Notes from Lisa

I'm Dipping - Are You? Discount Ends Today!

Today is the last day for early bear registration for NRCM’s Polar Dip and Dash on New Year’s Eve. C’mon! Take the plunge with me and help fight climate change so we can keep that old Atlantic Ocean plenty cold like it should be. Get all the details and watch our fun (short!) video here to find out how you can help us get my friend Dylan out of that pesky polar bear suit! Thanks. Register now and save!

Powering Up for a Clean Energy Future for Maine

It’s the day after the 2011 November elections, and many NRCM staff, board members, and volunteers are catching up from an invigorating day at the polls collecting signatures from Maine people in support of a new citizens initiative to increase clean energy in Maine. The measure aims to protect our environment by requiring electric utilities, such as CMP, to invest in all cost-effective energy efficiency to help consumers reduce their energy costs. It would also require that 20 percent of Maine’s electricity come from new renewable energy sources such as solar and wind by 2020. As a result, we would increase our state’s energy independence, create jobs, and control energy costs—while cleaning up our air and water!

No wonder voters yesterday responded in droves! Preliminary results show that we beat our election-day goal for numberof signatures! This means we are closer than we anticipated toward the necessary 60,000 we need by the end of January to get this measure on the November 2012 ballot.

You can help!

Although we’re off to a strong start out of the gate, we’ve got a long way to go and we need your help. Would you be willing to help us collect signatures? Please contact NRCM’s clean energy outreach coordinator Emmie Theberge at emmie@nrcm.org. We will work with you to make sure you have all the information you need; our campaign volunteer coordinators are here for you!

Find out more about this important citizens initiative to make clean energy and efficiency a priority in Maine. Thank you!

Lisa Pohlmann
Executive Director

Don't Be Afraid to Take the Plunge!

You know what’s scary? Global warming. Imagine what it could do to Maine’s coastline. To our lobster fisheries. To our ski and foliage season. Image our beautiful beaches washed away and our kids with more asthma.

You can take action to help keep this from happening. Join NRCM for our Polar Bear Dip and Dash on December 31^st. This special event was created to raise awareness about a cleaner energy future for Maine and to raise fund for NRCM’s work for clean energy and efficiency. Please join me in taking the plunge.

To help inspire you, we’ve put together this fun video about a man (NRCM's own Dylan Voorhees!) stuck in a polar bear costume: http://nrcm.typepad.com/nrcminsider/2011/10/man-trapped-in-polar-bear-costume.html

Sign-up now at http://www.nrcm.org/dipdash.asp and take advantage of our early-“bear” registration fee! Don’t let a little cold water scare you!

Happy Halloween!

The Last of My Dahlias

The other night, I was outside at 10 p.m. cutting a big bouquet of the last of my dahlias before the frost that finally came. Beautiful!

But I had to ask myself, why do I have dahlias in the final days of October at all? When I moved to Maine 30 years ago there were no flowers much after Labor Day.
 
There also were no ticks to speak of but this week I pulled four off my cat. I worry about this for many reasons, including because of Lyme disease, especially considering how widespread and numerous ticks have become in reason years.

Today, the weather forecast is calling for six inches of snow—and it's only October 29th!
 
Climate change is real. That’s why we need to get going on clean energy and energy efficiency. Please help by collecting signatures on November 8th for a 2012 citizen’s ballot measure that will protect the nature of maine by reducing pollution, create jobs, and improve our economy. Contact Emmie at emmie@nrcm.org if you can offer a few hours. Find out more about this urgent new citizen's initiative today!

Setting the Record Straight on Wind

I thought that supporters of NRCM’s work would not want false claims about our organizations to go unanswered. In response to a recent Kennebec Journal letter-to-the-editor that distorted the facts, I provided this response, which ran in the paper’s March 18, 2011 edition. I am sharing it here for the benefit of anyone who may not have seen it. I hope you find the letter informative. As always, we truly appreciate your support of NRCM’s work for clean, renewable energy issues. 

No wind power money to Natural Resources Council

Despite the claim in his letter (March 5) to the newspaper, Jack Gagnon cannot produce one shred of evidence that the Natural Resources Council of Maine has accepted donations from wind power companies, because it never has. 

Such falsehoods and fabrications are not helpful to the public dialogue as we work to find solutions to Maine's serious energy problems. 

NRCM has a strict business donation policy that restricts soliciting or accepting funds from businesses that: 

* Are substantial polluters of the environment.

* Have a significant and potentially controversial permitting or licensing matter under consideration by state or federal agencies.

* Have an unresolved enforcement issue pending before state or federal regulators.

* Have a position on an environmental policy matter that is contrary to an NRCM advocacy position.

NRCM evaluates wind project proposals on a case-by-case basis, and has supported some and opposed others. As with any power sources, there are always trade-offs. This website, www.nrcm.org/renewable_library.asp, provides research on wind power that we believe contributes to a balanced discussion of this important issue in Maine.

Lisa Pohlmann
Executive Director
Natural Resources Council of Maine

 

Share |