The state’s winters are getting warmer and wetter, and there’ll be no white Christmas this year, again.
Penelope Overton
Staff Writer
Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Heraldโs first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maineโs 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 Globeโs 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 familyโs next adventure.
Powerful storm latest example of bad weather made worse by climate change
The unseasonably warm weather that Maine is experiencing due to an increase in heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere gave the wet winter storm its powerful punch, scientists say.
Proposed rules would allow any commercial farm contaminated by PFAS to apply for financial assistance
Maine so far has focused on farms that were contaminated through the spreading of wastewater sludge.
Climate change has brought more extreme rain, snow to Maine
Sea level rise remains a top concern as the climate warms, but the increasing frequency of outsized precipitation is already having statewide impacts.
Maine Climate Council reports progress in fight against climate change
Efforts to reduce fossil fuel use are mostly on track, although the shift to electric vehicles has been slower than hoped.
New England’s wetter, warmer future is already here
The fifth National Climate Assessment includes data showing the region is seeing extreme heat on land and at sea, especially in the Gulf of Maine, and more frequent heavy rainstorms than any other region of the country.
Lewiston joins growing list of U.S. communities living with gun trauma
Experts acknowledge that every mass shooting is different but say the Maine city is likely to feel lingering effects of anguish for years.
31,000 acres of ancestral land could be returned to Penobscot Nation
The prospective deal would increase tribal trust holdings by a third and secure public access to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument from the south.
Maine regulators signal support for new clean car rules
The Board of Environmental Protection narrowly supports proposed electric car standards, but balks at similar rules for trucks. A final vote won’t be taken until after board staff responds to more than a thousand public comments about the proposed rule.
Maine farmers join in plea for federal help at national PFAS conference
Fred Stone, of Arundel, and 3 other Maine farmers address a gathering in Michigan focusing on forever chemicals in agriculture.