The measure endorsed by the Legislature’s energy committee calls for a cost-benefit analysis of how utilities pay homeowners and small businesses for the electricity they generate. By Tux Turkel, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA — A bill that would keep current financial incentives for rooftop solar in place pending a cost-benefit study Read More
Maine Economy
North Woods National Monument Opens Fully to the Public
By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story KATAHDIN WOODS AND WATERS NATIONAL MONUMENT, Maine — Amid an ongoing federal review and contention over the signs advertising it, Maine’s national monument opened fully for its first full year on Thursday with a handful of visitors more interested in nature than politics. About Read More
Lawmakers Draft Letters to Interior Secretary Defending National Monuments
by Susan Sharon Maine Public news story Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine’s 1st District and 85 of her colleagues have sent a letter to the interior secretary warning him that only Congress has the “Constitutional authority to revoke or shrink a national monument.” Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine has also written Read More
NRCM Public Comments on Department of Interior Review of National Monuments
Monument Review, MS-1530 U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street NW Washington, DC 20240 Submitted to the public record on May 23, 2017 The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) is a statewide, member-supported conservation organization established in 1959 and located in Augusta, Maine. We have 20,000 members and supporters located in all sixteen Read More
LePage Refuses to Put Up Road Signs for North Woods National Monument
By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story Gov. Paul LePage is refusing to put signs along state roads showing the way to Maine’s national monument, pending the outcome of a federal review, state officials said Friday. The governor won’t allow official signs for Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument to be Read More
Gulf of Maine Will Become Too Warm for Many Key Fish, Report Says
Cod and haddock will see prime habitat areas vanish this century, but lobsters will find new spaces to grow. by Colin Woodard, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story A new study by federal fisheries scientists predicts the warming of the Gulf of Maine will cause a dramatic contraction of suitably cool habitat for a Read More
‘Everything Changed’ — Millinocket-Area Businesses Tout Benefits of National Monument
By A.J. Higgins Maine Public news story The Trump administration has vowed to review some of the national monument designations carried out in the Obama years, which could include Maine’s Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. Gov. Paul LePage says the monument, and its potential to become a national park, pose a real threat to Read More
Lewiston Liquor Bottler Warns Ending “Nips” Sales Would Have “Drastic Impact” on Company
A letter from the Sazerac Co. CEO suggests Gov. LePage’s threat to end sales of 50-milliliter bottles – not a proposed 5-cent bottle deposit – would harm his company and the state. by Kevin Miller, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story AUGUSTA – The head of a Lewiston liquor bottler withdrew his support for Read More
Trump’s Fight against Environmental Protection is a Threat to Maine’s Economy and Health
By Sharon S. Tisher and Harold W. Borns Jr., Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed Last month, the planet passed an unfortunate milestone. The Mauna Loa Observatory recorded for the first time a reading of more than 410 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide hasn’t been at this Read More