AUGUSTA – A state legislative committee voted today to put Maine back on track to develop a finished plan for adapting to its changing climate. “I think the committee understood how much we all stand to lose if we don’t plan for the future,” said Pete Didisheim, advocacy director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, one of the nonprofit groups involved in the creation of the initial report by the state Department of Environmental Protection in 2010. Continue Reading →
Environment
Recent stories
Groups tell legislators: Restart climate change planning
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Nearly a dozen of the state’s top environmental groups turned out at a legislative hearing Thursday to urge the state to revive its plan to help Maine adapt to a changing climate. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Environment, Stories, climate change
Sanford legislator calls for state to help towns plan for climate change effects
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Two freshman legislators have filed bills to make dealing with climate change once again a priority for state government. Rep. Paul McGowan, D-York, submitted a bill designed to make Maine more energy independent and sets goals such as reducing fossil fuel use by 20 percent. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Energy, Environment, Stories, climate change, global warming, Maine legislature
EPA investigating toxic laundry emissions in New England
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The moment Mark Spiro walked into G&K Services, an industrial laundry in Waterbury, Conn., the steamy air stung his eyes and made his head ache. The place reeked of chemical solvents: methyl ethyl ketone, xylene, toluene – the sickly sweet scents of spray paint, permanent markers and model glue. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Environment, Public Safety, industrial laundries, New England, shop wipes, toxic chemicals, VOC
State puts climate change planning on shelf; towns fend for themselves
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A howling storm, tidal surge, downed power lines, beaches swept away, coastal residents evacuated. Hurricane Sandy? Yes, but it is also the story of the Patriots Day storm of 2007 along the southern Maine coast. Experts say both storms are harbingers of yet more severe storms to come, made worse by the effects of a warming climate. The streets are dry and clear these days in Ocean Park, the 130-year-old enclave at the southern tip of Old Orchard Beach. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Environment, Stories, climate change, LePage, Sandy, video
State OKs doubling pollution at Old Town pulp mill
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The pulp mill in Old Town that has been propped up with millions in federal and state aid has tentatively won its battle to double its allowed pollution rather than fix or replace its aging boiler. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced on July 14 it would grant most of the Old Town Fuel & Fiber pulp mill’s request to increase its permitted carbon monoxide emissions. The mill has asked to go from 407 tons per year to 1,045; the state approved a 929-ton maximum. Average permitted daily emissions would also be allowed to increase. The decision is not final, however. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Environment, Stories, air pollution, Maine DEP, Old Town Fuel & Fiber
Taxpayers spending millions on mill that keeps on polluting
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The state has spent millions of dollars to prop up the Old Town pulp mill while steadily fining the mill’s owner for ongoing pollution. And now the biggest fine ever is imminent. The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting has learned that the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is preparing to slap a $497,000 fine on Old Town Fuel & Fiber for excess air pollution over a 12-month period. That will come on top of $331,000 in penalties assessed by the DEP and the federal
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the past five years. Rather than spend money to solve the persistent air-pollution problem, the mill owners want the state to relax the pollution rules. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Environment, Baldacci, Coch brothers, Maine DEP, Old Town Fuel & Fiber, pollution
Flaws in bill like skating with ‘dull skates’
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State wants $36,000 from Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting to see records of state utility chairman's communications with wind companies and others. See sidebar below. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Energy, Environment, Baldacci, First wind, Kurt Adams, LURC, Maine Audubon, Natural Resources Council of Maine
Wind-swept task force set the rules
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A critical look at Maine’s wind act: Part 2
Editor’s note: This is part two of a three-part series on the 2008 law to fast-track wind turbine development. AUGUSTA — Gov. John Baldacci established the Governor’s Task Force on Wind Power Development by executive order on May 8, 2007 with the expectation it would make Maine a leader in the wind power industry. Baldacci’s timing was perfect:
• The day before, a CNN story had reported that the price of gas “has hit a new record high, averaging $3.07 for a gallon of self-serve regular in the United States.”
• Climate change was in the news almost daily. • Developers and environmentalists had just fought a battle in western Maine over construction of a huge wind power project, ending in defeat for the project. That battle demonstrated a significant failing in state law: Maine’s tangle of environmental regulations simply didn’t include tools or standards appropriate for considering the placement of 400-foot-plus turbines smack in the middle of some of the state’s wildest lands. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Energy, Environment, Baldacci, First wind, Kurt Adams, LURC, Pat McGowan, wind power
Wind power bandwagon hits bumps in the road
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A critical look at Maine’s wind act: Part 1
Editor’s note: This is part one of a three-part series on the 2008 law to fast-track wind turbine development. By Naomi Schalit Senior Reporter ©Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting
AUGUSTA — The Wind Energy Act of 2008, which gave developers a fast track to putting up wind turbines in some of the state’s treasured high ground, was a special interest bill justified at the time in the name of jobs, energy independence and climate change. “There is tremendous potential for Maine to become a leader in clean, renewable energy, including wind energy,” said Gov. John Baldacci, who appointed the task force whose report led to the bill. “This kind of investment would create jobs and help to expand
Maine’s economy.”
But now, two years after the law was championed by Baldacci, some members of the task force, all of whom supported the Wind Energy Act, are questioning whether the goals they set for wind power can or even should be achieved. Critics and even some one-time supporters say the proponents of the law were swept up in a tidal wave of enthusiasm for a technology that turns out to require significant sacrifice from the state, but has little to offer Maine in return. Continue Reading →