for export. A Read More
Climate
Climate change and global warming pollution harm Maine people, wildlife, and our environment. Among the highest rates of childhood asthma in the nation, rising seas and severe storms battering our coastal homes and towns, warming and more acidic oceans threatening fisheries, too many “bad air days,” more and more tick-borne diseases, threats to our fall foliage and winter tourism industries—these are among the many health, environmental, and economic problems climate change pollution is causing here in Maine.
The Natural Resources Council of Maine is working to reduce climate-changing pollution by making Maine more energy efficient. We work to provide clean, renewable energy and cleaner more efficient vehicles that will reduce Maine’s contribution to air pollution and climate change to ensure Maine people and wildlife have clean air to breathe.
Mercury and Birds
A report by the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI), finds that mercury contamination is at levels dangerous enough to cause physiological and reproductive harm in a wide-range of songbirds and bats in the 11 northeastern states, including Maine. The report, Hidden Risk, finds that certain species and habitats are of special concern. Bicknell’s Thrush, Rusty Blackbird, Read More
Weathering the Storm and a Dip in the Icy Atlantic
Having survived (can I say “enjoyed?”) NRCM’s New Year’s Eve day Polar Bear Dip & Dash and welcoming in the New Year with a sunrise walk with the dog through the Spurwink Marsh, I feel like I am entering 2012 with a good reserve of energy and optimism. Looks like we will all need lots of both. Before Read More
Recalling the Cold Sledgehammer: NRCM’s Polar Dip and Dash
By Jeff Wells I have felt the cold sledgehammer of ice water closing in on my head before—that’s what it felt like to me when I plunged under the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean at Portland’s East End Beach during the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s (NRCM’s) Polar Plunge in 2009. That was a Read More
Mean Mr. Grinch Thwarted this Holiday Season
On a recent blustery winter day, I found myself skulking and slinking around Portland’s Monument Square dressed as Dr. Seuss’ the Grinch. Sporting a three-piece, pinstriped suit and hauling bags of dirty coal over my shoulder, I spread holiday fear wherever I went. But why, you ask? I have never considered myself a Grinch by Read More
New Mercury Safeguards Will Save Lives, Cut Pollution in Maine
NRCM news release December 21, 2011 — Maine health and environment groups are applauding new safeguards that will protect kids and families from dangerous air pollution from mercury and other toxic chemicals that flow here from dirty power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency today announced new standards for power plant emissions that will significantly cut Read More
Poll Shows Maine Voters Oppose Environmental Rollbacks
A poll conducted two weeks ago by Portland-based Critical Insights shows that Maine voters overwhelming oppose specific environmental rollback proposals now before the Maine Legislature, including efforts to weaken shoreland zoning, the bottle bill, and Maine’s energy building code. The survey finds that Maine voters place a high priority on protecting our land, water and air; Read More
LePage Pushes to Eliminate Maine’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard
by Susan Sharon MPBN radio news story Gov. Paul LePage says it’s time to wean Maine off its dependence on oil, and turn instead to natural gas. And in remarks to a group of business people at the Cumberland Club in Portland last night, the governor said Maine should stop using oil to heat homes—period. Read More
Pipeline Project Could Turn Maine Into ‘Dirty Tar Sands Oil’ Capital of the Eastern U.S.
NRCM Joins Protest of Phase I of “Trailbreaker” Pipeline NRCM news release The Natural Resources Council of Maine has joined with four other environmental organizations in an effort to block a Canadian pipeline project that could make Portland, Maine, the “tar sands capital” of the eastern United States. The groups have sent a letter that calls Read More
