As Maine’s agriculture and food sector expands, farmers and small business owners are facing practical challenges, including lack of access to capital and legal services. We’ll look at new creative solutions designed to help this sector grow and remain sustainable for years to come. Guests: Sam May, Co-Founder, Maine Harvest Credit Project Amanda Beal, President and… Continue reading Innovative Solutions for Maine Farmers
Talking Trash CLF Launches Zero-Waste Project to Tackle Massachusetts’s Trash Problem Getting Smart about Energy Energy Efficiency Under Fire in Maine Why I Give Rebecca LaRocque Five Questions For… Rebekah Weber, Lake Champlain Lakekeeper
On March 28th, President Trump signed an executive order that launched a full-scale attack on our national progress in protecting public health and the environment from dangerous climate change. The so-called Energy Independence Order asks EPA to reconsider the Clean Power Plan, the first-ever federal rule designed to reduce climate-warming emissions from power plants, as… Continue reading CLF and New England Battle Back as President Trump Attacks U.S. Climate Progress
CLF took the Maine Public Utilities Commission to court today for underfunding the state’s three-year energy efficiency budget by $30 million – resulting in losses of $270 million dollars for Maine citizens and businesses. You read that right – shortchanging energy efficiency translates to lost benefits totaling hundreds of millions of dollars for hardworking Mainers.
“If you could pay a lot less for the same product, why wouldn’t you? That’s what energy efficiency is about – lowering our electric bills without turning out the lights,” said Emily Green. “The PUC’s decision to underfund this critical program defies all economic sense, environmental sense and common sense. Thanks to three LePage-appointed commissioners, Mainers will be throwing away a quarter of a billion dollars.”
UPDATE: Victory! On April 11, the Public Utilities Commission announced that it will not issue any contract for a new natural gas storage facility in Maine. The Commission agreed with CLF’s and its staff’s position that the costs of building new natural gas storage facilities would far outweigh any speculative benefits for Maine people. For… Continue reading More Liquefied Natural Gas Storage in Maine? We Don’t Need It!
Big Gas’s claims about a dire need for new gas pipelines in New England are not based in objective fact. As CLF recently noted, electricity prices and demand are down, and we have ample gas available when we need it most. And, more importantly, large batches of clean energy resources will be coming online over… Continue reading More Evidence of Big Gas’s Bad Deal for New England
… Emily Green, a lawyer with the Conservation Law Foundation, says the new policy will make it harder to recoup the big upfront investment the technology requires, and runs afoul of existing law that puts a premium on increasing solar build-out in the state. She also says it will end up costing all energy considers… Continue reading Groups Urge State to Reconsider New Solar Rules
President Trump’s first 100 days in office started with a bang – as in, the sound of a shot through the heart of our country’s environmental protections. One of the President’s first official actions was to sign an executive order that requires federal agencies to axe two existing regulations for each new regulation they create.… Continue reading Trump’s “Two-for-One” Order is Bad for the Environment
On Wednesday, President Trump took the first step toward rolling back emissions standards for new cars and trucks in model years 2022–2025. These important federal standards set fuel economy (miles per gallon, or “MPG”) requirements that save you money at the pump and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. They also reduce dangerous climate emissions… Continue reading Trump Administration Takes a Treacherous U-Turn on Clean Car Standards
