Long Islander's Blog (3,004)

By Irina Slav - May 21, 2025, 5:00 PM CDT

The Trump administration is rolling back federal subsidies for wind, solar, and EVs.

Over $145 billion in green energy projects and $73 billion in manufacturing investments since 2022 were heavily driven by federal aid

Despite claims of booming growth, wind and solar face serious structural issues, raising doubts about their viability in a true free-market…

Eventually you run out of other people's money.

UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center lays off 9 employees after federal funding cuts

Quick...........the air sickness bag.

EXCERPTS

Powerful voices will insist on sticking with fossil fuels. They're wrong.

May 14, 2025

Updated 50 minutes ago

Jack Shapiro

Recent articles have pointed out something that those of us working in the trenches to advance a clean energy future have known for decades: reducing our unhealthy dependence on fossil fuels won’t be as easy as…

"Everyone hates it," EPA head Lee Zeldin says.…

May 5, 2025

By The Associated Press

A coalition of state attorneys general filed a lawsuit Monday against President Donald Trump's attempt to stop the development of wind energy.

Attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., are challenging an executive order Trump signed during his first day in office, pausing approvals, permits and loans for all wind energy projects both onshore and offshore. They say Trump doesn't have the authority to unilaterally…

By Jan DeBlieu

May 3, 2025

EXCERPTS

Steve Tatko squatted next to the cut end of a red spruce trunk lying in a stack with other felled trees. Eight inches in diameter, its bark was a deep red-brown. Its center held tiny rings of varying widths, pale yellow alternating with a rich sienna. Tatko pointed to some narrow rings only a half inch from the center.

“It’s possible this tree was seventy-five years old when these were formed,” he said. “And see…

“People travel from across the globe to experience the natural beauty of America’s public lands – from Maine to Montana and across the nation................This is an important step forward in creating lasting protections for our public lands and continues to demonstrate that stewardship is not partisan,” said King.…

May 1, 2025

By Laurie Schreiber

EXCERPTS

The Maine Public Utilities Commission approved Efficiency Maine's three-year plan to continue programs to improve the efficiency of energy use and reduce greenhouse gases.

But some programs could see hits from changes in federal funding or policies.

“The chief impact of federal action that is already happening is the delay in our expansion of our loan program for energy upgrades to homes and…

By: AnnMarie Hilton - April 30, 2025

Energy policy has moved quickly in the past few years as Maine has sought to achieve climate and affordability goals with deadlines that are not so far off. 

Rep. Gerry Runte (D-York) suspects there hasn’t been sufficient time to take a 50,000-foot view to see how all the pieces of energy supply and demand could plan and work together. He’s hoping the bipartisan…

April 26, 2025

Mr. Turkel writes:

"Maine spends more than $4.5 billion a year on out-of-state fossil fuels that contribute to global warming. The fix is to power our economy with electricity from local, renewable energy sources."…

Despite some claims that wind and solar are less expensive than conventional power, the opposite is true. Wind and solar benefit from far more subsidies than other power sources, which merely shift their high costs to taxpayers rather than directly to customers’ electricity bills. Also, the intermittent and often unpredictable nature of wind and solar power impose substantial costs on the grid, requiring other power sources to frequently ramp up and down – quite inefficiently – to cover for…

The termination letter said Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment failed to pay at least 65% of its climate-smart agriculture grant directly to farmers.

April 21, 2025

Penelope Overton

Portland Press Herald

EXCERPTS

After nearly three months of frozen payments, the U.S. Department…