NRCM Blog

Where in the World is Your NRCM Bag?

I am very excited that more and more people are using canvas bags for their groceries, shopping at local stores, and for their travels (canvas bags are great travel totes).  I am also excited to see folks posing for photos with their NRCM tote bags.  On Earth Day, we launched this new “where in the world is your NRCM bag?” project in which we ask members and supporters to take their NRCM bags with them on vacation to local Maine landmarks or to other exotic locales in order to show us where and how they use their canvas bags.  We are trying to raise awareness about the use of canvas bags rather than paper or plastic bags that fill up landfills, take years to biodegrade, and also cause harm to wildlife.

Here's one of my favorite pictures that has been sent in so far.  It's of Jewell Childs on her way home to Maine from her winter in Florida:

I hope you will join our effort by buying an NRCM bag or use the NRCM bag you already have. Please send us a photo from your bag-toting adventures!  See where other people have been with their bags by visiting our website.

What are some ways that you use your canvas tote?  I always make sure I come home from buying groceries and immediately unpack my canvas bags, put the groceries away, and then fold up my bags and put them right back in my car before I forget.  I am always stopping at stores to buy one or two things, and now I can either use my canvas bags or just tell them that I am all set and don’t need a bag for my few purchases.  I used to have more plastic bags at my house than I knew what to do with – and now I get probably one plastic bag every month or so – and I then take it to be recycled the next time I am at that store.  I know that my using canvas bags isn’t going to change the world all at once, but I feel like everything we can do, big or small, can make a difference.

Here’s a great blog post about canvas totes and the “paper or plastic” debate: www.thestreet.com/s/paper-or-plastic-neither-one-please/newsanalysis/environmental-stock-picks/10412988.html?puc=googlefi&cm_ven=GOOGLEFI&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

So, where in the world is YOUR NRCM bag?

Beth Dimond

Kid Safe Products Bill - LD 2048 passes in the Legislature!

Hi everyone,

Well, after a long day and evening of lobbying on Tuesday, LD 2048 was passed unanimously by the Senate.

Opponents of the bill didn't even bother to float the bad chemical industry amendments.

We won with several friendly amendments which also passed unanimously.

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard on this campaign.  The constituent contacts really helped make the difference. 

Thanks again,
Matt Prindiville

Call your senator today to pass LD 2048, the kid-safe products bill!

I am headed back to the State House, where I’ve spent most of the day yesterday going up against more than 25 lobbyists from the chemical industry who want to seriously weaken protections for Maine children and families. They have been trying hard for weeks to kill LD 2048, “the kid-safe products bill.” The toxics vote in the senate continues to be a moving target, but I expect the vote to happen this morning. Time is of the essence!

Please call (800) 423-6900 now to leave a message for your senator urging them to vote in favor of the LD 2048, with no amendments.

These lobbyists – from American Chemistry Council, American Petroleum Institute, Merck & Co., Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Toy Industry Association, Rite Aid Corporation, and others (link to full list) - have been bending the ear of every senator they can get a hold of, to try to get them against the bill, or in favor of amendments that would undercut the protections provided by the bill to our kids and families.

Please don't let lobbyists win!

Please call (800) 423-6900 to leave a message for your senator. If you don’t know who your senator is, take action here.

Your senator needs to hear the simple message below: 
- Please SUPPORT LD 2048 as passed by the House.
- Please OPPOSE any amendments to the bill.

LD 2048 passed the House unanimously last Wednesday, but the lobbyists are now trying to sabotage the bill with a long list of crippling amendments. One amendment would even make Maine's laws on chemicals in consumer products weaker than they are now.

The Kid-Safe Products bill is supported by the Maine Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Nurses Association, Maine Center for Disease Control, the Catholic Diocese of Maine, Planned Parenthood, and a broad range of other environmental, public health, and citizen groups.  These are the people to whom Maine lawmakers should be listening.  Not the special interest lobbyists.

Don't let the chemical industry have the last word with YOUR Senator.

Thank you for taking action on this important issue. For more information, please visit our website at www.nrcm.org.

Matt Prindiville
Toxics Policy Advocate

Building Code Bill Wins in the Senate!

We just won on the building codes bill in the Senate!  The nail biter first and most important vote was 18-17, then Senator Bryant offered a crippling amendment that would have required enforcement only in towns above 5000.  Senator Bromley requested that the amendment be “indefinitely postponed” (i.e. rejected). Senator Karl Turner supported that motion, and the amendment was defeated 21-14.  For final passage, two senators (Dow and Gooley) switched their votes, giving a total of 20-15.

