Clean air is essential for healthy, happy lives. Clean, renewable energy helps ensure clean air. NRCM works for policies and initiatives that will improve Maine's air quality and reduce global warming pollution throughout the state and region.
NRCM’s climate and clean energy work is focused on where we can have the greatest impact: cleaner cars and trucks, clean and renewable energy production, and greater energy efficiency.
Our work in these key areas is critical to reducing health and environmental problems already plaguing our state. These include high asthma rates, more “bad air days,” rising sea levels due to climate change that threaten coastal communities, and threats to our fall foliage, skiing, and our vital tourism-based industry.
NRCM makes certain that Maine's elected officials and decision-makers are kept up to date about information related to climate change pollution, clean energy technologies, and steps Maine can take to ensure clean air.
LePage Administration Reneges on Offshore Wind
Says ‘no’ to thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of investment in Maine’s clean energy future. NRCM news release “The LePage Administration’s anti-wind rampage continued today with his Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) decision to renege on its offshore wind agreement. “In 2013, the global energy giant Statoil withdrew its proposal to begin building floating Read More
Offshore Drilling is Wrong for New England
by Melissa Gates, Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed New England’s beaches flavor our way of life, bring visitors to our communities, and fuel our coastal economy. From Maine to Connecticut, these treasures attract an endless stream of visitors who contribute over $11 billion to our region’s annual GDP. However, our thriving coast Read More
Report Finds Offshore Wind Could Add 2,100 Jobs, as Regulators Mull Fate of UMaine Project
By Lori Valigra Bangor Daily News news story Maine could use its offshore wind power expertise to boost manufacturing and support 2,100 jobs in that industry, according to a report released late Wednesday. Based largely on advances in floating platforms for wind turbines developed by the University of Maine, the report by the American Jobs Read More
Patagonia Joins Fight against CMP Transmission Line through Maine
The California-based outdoor apparel retailer founded by a Maine native backs the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s petition to stop the 145-mile project. by Tux Turkel, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story Activist outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia is encouraging followers on Facebook to sign a petition opposing a proposed transmission line that would carry Canadian Read More
CMP Offers $22 Million for Conservation to Make Up for Power Line Impact
The company negotiates a deal with Western Mountains & Rivers Corp. as part of its plan to bring power from Canada to Massachusetts via a 145-mile transmission line through western Maine. by Dennis Hoey, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story Central Maine Power Co. and a Somerset County nonprofit have reached an agreement on a Read More
Central Maine Power Project a Bad Deal for Maine
The proposal would allow a foreign company to cut a wide swatch through the forest of northern Maine, with little benefit to the state. By Tom Saviello, Republican state senator from Wilton Central Maine Newspapers op-ed Imagine what the people of Maine would think if a European company decided to cut a path the width Read More
Legislators Battle with LePage Over CMP’s Proposed Transmission Line
by Andy O’Brien Free Press news story Gov. Paul LePage and Central Maine Power are battling it out with environmental groups, local power generators and a bipartisan group of legislators over a proposed $950 million electrical transmission line from Lewiston to Quebec. The 146-mile New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), which is a joint effort 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
Baker Adviser Helped Energy Firms Land Big Mass. Contracts
By Joshua Miller and Jon Chesto Globe Staff Boston Globe news story The top political adviser to Governor Charlie Baker also provided strategic and communications advice as a paid consultant to two companies that recently landed massive clean energy contracts in Massachusetts. Jim Conroy, an experienced political strategist who managed Baker’s 2014 campaign and is Read More
