In this episode, Colin speaks with two Maine residents who live in completely different parts of the state but share a common threat facing the clean water where they live. Robin Hadlock Seeley worked to share information with residents in Pembroke to pass an ordinance banning Wolfden’s mining activities, and MaryAlice Mowry has been shining a light on Wolfden’s sketchy activities in the Patten area near Pickett Mountain where Wolfden has proposed a mining operation.

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!

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.

Hope was renewed again in Washington D.C., when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin announced a new deal to invest billions of dollars in clean energy and climate action. In this episode, we speak with experts at the Environmental Defense Fund and National Wildlife Federation to find out how the Inflation Reduction Act would lower energy costs for Mainers and help us meet the goals laid out in Maine’s Climate Action Plan.

In this episode, NRCM Rising Leadership Team member Kate Shambaugh speaks with Isabelle Rogers, Hub Organizer for Sunrise Movement Franklin County, which just celebrated its first anniversary. It is part of a national youth-led nonprofit made up of young activists working on environmental and social justice issues such as climate change. Learn more about NRCM’s new Franklin County coordinator Marc Edwards and his work, as well as which state recently became the fourth to pass an EPR for Packaging Law. Maine was the first state to pass such a law in 2021.

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.

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.

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.

Youth clean water activist and 2022 Brookie Award winner Noela Altvater speaks about her advocacy to ensure clean drinking water for the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik. Learn more about this year’s six Brookies at brookieawards.org. Also, Advocacy Director Pete Didisheim reports back from a staff field trip to the Benton Falls fish lift and talks about the amazing story of alewives returning to China Lake for the first time in more than two centuries.

A proposed land use plan for the Moosehead Lake region has been released that balances economic development with conservation. Forests & Wildlife Director Melanie Sturm discusses what the proposal means for the future of the Moosehead Lake area and how NRCM is working to protect the unique character of this special region. Advocacy Director Pete Didisheim also gives his closing thoughts on the 130th legislative session and what’s next for NRCM’s advocacy priorities.