Tourism and fishing depend on a clean coastline – so why isn’t our state exempt from the oil exploration planned by the Trump administration? Portland Press Herald editorial The Trump administration Tuesday removed the waters off Florida – and only Florida – from the list of areas newly open to offshore drilling, and in doing Read More
Clean & Free-flowing Waters
Thanks largely to the Clean Water Act, Maine’s great rivers are much cleaner than they were 40 years ago, but we still have a long way to go to restore many of them. NRCM continues to make clean water a high priority. NRCM was founded by a group of Mainers working to protect the Allagash River, which was designated as the nation's first Wild & Scenic River. Today, it is known as the Allagash Wilderness Waterway. In partnership with others, we also opened up part of the Kennebec River with the removal of the Edwards Dam, and we reopened 2,000 miles of habitat in the Penobscot River Watershed for Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish.
New England Congressional Delegations Submit Bill to Ban Offshore Drilling
The opposition to the Trump administration’s plan to expand offshore oil and gas drilling comes from every senator and representative in coastal New England. by the Associated Press Portland Press Herald news story CONCORD, N.H. — A bipartisan group of U.S. senators and representatives from New England has introduced a bill to prohibit oil and Read More
Support of LD 1510, An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Fund Wastewater Infrastructure Projects
Senator Hamper, Representative Gattine, and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs, my name is Pete Didisheim. I am the Advocacy Director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. I appreciate this opportunity to testify on behalf of our 20,000 members and supporters in support of LD 1510, which would create Read More
Proposal to Drill in Waters Off Maine Coast Widely Opposed
By Jennifer Mitchell Maine Public news story On Thursday, the Trump administration announced a draft proposal that would open large swaths of federal waters to potential oil and gas drilling, including the coast of Maine. The proposal would open most of the outer continental shelf to oil and gas drilling for a five-year lease period Read More
Trump Plan Would Open Maine Waters to Oil Drilling
Five-Year Offshore Plan could devastate Maine’s coastlines, fisheries and coastal communities Statement of Lisa Pohlmann, Executive Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine “The Trump Administration today released a dangerous five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing in the Atlantic Ocean—including off the coast of Maine, Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Arctic Ocean. This Read More
Maine Rep. Pingree: Republican Budget Bill Will Dismantle Environmental Protections
The legacy of Muskie’s Clean Water Act is on the line in the budget’s assault on our air, water and land. by Rep. Chellie Pingree, member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and the Environment, which oversees Environmental Protection Agency funding Portland Press Herald op-ed WASHINGTON — As Republicans in Congress rush through a partisan Read More
Portland Students’ Ocean Litter Project Wins Conservation Award
By Kate Irish Collins The Forecaster news story PORTLAND — In their bid to protect the ocean from litter, two students at King Middle School have won the People’s Choice Award from the Natural Resources Council of Maine. The council held its annual conservation leadership awards ceremony Oct. 19 in Bath, where Addie Farmer, 13, Read More
Clean Water Act has Transformed Androscoggin River Over Past 45 Years
by Steve Collins, Staff Writer Sun Journal news story Watch the Androscoggin River today as it flows down from the Great Falls at Lewiston-Auburn and it seems scarcely believable it was once little more than an open sewer, full of toxic chemicals, a channel for every throwaway thing that could be swept to the sea. Read More
Advocates Urge Environmental Protections On Anniversary of Clean Water Act’s Passage
By Susan Sharon Maine Public news story Wednesday marks the 45th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the landmark law authored by U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine, who was inspired by the Androscoggin and other rivers that were being treated as open sewers. Along the Androscoggin there were more than half a dozen paper Read More
