News Release Today, leaders of major hospitals In Bangor, Aroostook County, and Mid-Coast Maine joined together with a top commercial building efficiency expert and the head of Maine’s leading environmental group to focus on the financial benefits of hospital energy efficiency improvements that have been funded by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). They gathered Read More
Environmental Protection Agency
Group Wants MDI to Go Fossil Fuel Free Within 15 Years
By Susan Sharon MPBN news story It’s official — the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization has confirmed what other agencies including NASA have said earlier: 2015 was the hottest year on record. The global surface temperature is 1 degree Celsius above the preindustrial era, which the agency says makes voluntary commitments reached in the Paris Read More
Let Climate be Right for Bipartisan Effort against Global Warming
Climate change affects our public health and welfare, and threatens Maine’s nature-based economy. By Tony Owens and Russell Black Portland Press Herald op-ed We are two different people: a Republican farmer and legislator from rural western Maine and a Democratic physician from Cape Elizabeth. But as different as our backgrounds are, our concerns about climate Read More
EPA Proposes Tougher Downwind Emissions Rules for States
But two resolutions passed by the Senate would block President Obama’s plan to cut greenhouse gases. by Matthew Daly, The Associated Press Portland Press Herald news story WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency proposed tougher new limits on Tuesday on smokestack emissions from nearly two dozen states that burden downwind areas with air pollution from Read More
Stop Wasting Food! Have Your Cake, and Eat It, Too.
As a micro-scale farmer who has put a lot of effort into every vegetable, egg and pork chop I sell, I’ve often thought it an unfortunate side effect of life in the land of plenty that most of us don’t really worry about throwing away food. But we need to start. Food waste may not Read More
Maine Business Owners Explore Challenges, Opportunities of Climate Change
During a South Portland panel discussion moderated by U.S. Sen. Angus King, they share examples of how sustainability measures can cut costs while making companies greener. By Kevin Miller, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story SOUTH PORTLAND — Several Maine business owners said Friday that adapting to climate change doesn’t have to be costly Read More
Clean Water is Lifeline to Livelihood
Our congressional delegation needs to back the EPA’s Clean Water Rule as tourists will stay away if waterways are polluted. By Bill Richards, Special to the Telegram Maine Sunday Telegram op-ed ABOUT THE AUTHOR Bill Richards of Sandy River Plantation is president of the Maine Wilderness Guides Organization. SANDY RIVER PLANTATION — Maine’s economy has Read More
State Shouldn’t Relinquish Water Quality Permitting Authority
by the BDN editorial board Bangor Daily News editorial Unfortunately, a water quality dispute involving state and federal regulators and the state’s Indian tribes is moving further away from resolution. The uncertainty over water quality standards has gotten so bad that Gov. Paul LePage is threatening to quit a system that allows the state to Read More
LePage Asks Maine Delegation to Intervene in Tribal Waters Dispute with Feds
By A.J. Higgins MPBN news story AUGUSTA, Maine – As the impasse between Maine and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over water quality standards deepens, the LePage administration is threatening to relinquish some or all of the state’s delegated authority to ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act. Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Patty Aho Read More