After the Legislature failed to pass $2 million in emergency funding, spraying this spring will cover only about 85% of the area threatened by the forest pest.
Penelope Overton
Staff Writer
Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Herald’s first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maine’s lobster and cannabis industries, covered state politics and spent a fellowship year exploring the impact of climate change on the lobster fishery with the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team. Before moving to Maine, she has covered politics, environment, casino gambling and tribal issues in Florida, Connecticut, and Arizona. Her favorite assignments allow her to introduce readers to unusual people, cultures, or subjects. When off the clock, Penny is usually getting lost in a new book at a local coffeehouse, watching foreign crime shows or planning her family’s next adventure.
Posted inMaine, News
Maine Climate Council says it’s ‘not all doom and gloom’ amid concerns about federal cuts
The council working to achieve state goals to reduce climate change emissions says it is still on track despite some funding disruptions.
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Posted inMaine, News
Maine butterfly species among those experiencing fastest declines
A new study compiling butterfly surveys across the country found a 22% overall decline, while seven species found in Maine declined by more than 50%.
Posted inMaine, News, Schools & Education
Maine college students investigate health effects of forever chemicals
But the statewide biotech training program teaching them how to tackle local scientific challenges like this in the laboratory faces an uncertain future because of federal budget cuts.
Posted inMaine, News
Groups launch $62M conservation project in western Maine
Four environmental groups are teaming up on a fundraising drive to conserve 78,000 acres of forest along the Magalloway River.
Posted inMaine, News
Forecast for National Weather Service in Maine still cloudy
But staff meteorologists admit the interruption of weather balloon launches will undermine the accuracy of the agency’s weather modeling and forecasts.
Posted inMaine, News
Bills to find and destroy Maine’s toxic firefighting foam win over legislative committee
The Environment and Natural Resources Committee unanimously endorsed bills to catalog, collect and dispose of Maine’s stockpike of toxic firefighting foam.
Posted inMaine, News
Maine makes first purchase of farm contaminated by forever chemicals
The state tapped its PFAS relief fund to spend $333,000 to buy a Palermo hay field where sewage sludge was once spread as fertilizer that tested 3 times above the state’s recommended level for safe dairy forage.
Posted inMaine, News, Politics
Who are Maine’s lawmakers taking to Trump’s address to Congress?
Every member of Congress can bring one guest to the presidential address, and they often use the privilege to honor a local hero or send a political message.
Posted inMaine, News
Maine lawmaker wants state to help farmers affected by federal funding freeze
A proposed bill would create a state-funded no-interest loan program for Maine farmers whose federal contracts are frozen by the Trump administration.