by Jen Lynds, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — A near equal number of supporters and opponents spoke during a four-and-a-half-hour public hearing Wednesday on a bill to change the state’s mining laws. Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, said he was prompted to introduce the bill by the increasing price of minerals Read More
State House Watch
Working for legislation to protect Maine’s environment is an essential part of NRCM’s mission for the people of Maine. During the legislative session, we are at the Maine State House, just a block from our office, to work for new safeguards and also to defend existing legislation that protects Maine’s land, air, water, and wildlife.
Maine Mining Proposal Draws Fire, Support
by A.J. Higgins MPBN news story A proposal to revise the state’s open pit mining regulations to improve the prospects for an operation in Aroostook County is drawing fire from critics, who cite environmental concerns. Democratic state Rep. John Martin, of Eagle Lake, who introduced the proposed changes, says they could benefit a mining site at Read More
Takings Bill Would Turn Landowner’s Rights on Its Head
An owner would be compensated for not harming his own property in a way that hurts neighbors. by A. Myrick Freeman, III Portland Press Herald op-ed In a March 1 Maine Voices Column (“Bill would offer recourse when ‘regulatory takings’ hurt landowners”), Rep. Andre Cushing makes several useful points about the “regulatory takings” bill (L.D. Read More
LURC Reform: It’s All About the Money
by Sandra Neily Bangor Daily News op-ed Decentralize and localize LURC with more county representation? Allow a county to opt out of LURC oversight? Remove centralized management of a forest asset that drops billions of dollars a year into the Maine economy? Imagine North Woods resources as an affiliated, sprawling string of factories. (Maine people Read More
‘Takings’ Bill Would Reward Big Landowners at Taxpayers’ Expense
L.D. 1810 is an effort to thwart the environmental laws that protect Maine’s water and wildlife. by Ron Joseph of Camden, a retired wildlife biologist Portland Press Herald op-ed CAMDEN — During the late 1950s and early 1960s, my father often took me spring fishing on weekends. Occasionally, we’d travel north from our Waterville home Read More
Group Alleges Industry Influenced DEP’s Mercury Recycling Report
By Kevin Miller, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story The Natural Resources Council of Maine is accusing Maine Department of Environmental Protection officials of allowing an industry group to have undue influence on a recent report that calls for a re-evaluation of hazardous waste recycling programs. But a DEP spokeswoman said the department’s doors Read More
NRCM: DEP Submits to ‘Undue Industry Influence’ on Product Stewardship Programs
by Gina Hamilton The New Maine Times news story A new report released Tuesday by the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) calls into question the amount of industry influence over the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in the arena of product stewardship regulations. What is product stewardship? For years, Maine has required that Read More
DEP Efforts to Review Product Takeback Program Under Scrutiny
by Susan Sharon Maine Public news story When the Maine Department of Environmental Protection recently suggested review and possible phasing out of Maine’s first-in-the-nation product takeback programs it had meetings with industry but not with other stakeholders or key staff who manage the programs. That is one of the findings from a Freedom of Access 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
