The last few years, our work at the State House in Augusta has delivered enormous progress for Maine’s environment. So, how is NRCM gearing up to continue this momentum and what are the priorities we’ve set for this year’s short legislative session? From curbing the use of polluting gas to encouraging reuse, investing in our trails, and tribal sovereignty for the Wabanaki people, NRCM’s Advocacy Director Pete Didisheim joins the podcast to discuss the issues and bills we’ll be tracking, and how we hope to work together with you – people who love the nature of Maine – to achieve great things fo ..read more

It’s the holiday season, which means a lot of gifts, a lot of food, and….a lot of waste. Mainers by nature are frugal and don’t like waste. It’s part of who we are. But when we go to the store or buy online we’re faced with a deluge of plastic and other wasteful packaging. And it drives most of us crazy. What can we do about it? We speak with Laura Marston, the owner of the Maine-based, plastic-free, zero-waste business Go Go Refill and Vanessa Berry, NRCM’s Sustainable Maine outreach coordinator to talk about tips and ideas for reducing waste at home. For more waste reduction resources, inclu ..read more

The U.S. government recently released the Fifth National Climate Assessment, the nation’s preeminent policy-neutral report highlighting the latest science about climate change impacts, risks, and responses. We speak with David Reidmiller, the director of the Climate Center at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) who co-authored the Northeast chapter about how climate change is affecting Maine communities and what gives him hope for the future. GMRI is an independent, non-partisan marine nonprofit that supports the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and the communities that depend on it ..read more

More Mainers than ever are driving electric vehicles, and more models are coming to market every year. In this episode, we speak with NRCM Climate & Clean Energy Outreach Coordinator Josh Caldwell to discuss what we learned from NRCM’s 2022 survey of every electric vehicle owner in Maine. This was our third and most popular survey—with a record-breaking 1,230 responses from all 16 counties ..read more

This month, we’ll be joining many others in celebrating the sixth anniversary of the creation of the Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument. In this episode, we speak with Sam Deeran, Acting Executive Director of the Friends of Katahdin Woods & Waters, about the enormous success of the Monument, what’s changed in those six years, and what visitors can expect in the coming years ..read more

Though NRCM’s work in the State House is done for the year, our role as watchdog for Maine’s environment never lets up. Advocacy Director Pete Didisheim speaks about some of the topics we’ll be following this summer. The unifying theme that emerges from the discussion is that many out-of-state corporations are trying to take advantage of Maine people and our environment to turn a profit ..read more

Maine leaders expressed outrage at a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting the ability of the federal government to reduce carbon pollution. NRCM Climate & Clean Energy Director Jack Shapiro discusses what it means for Maine’s environment and also details an interesting new decision by the Public Utilities Commission that provides a snapshot into what the future of our electric grid could look like and how it’ll deliver benefits to Maine people ..read more

State agencies that were reviewing the American Aquafarms proposal to build a massive industrial salmon farm in Frenchman Bay recently announced they were terminating the project’s permit applications. But the company responded by saying they weren’t going away despite overwhelming opposition from local communities. In this episode, we speak with NRCM Staff Scientist Nick Bennett about the fundamental problems with Atlantic salmon net-pen aquaculture and why the American Aquafarms proposal would devastate the clean ocean waters of Frenchman Bay ..read more

With about one month left in Maine’s legislative session, NRCM’s Advocacy Director Pete Didisheim joins the podcast to provide a status report on how NRCM’s environmental priority bills are doing. Several bills have received positive outcomes at committees and will soon be voted on by the House and Senate, while details about a few others — including utility accountability, tribal sovereignty, and PFAS pollution — are still being worked out ..read more

In this episode, we speak with UMaine Farmington forest ecologist and Professor of Biology Dr. Drew Barton about Maine’s 19 ecological reserves and the value these 97,000 acres of public lands provide to Maine people. NRCM Forests & Wildlife Director Melanie Sturm speaks about the challenges facing Maine’s woods and waters, and why now is the time to expand the state’s ecological reserve system to mitigate climate change and protect more habitats for Maine’s unique plants and animals. Download our special report at: https://www.nrcm.org/our-maine/publications/maines-ecological-reserves-pub ..read more