“It’s inexcusable that the companies we trust to transport our children to school are polluting the very air they breathe,” said Alyssa Rayman-Read, Vice President and Director of CLF Massachusetts. “There are laws on the books to prevent this type of air pollution and Transdev is blatantly ignoring them. They need to take responsibility and stop spewing toxic pollution into our neighborhoods.”
“The devastating impacts of climate change are at our doorstep,” said Greg Cunningham, Vice President and Director of CLF’s Clean Energy and Climate Change program. “Drastically reducing our climate-damaging emissions is the only way to avert these looming economic, social and environmental disasters. This bill will push Maine to do just that. After eight years with a climate denier in the governor’s office, we have real climate leadership from Governor Mills.”
“The last symbol of dirty coal in Massachusetts has come tumbling down, and a coal-free New England is within our reach,” said Sean Mahoney, Executive Vice President at CLF. “Brayton Point spewed toxic pollution into nearby communities for decades, sickening residents and devastating our environment. Now residents can literally breathe easier as clean, renewable energy will rise out of the rubble of this dirty, polluting dinosaur.”
“As we speak, there are two whales entangled in fishing gear 100 miles from this meeting,” said Erica Fuller, Senior Staff Attorney at CLF. “New England’s iconic whale can be saved if we’d simply stop allowing them to be killed year after year. Reducing and weakening the lines in the water is a start, but we need to go much further, much faster. Appropriate closures and ropeless fishing need to be part of the solution.”
“For decades, the EPA has stood idly by while manufacturers produced poisonous PFAS chemicals that ended up in our drinking water,” said Jen Duggan, Vice President and Director of CLF Vermont. “It’s now up to state leaders to clean up this mess, and Vermont is clearly up to the challenge. This bill is a critical step forward in the process to repair the damage that has been done and prevent future harm from these toxic forever chemicals.”
“North Atlantic right whales are in danger of becoming extinct within our lifetime,” said Dr. Priscilla Brooks, Director of Ocean Conservation at CLF. “The contest has been so important in raising awareness of this critical issue and creating a new generation of young advocates who will fight for the protection of right whales and our oceans.”
“The EPA’s proposed definition is a hasty and ill-conceived effort to revoke longstanding, critical protections of the nation’s waterways under the Clean Water Act,” said Heather Govern, Director of CLF’s Clean Air and Water program. “Not only does the proposed rule strip waters of protection for the benefit of a few sectors of industry, but it does so without a basis in law and ignores good environmental policy.”
“Bernhardt’s nomination is more of the same from the Trump administration: Another lobbyist who cares only about enriching the fossil fuel industry,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell. “Bernhardt will undoubtedly open our oceans to offshore drilling and cause irreparable harm to our lands and waters. The senators who voted to confirm him ought to be ashamed.”
“It is imperative that we act now to drastically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions if we are to have any hope of avoiding the most catastrophic impacts of climate change,” said Sean Mahoney, Executive Vice President and Director of CLF Maine. “Replacing energy from polluting fracked gas plants with hydropower will reduce emissions at the scale necessary to make a difference in New England.”
“Mainers have a right to affordable, clean energy,” said Emily Green, Staff Attorney at CLF. “Strong solar policy helps create jobs, protects our environment, and can lower our energy bills. This bill puts the interests of residents and businesses first, and clears the way for Maine’s clean energy future.”
