From newly listed plants to the symbolic return of the gray wolf, the state’s 10-year plan provides a nonregulatory path to protect Maine’s most vulnerable species.
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.
Maine Climate Council grapples with affordability
The council believes inflation anxieties are the primary barrier to the state’s green transition.
How a chemical spill in Brunswick has affected Casco Bay
A 2-year study tracked the toxic reach of forever chemicals from a 51,000-gallon spill of firefighting foam in 2024.
Maine renews attempt to expand state landfill
Despite opposition from the Penobscot Nation, state environmental regulators have issued a new ruling allowing expansion of the Juniper Ridge Landfill.
Cold weather and tariffs squeeze Maine’s maple producers
A stubborn winter has delayed the start of this year’s harvest by about a month.
Maine lobsterman asks US Supreme Court to block GPS boat tracking
The legal challenge claims 24/7 surveillance of the lobster fleet is a warrantless search in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Maine’s lobster haul hits 17-year low
The state’s fleet is grappling with a post-boom normal defined by fewer trips and narrower margins, while recent scientific surveys offer a sliver of hope.
To curb trash fires, Maine may require battery makers to offer free disposal
Regulators say batteries take up too much of the limited space in Maine’s landfills and have caused a surge in fires.
UMaine taps into satellite data to help oyster farmers
A free online dashboard uses the information to help Maine oyster farmers predict time to market.
A Maine student is upending how the world thinks about the T. rex
The College of the Atlantic student used biomechanical modeling to show the predatory dinosaur walked on its tiptoes like an 8-ton bird.