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A Riot of Life in a River Reborn, 9 March 2010 | 10:00 pm
Source: http://cbf.typepad.com/bay_daily/
"Grrrr! Give me that oyster!" "I've had just about enough of you, toadfish. That's my oyster." Pictured here is Virginia oyster farmer Cam Chalmers, distracted by a tenacious fish as he lifts cages brimming with fat oysters out of the Lynnhaven River near Virginia Beach. I went out onto the river with Cam yesterday to get a sense of why aquaculture is succeeding in the Lynnhaven River and across Virginia, where the number of farmed oysters has risen ten fold over the last five years. One thing that is encouraging about the Lynnhaven, in particular, is that bacterial pollution in...
Compromise on Stormwater Pollution Regulations, 9 March 2010 | 6:32 pm
Source: http://cbf.typepad.com/bay_daily/
Maryland lawmakers and developers have reached a compromise in a battle over new stormwater control rules. The agreement heads off legislation that would have gutted the new regulations, but allows the Maryland Department of the Environment to “grandfather” some residential and commercial developments already in the planning stages, according to a report in The Baltimore Sun. "Not everybody's going to be happy," said Del. Maggie L. McIntosh, chairwoman of the House Environmental Matters Committee. But she added, "We have not changed any of the specifications within those regulations - we've just allowed a transition period. And we have, I think,...
Add One More to Three R's: Recycling, 8 March 2010 | 8:00 pm
Source: http://www.nrcm.org/rss.asp
Lincoln Middle School introduced a student-designed cafeteria recycling system Monday that could be a model for reducing waste throughout Portland schools.Superintendent Jim Morse joined students, school staff, parents and others at the school to kick off the pilot program.Students created a separation system for recycling paper-based lunch trays, milk cartons and other items.The recycling program...
Officials Tout Programs for Weatherizing Maine Homes, 8 March 2010 | 8:00 pm
Source: http://www.nrcm.org/rss.asp
WESTBROOK – Mainers heard about state-administered weatherization programs funded with millions of federal dollars during a workshop Monday hosted by U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine.The Maine State Housing Authority has received about $34 million to go toward weatherization projects for lower-income residents, said director Dale McCormick. And Efficiency Maine has received $9 million in s...
Pollution-free Power Sources Will Help All Maine Breathe Easier, 8 March 2010 | 8:00 pm
Source: http://www.nrcm.org/rss.asp
Maine has made tremendous progress in ensuring that we breathe smoke-free air whenever we're in an enclosed space in our state.We are a national leader in protecting people from exposure to secondhand smoke. This protection most recently was expanded to prohibit smoking in cars in which children are occupants. When we walk into a building in another state that still allows indoor smoking, it is sh...
A Vision for the North Woods, 8 March 2010 | 8:00 pm
Source: http://www.nrcm.org/rss.asp
The long-simmering debate over the future of Maine's northern woodlands is about to move back to the front burner.A group called the Keeping Maine's Forests steering committee is working on a proposal to protect millions of acres of the working forest from further development. The committee is close to having a final plan and will deliver it to federal officials as early as this month.People alrea...
Do Bay Cleanup 'Milestones' Mean Anything?, 8 March 2010 | 7:44 am
Source: http://cbf.typepad.com/bay_daily/
After blowing a second deadline –- this year, 2010 -- for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania promised to do better. The new system for the Bay area states works like this. Instead of 10-year goals for reducing pollution (which they keep missing, badly) they have created a series of two year “milestones” that they say are more achievable. Accountability is the key with these new milestones. Shorter deadlines mean that the same politicians making the promises are in office when the deadline arrives, so there is no dodging the question of who is responsible. Okay, so...
Ban on Imported Campfire Wood Eyed, 7 March 2010 | 8:00 pm
Source: http://www.nrcm.org/rss.asp
AUGUSTA, Maine — Campers headed to Maine from other states wouldn’t be allowed to bring their own firewood under a proposed law headed toward passage in the Legislature.Lawmakers want to protect Maine from destructive bugs that have wiped out huge swaths of trees in other states. The insects can enter the state through infested firewood.Legislators and other state officials fear widesp...
Connecting Chemicals and Obesity, 6 March 2010 | 8:00 pm
Source: http://www.nrcm.org/rss.asp
I would agree with Michelle Obama that the problem of childhood obesity is solvable, and that we should address it on many fronts. One part of the solution, however, is so elusive that it is just reaching the radar screen of public health experts.Obesity rates have risen dramatically in the industrialized world over the last three decades. In the United States, we have an obesity epidemic. More th...
What Lies Beneath Doesn’t Lie, 5 March 2010 | 3:07 pm
Source: http://looncommons.org
Spring flood predictions are in the air, and you can bet that within the next several weeks a whole lot of that wayward water will be taking Grade A Midwestern topsoil along for the ride.
To a certain point, such catastrophic erosion events are inevitable when rivers like the Minnesota give the land a good hydraulic [...]
Some Good Agitation for Our State’s Nuclear Energy Policy, 5 March 2010 | 6:50 am
Source: http://looncommons.org
John Tuma’s Capitol Update – March 5, 2010
“I think the agitation that I made on the matter contributed much to the discontinuance by the government of the pernicious practice”
-General Christopher C. Andrews, 1902
Of my favorite of the many Civil War portraits that adorn the Capitol is the one just above the receptionist desk in the [...]
The Terrorism Defense Center Next Door, 4 March 2010 | 1:01 pm
Source: http://cbf.typepad.com/bay_daily/
When you see this photo, what do you think should be going on here? You see farmland -- and so you might think that families here in Ruthsburg, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, should keep working the land, as they have for generations. You see a sign pointing to nearby Tuckahoe State Park -- and so you might think about canoeing and hiking. What does not appear in this photo is the federal government's proposal for this land: a 2,000 acre terrorism defense training center, complete with gun-firing ranges, urban-style environments where mock terrorist assaults will be staged, and tracks where...
Legislature Looking at Tapping Outdoor Heritage Fund for…, 4 March 2010 | 9:07 am
Source: http://looncommons.org
Darby Nelson, a member of the Lessard Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, says two new bills in the Legislature would capture money from the Outdoor Heritage Fund for unrelated environmental purposes. It’s highly questionable whether this would be consistent with the voter-approved Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. More here.
Efficiency Maine Trust Hires Executive Director, 3 March 2010 | 8:00 pm
Source: http://www.nrcm.org/rss.asp
HALLOWELL — A Portland attorney and longtime advocate for energy efficiency has been named the head of a Maine organization that promotes the efficient use of energy and helps residents and businesses reduce energy costs.Michael Stoddard becomes executive director of Efficiency Maine Trust on March 22.The trust was created last year by a law that consolidated the state's many energy-re...
Resolution Would Benefit Big Polluters, 3 March 2010 | 8:00 pm
Source: http://www.nrcm.org/rss.asp
One of the most remarkable pieces of legislation of the last 50 years is the Clean Air Act. This landmark bill, enacted in 1970 and revised and strengthened with bipartisan support on several subsequent occasions, has protected public health and our environment from harmful air pollution. Among its success stories are a large decrease in levels of lead poisoning in children and a dramatic improvem...
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