Here are some media stories featuring NRCM’s policy experts and our work to protect Maine’s air, land, water, and wildlife, from January-March 2025.
March 2025
Maine Public spoke with NRCM Senior Director of Advocacy Pete Didisheim about the regulatory rollbacks to EP’S
The Natural Resources Council of Maine and many other environmental organizations, along with hundreds of Mainers, oppose the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) upon its review of four dams blocking passage of endangered Atlantic salmon on the Kennebec River between Waterville and Skowhegan. Learn about our ongoing work to remove those dams.
NRCM Sustainable Maine Program Manager Vanessa Berry spoke with News Center Maine about the important step toward better management of waste that will happen with the reopening of a waste facility in Hampden.
Some legislators are working this session to end Net Energy Billing, which affects anyone using solar power at their homes or businesses. NRCM Climate & Clean Energy Senior Advocate Rebecca Schultz testified against those bills. Read more from Rebecca in this Portland Press Herald article. And NRCM Climate & Clean Energy Director Jack Shapiro is quoted in this piece about those same bills.
February 2025
The last week of February was a busy one for our staff who testified at public hearings on several legislative bills from Net Energy Billing to modernizing subdivision laws and everything in between. Read this op-ed about the Net Energy Billing hearings at which NRCM staff and others testified in opposition to getting rid of NEB. This Portland Press Herald piece quotes NRCM Senior Advocate Rebecca Schultz, who testified on behalf of NRCM and our members at these hearings.
NRCM Woods, Wildlife, & Waters Director Luke Frankel testified in opposition to a bill that would permit seawalls to be two feet taller than is currently allowed and is quoted in this Portland Press Herald story. Read Luke’s testimony on the bill here.
And Sarah Nichols testified on LD 495 this week and is quoted in this Maine Morning Star story. LD 495 is a bill that would call for transparency in costs for new climate policy, but NRCM opposes the bill because it doesn’t take into account the costs of inaction on climate change. Read Sarah’s full testimony here.
Another story that quotes NRCM Woods, Wildlife, & Waters Director Luke Frankel is in the Bangor Daily News and is about a bill being discussed in the Maine Legislature that would limit the use of riprap along Maine shores.
Hear from NRCM Sustainable Maine Program Manager Vanessa Berry in this WMTW-TV news story as she talks about why NRCM will oppose two bills this legislative session that will try to repeal Maine’s statewide single-use plastic bag ban, which NRCM helped become law in 2019.
NRCM released a report that quantifies the total investment in Maine made possible from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and comes at a time when the Trump Administration is considering cutting this lifeline for local communities. Read the report here. Many media outlets shared news about our report:
- Maine Public: “Maine received $2.2 billion from Biden clean energy programs”
- Portland Press Herald: “Maine benefited from $2.2B in US clean energy spending and incentives”
- Public News Service: “ME benefits from $2.2 billion in federal clean energy investments”
January 2025
ICYMI: Here is a great Bangor Daily News story about a couple who recently opened a bottle redemption center in Aroostook County, and they credit the changes to Maine’s bottle bill as one of the reasons their business is thriving. NRCM was proud to have our members and staff involved in the modernization of the Bottle Bill in 2023.
Karin Tilberg, the retired President/CEO of the Forest Society of Maine, has recently written a book about her love of the North Woods, aptly titled Loving the North Woods. Watch this News Center Maine 207 interview with Karin.
NRCM offers sustainability grants to Maine schools and organizations for a variety of projects. One recent grant was given in support of a Portland-area repair fair. Learn more in this Portland Press Herald story.
We ended 2024 as we do every year, with our annual Polar Bear Dip & Dash in South Portland. More than 250 people participated in either our 5K walk/run at the SMCC campus and/or dipped into the icy cold Atlantic on Willard Beach. Here is some news coverage of our 17th annual event:
- Portland Press Herald: “In photos: Plunging into South Portland’s frigid waters for fundraising”
- WMTW: “Hundreds of Mainers jump in ocean for polar dip in December”
- WGME: “Polar plunge to raise climate change awareness”
- News Center Maine: “Lobster Dip or Polar Plunge, these cold-water dips are all for a good cause”
