Commentary: Legislative session delivers big victories for Maine’s environment
Bipartisan policymaking resulted in laws to conserve land, promote clean energy, address climate change, protect clean water and reduce pollution.
By Lisa Pohlmann and Pete DidisheimSpecial to the Press Herald
Share
Although this was a challenging year for lawmakers because of the pandemic, the Legislature was remarkably successful in enacting a broad range of environmental laws that will benefit Mainers for years to come. By almost any measure, Maine’s environment was a big winner in the 2021 legislative session.
Kettle Cove in Cape Elizabeth and other state parks, which have been experiencing record visitation, will benefit from the $50 million allocated to address a backlog of maintenance projects.
Celebrating Pride: Common Connections in Maine's Environment nrcm.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nrcm.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
News Release by the Natural Resources Council of Maine and Maine Conservation Voters
April 22, 2021 (Augusta, Maine) Maine environmental groups say that the two-day Leaders Summit on Climate convened today by President Joe Biden has returned the United States to a position of global leadership on climate action that will deliver real benefits to Maine people and communities.
The Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) and Maine Conservation Voters (MCV) are also praising the Biden Administration’s announcement that it will set a new goal for the United States to achieve a 50-52% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030 as part of the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Climate Agreement. The groups say that the federal government’s actions on climate are critical to help Maine achieve the goals it set in a statewide Climate Action Plan released in December 2020.
Read Article
Jeff Gouzie, assistant store manager at Hannaford Supermarkets in Buxton, moves a shopping cart with bread to be donated from the Hannaford on Forest Avenue in Portland on Tuesday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer
Hannaford Supermarkets announced Tuesday that it is no longer sending food waste to landfills from any of its 183 stores in New England and upstate New York.
The Scarborough-based company said it is the first large grocery retailer in the Northeast to achieve the feat. Company officials said they have been able to do so through careful management of store deliveries, donations to food pantries and farms, and working with a Maine trash-to-energy operation to convert food that can’t be used otherwise into fuel.