Bangor Daily News editorial Maine’s bottle redemption program turns 40 this year, marking four decades of rewarding responsible consumers with small, 5- or 15-cent refunds when they redeem the beverage containers they’ve accrued over time. It is one of the most comprehensive and successful of such programs in the country. Maine consumers recycle more beverage Read More
Maine Environmental News
Maine environmental news often comes quickly and with little warning. Stay up to date on Maine environment news.
From issues such as climate change, healthy waters, Maine forests and wildlife, and sustainability—and environmental policy that could impact them—you’ll find NRCM’s up-to-the-minute news releases to see our perspective on the most pressing issues facing Maine’s land, air, waters, and wildlife. This includes findings relating to our role as Maine’s watchdog of activities of state environmental agencies—we stand ready to blow the whistle when regulations are not enforced.
You can also find our news “round up,” News & Noteworthy, which puts the spotlight on media stories that do a particularly good job capturing current news about Maine's environment. We hope you find this part of our website helpful and informative!
Survey of Casco Bay Finds Microplastics in Four Distinct Regions
The Friends of Casco Bay assessment identifies pieces of the plastic waste, which marine life can ingest and which attract toxins. But none of the microbeads banned in Maine in 2015 showed up. By Mary Pols, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story The first survey of Casco Bay for microplastics, the troubling, hard-to-see fragments Read More
Wind Power Moratorium Reignites Tourism vs. Clean Energy Debate
by James McCarthy Mainebiz news story Gov. Paul R. LePage issued an executive order Wednesday putting the brakes on the state’s permitting of new onshore wind projects. In doing so, he’s renewed the longstanding debate over whether there’s greater value in Maine’s scenic mountains for tourism than for wind energy. His order also created the Read More
NRCM Statement on LePage Wind Power Moratorium and Secret Panel
Statement by NRCM Climate and Clean Energy Director Dylan Voorhees “Today, Governor LePage told clean energy investors that Maine is ‘Not Open for Business.’ LePage placed an open-ended unilateral moratorium on development of wind power in Maine. LePage created a secret panel with enormous power to prevent wind power from being developed in Maine. He Read More
Adult Ed, Recycling Tours: How to School Yourself in Sustainability
Mainers can take a class in Lewiston about electric cars, check out the ecomaine facility, or get a helping hand from the Natural Resources Council of Maine – just to name a few resources. By Ray Routhier, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story Not that long ago, the idea of taking a class to Read More
York Teens Want Their Town to be the Latest to Ban Polystyrene Containers
By Deborah McDermott The York Weekly news story Four York High School seniors are taking democracy and a concern for the environment to heart, and have launched an online petition drive to ban polystyrene takeout containers from being used by restaurants in York. Margaret Wilkinson, Sophia Eytel, Anya Walsh and Sammi Pooler, all students in Read More
Bill Adams, One of Maine’s Environmental Pioneers, Dies at 89
By Steve Collins, Staff Writer Sun Journal news story AUBURN — Sometimes one person in the right place makes all the difference. Back in 1973, a New York-based firm called the Pittston Co. sought to construct an oil refinery astride Passamaquoddy Bay in Eastport. The refinery would take in 250,000 barrels daily from tankers that Read More
Increased Offshore Drilling is Not the Answer to America’s Energy Future
Bangor Daily News editorial The recent announcement from the Trump administration that it wants to open nearly all U.S. oceans to oil and gas drilling is certainly concerning. But there is not reason to panic, yet. The announcement, from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, is no surprise as the Trump administration is focused on undoing every Read More
I Toured the Monument with Zinke. His Recommendation to Open It to Logging is Disappointing.
by Paul Corrigan, retired Baxter State Park ranger living in Millinocket Bangor Daily News op-ed It was with disappointment that I read what Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke may have in store for Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in his memorandum to the president, especially in light of the secretary’s visit to Maine back in June. Read More
