Testimony in Support of LD 164, An Act to Fund the Lake Restoration and Protection Fund Senator Brenner, Representative Gramlich, and Members of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee: My name is Nick Bennett, and I am the Staff Scientist for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). NRCM is Maine’s leading environmental advocacy group Read More
Maine Legislature
The Natural Resources Council of Maine reviews every bill being considered by the Maine Legislature to determine which ones deserve support and which ones should be opposed based on their potential impact on Maine’s environment. Read more about the bills we are following and taking action on.
Support LD 25, Provide Indigenous Peoples Free Access to State Parks
Testimony in support of LD 25, An Act to Provide Indigenous Peoples Free Access to State Parks To the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry by Josh Caldwell, Climate & Clean Energy Outreach Coordinator January 25, 2023 Senator Ingwersen, Representative Pluecker, distinguished members of the Committe on Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry. My name is Josh Caldwell. I Read More
Maine Environment Summer 2022 Newsletter
Maine Environment Summer 2022: What’s Inside! In this issue of Maine Environment, we feature a story about our work to expand the Maine Ecological Reserve System through passage of legislation during the 2022 session. As Maine’s environment faces growing threats from development, pollution, invasive species, biodiversity loss, and climate change, it is more important than ever Read More
Maine’s Ecological Reserves: A Vision for “Saving All the Pieces”
Maine’s natural environment provides us with so much: healthy air, clean water, flood control, crop pollination, carbon sequestration, inspiration, recreation, and much more. Though our scientific knowledge grows every year, there are species and relationships in nature we know little about or haven’t even discovered. Maine’s ecological reserve system was created by the Legislature in Read More
Maine Needs More Solutions for Recycling Construction Waste
When many Mainers think about waste, their minds often wander to trash that they throw out at home or work. However, there is another culprit that is quickly filling up our landfills and harming residents of Maine. Construction and demolition debris (CDD), such as scrap metal, concrete, and wood, which is created from the tearing Read More
New Law Will Tie Electric Grid Planning to Maine’s Climate Goals
NRCM news release May 9, 2022 (Augusta, ME) – Electric utilities in Maine will for the first time be required to create a comprehensive plan for supporting the state’s ambitious climate and clean energy goals under a landmark bill signed into law earlier this month. Conservation groups that worked closely with lawmakers and the Mills Read More
Poll Affirms Mainers Overwhelmingly Support Policies to Reduce Waste, Act on Climate
NRCM news release May 6, 2022 (Augusta, ME) – The vast majority of Mainers support policies to curb pollution by reducing waste and acting on climate according to a new poll of Maine voters conducted in Spring 2022. The poll confirms that actions taken by the Maine Legislature over the past few years to encourage Read More
Legislative Session Marked Again by Big Environmental Accomplishments
Bipartisan votes on many bills highlight strong conservation ethic NRCM news release April 26, 2022 (Augusta, ME) — The Maine Legislature yet again delivered significant progress on a broad range of environmental issues that will benefit Mainers across the state, according to an analysis by the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). NRCM praised Governor Read More
Senate Passes Strong Utility Accountability Bill
Legislation aimed at holding Maine’s largest electric utilities accountable for poor performance took a big step forward today when the Maine State Senate voted 20-14 to approve an amended version of LD 1959, sponsored by Senator Stacy Brenner (D-Cumberland). The landmark bill would create a system for evaluating performance of Maine’s utilities against specific metrics Read More
