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.
![DSCN6451 Tom Tietenberg speaking at RGGI presser](https://www.nrcm.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/DSCN6451-600x400.jpg)
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Marks Milestone 25th Carbon Auction
New Reports Demonstrate Success of RGGI for Maine People, Business, Economy NRCM news release Westbrook, ME – Businesses and energy leaders gathered with the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) today to celebrate the success of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or RGGI. The multistate program to limit climate-changing carbon pollution from power plants achieved Read More
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Deer Tick News Is All Bad – “Ticked Off” Report Should Tick You Off
By George Smith Bangor Daily News column This morning my Kennebec Journal came with a deer tick. I start my day with a cup of coffee and the KJ, seated in a comfortable rocker with a view out the kitchen window to Linda’s beautiful flower gardens. Opening the paper to grab the section that includes Read More
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Report: Climate Change Threatens Outdoor Recreation, Mainers’ Health
by Jackie Farwell, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story PORTLAND, Maine — Climate change has exacerbated populations of ticks, mosquitoes and other pests that threaten health and outdoor recreation, according to a national report released in Portland on Tuesday. Shorter winters and warmer summers have allowed problematic bugs — along with poison ivy and Read More
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Report: Climate Change Threatens America’s Cherished Outdoor Experience
Stressful Weather Conditions Exacerbate Pests and Threaten Health in Maine News release by NRCM and NWF PORTLAND, MAINE, August 19, 2014 – Climate change is creating favorable conditions for many bothersome pests – from ticks to poison ivy and jellyfish to mosquitoes– increasing their numbers and expanding their ranges, according to a new report released Read More
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EPA Official Praises Maine, Other New England States for Climate Protection
By Kevin Miller, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story New England’s market-based approach to reducing carbon dioxide emissions shows that states can fight climate change while still improving their economies, the region’s top environmental officials said Wednesday. Curt Spalding, Environmental Protection Agency administrator for New England, suggested that Maine and most other northeastern states Read More
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Mainers Urge Support for EPA’s Carbon Pollution Standards for Power Plants
NRCM News Release Portland, ME – During a “citizen hearing” today in Portland, local health experts, marine fisheries experts, clean energy leaders and conservation advocates, highlighted the public health and economic benefits of the EPA’s new carbon pollution standards for power plants, and urged Maine’s elected leaders, including Senators Collins and King to pledge support Read More
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Setting Rivers Free: As Dams are Torn Down, Nature is Quickly Recovering
By Doug Struck, Contributor Christian Science Monitor cover story BENTON FALLS, Maine — “Look underneath you,” commands Nate Gray, a burly biologist for the state of Maine. He reaches down to the grate floor of a steel cage perched on a dam straddling the Sebasticook River, and pulls back a board revealing the roiling river Read More
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South Portland Girds for Legal Battle, Praised for Precedent on Its Tar Sands Ban
Conservation groups and other areas celebrate the city’s stand against the heavy crude, as opponents map out strategies for overturning the new regulation. By Leslie Bridgers, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story South Portland officials are preparing for a legal battle with members of the oil industry over a City Council vote Monday to Read More
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Maine Conservation Groups Gather with South Portland Residents to Celebrate and React to Tar Sands Vote
Read more about tar sands in South Portland Read public comments by NRCM’s Lisa Pohlmann at final South Portland City Council vote News Release Portland—In a historic vote, the South Portland City Council last night voted 6-1 to pass the Clear Skies Ordinance to protect the city from a tar sands crude oil terminal. The Read More