Working Waterfront

Coastal legislators focus on climate

When legislators in Congress and the state legislature find common interest—across the bodies in which they serve, and even across party lines—they form groups, known as caucuses. It’s a strategic way to exert power, to offer support for ideas as a voting bloc. One such group in the Maine legislature… SEE MORE

Environment

Working Waterfront

Massachusetts proposes February to May lobstering ‘pause’

A dire decline of North Atlantic right whales and a pair of court rulings are pushing regulators to propose new restrictions on lobstering in New England waters. The proposed regulations aim to reduce the risk of the endangered whales becoming entangled with lobster trap gear. While much of the new… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fight climate change, but not with CMP corridor

The December/January issue featured a guest column by Orlando Delogu (“Maine must see bigger picture on utility project”) in which he questioned my motives on why I am against the New England Clean Energy Connect Corridor. I want to explain why I am against it. First, let me make clear… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Sea sickness of another kind

People often ask me if I am a sailor. I demur, admitting only to owning a boat. I have too much awareness of and respect for real sailors to compare my level of skill. Like many mariners, I get seasick, unless the seas are calm or I am sufficiently infused… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine must see bigger picture on utility project

When Australia lit up with wildfires and 105-plus degree temperatures, we could ignore the consequences of global warming—it was half a world away. When California, Oregon, and Washington lit up with record breaking wildfires, air temperatures that reached 120 degrees, and unhealthful drift smoke that reached Maine, the consequences of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A new, old-fashioned way to serve school lunch

Lincoln Academy students who purchase lunch will now eat it out of what are known as “tiffin” containers. Tiffins are reusable stainless-steel lunchboxes that can be washed and sanitized every day which will significantly reduce schools packaging costs as well as plastic waste. Most schools use disposable plastic containers—thousands of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Minke whale skeleton finds second life

Photos by William Trevaskis Students, staff, and visitors to North Haven Community School are greeted by a new, impressive sight when they enter the school grounds: a 26-foot minke whale skeleton, mounted in a spruce timber frame. The display is the culmination of a years-long project, begun in 2016 when… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine Climate Council action plan is opportunity, say members

The Maine Climate Council released its four-year plan for climate action on Tuesday, Dec. 1 the same day 60-mph wind gusts were battering the state. As council member Ivan Fernandez remarked during the public release of the report that the five hottest years in Earth’s recorded history were the last… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Downeast cranberries were a bust, too

In a good year, Sugar Hill Farm harvests 50,000 to 80,000 pounds of cranberries. Not surprisingly, 2020 has not been a good year, even for Maine’s drop-in-the-bucket cranberry industry. Too hot. Too cold. Too much rain. Too little rain. Such is farming. [caption id="attachment_22750" align="alignleft" width="199"] Christine Alexander. PHOTO: TOM… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island Institute awarded energy contract

The Island Institute is one of five organizations in the country to be awarded a contract by the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project, or ETIPP. As a partner in this new U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored initiative, the Island Institute will be awarded $330,000 over three years by the National Renewable… SEE MORE