For the last few years I’ve spent a lot of my time learning about/thinking about the intersection of renewable energy and the environment. It can be a lonely space – in between electrical engineering and traditional wildlife biology where you get out in the field and look at critters. So imagine my …
Energy
Maine Audubon in Augusta: Important Final Updates
The Maine Legislature is nearing the end of an active and productive session. Though today is the last day on its formal calendar, there is still a lot of work to do and the Maine Audubon team expects that the Legislature will meet at least through the end of the week. Until then, we want to keep …
A Voice for Wildlife in the Development of Offshore Wind
Maine Audubon continues our work to support the development of clean, renewable energy in the Gulf of Maine while playing a critical role to ensure the avoidance or minimization of impacts to wildlife and habitat. In recent months we've released a report on potential impacts to wildlife from …
Update: Offshore Wind in the Gulf of Maine – May 2023
As momentum toward offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine ramps up, Maine Audubon strives to understand its impacts on wildlife and habitat, and is actively working to support development that avoids or minimizes those impacts and that propels Maine towards its clean, renewable energy …
Maine Audubon Joins Coalition of Offshore Wind Supporters to Announce Critical Legislation
The state of Maine is closer than ever to generating clean, renewable energy from winds in the Gulf of Maine. A single test turbine is scheduled for testing a few miles off of Monhegan Island. An array of 10-12 turbines in federal waters about 45 miles off of Portland has received the green light …
Shining Some Light on Three Exciting Solar Projects in Maine
With climate change posing the number one threat to birds and other wildlife in Maine, and the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels as urgent as ever, Maine Audubon has cheered on the growth of local solar energy in recent years. We also recognize the potential impacts to wildlife and …
Maine Audubon Releases Guide to Habitat Restoration and Native Plantings for Solar Development
Thanks in large part to incentives put in place by Governor Mills in 2019, clean, renewable solar energy is cropping up all across Maine. From fewer than 100 MW of solar energy on the ground in Maine in 2019, there are more than 525 MW installed today. Maine is on track to meet its clean energy …
Advocate for Wildlife in Maine’s Offshore Wind Roadmap
Maine’s Offshore Wind Roadmap is part of a state initiative to guide the development of offshore wind, led by an expert advisory committee and working groups, including Maine Audubon staff. The Roadmap focuses on a variety of topics related to the development of offshore wind, including energy …
The Climate Action Plan: A Full Year of Progress!
It’s been a full year since Governor Mills released the Climate Action Plan (CAP), a blueprint for meeting Maine’s ambitious climate goals authored by the Maine Climate Council. One year isn’t a very long time, especially when much of the public focus has remained on dealing with the lingering …