You can find the roll-call votes here - http://janus.state.me.us/legis/LawMakerWeb/rollcalls.asp?ID=280028350      

Thank you so much to all of you, those who made calls, sent emails, wrote letters, and met in person with your legislators! We could not have achieved this without your support. This is a significant move to increase energy efficiency in Maine. We are one of the last states to adopt this standard, but we are adding good enforcement and training programs so that Maine can surge ahead in reducing fossil fuel use and energy costs.

Please take a moment to celebrate this important victory and then send a quick thank you to your legislator(s) if they voted in support!

You can read our press release about this important legislation here:  http://www.nrcm.org/news_detail.asp?news=2335

NRCM’s Clean Energy Team

Energy Efficiency Building Codes (LD 2257) Update

On Friday afternoon the House voted 79 to 58 (15 absent) in favor of the Majority Report recommendations on LD 2257 “An Act to Establish a Uniform Building and Energy Code.” The Senate will be voting this week, maybe even tomorrow (Tuesday) and this vote could be even closer! We need support for the Majority Report specifically—the Minority report has neither enforcement, nor any energy codes: it is not progress. Senators are under a lot of pressure to support the Minority Report as “good enough for now,” but this is not the case.

We need to pass the Majority Report because:

• A uniform building and energy code across the state will be good for the business community—uniformity and predictability will invite further investment, and it makes rehab of existing buildings much easier.
• You need enforcement of codes to provide benefits to Maine people—don’t be fooled by people who say having the codes is enough. We know the voluntary system is failing. (On energy, 85% of new homes are not meeting the minimum energy standard. That is costing us $millions/year in unnecessary heating costs.) The bill has a lot of flexibility and options for towns, including the use of 3rd party certified inspectors, which make the potential obligation on towns extremely minimal.
• These codes are not new or onerous. These are the same codes in 30-40 other states (although they will get amended slightly for Maine by the state code board.) They don’t significantly raise costs; in fact, they reduce costs for builders and occupants. This effort has taken a decade of work, literally—now is the time to make this change for the better.

We still need your help. Please call your Senator today (Monday) and ask him/her to support the Majority Report for LD 2257! State House Message Line at 1-800-423-6900 or try 207-287-1540.

If you do not know who your State Senator is, visit this page (http://janus.state.me.us/house/townlist.htm) and look up your town to find your Maine Senator.

If you would like to find out how your Representative voted on LD 2257 you can check the roll-call vote here. (http://janus.state.me.us/legis/LawMakerWeb/rollcall.asp?ID=280028350&chamber=House&serialnumber=387 )

Wrap up from Governor's Energy Efficiency Summit - thanks to all who attended!

Hopefully the more than 500 of you who attended last week’s Governor’s Energy Efficiency Summit left at the end of the day as excited as I did.  It was a great day that began with an excellent keynote speech by Thomas Casten of Recycled Energy Development who provide compelling examples of how we can be (and why we should be) more efficient with the production of electricity. Summit participants also received a new report entitled “Energy Efficiency, Business Competitiveness, And Untapped Economic Potential in Maine,” prepared by the Muskie School of Public Service and the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and presented to the Governor by Charlie Colgan. I attended two of the eight breakout sessions: one about job opportunities and growth in the energy efficiency sector and the other about financing efficiency investment where I learned about the incredible $100 million city project of the Cambridge Energy Alliance. You can find out more about this project by visiting their website at www.cambridgeenergyalliance.org. 

There were also over thirty exhibitors to check out between speakers and breakout sessions. I spent the majority of my time at NRCM’s booth talking to people about LD 2257, “An Act to Establish a Uniform Building and Energy Code,” which was identified as one of the top energy efficiency actions we can take in the state of Maine. (Find out how you can help pass this important energy efficiency legislation here.) Since I didn’t get to spend as much time looking at other exhibits or attend all the breakout sessions, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts. These are just a few high-lights from my experience at the Summit which also included a number of other terrific speakers and panel discussions. I look forward to connecting with the hundreds who attended the Summit as we take what we learned from the day and implement energy efficiency throughout the state, helping us lower our energy costs and our emissions!

Caitlin and I had the opportunity to test drive the two electric cars on display by Kal Rogers of Maine Electric Vehicles in the parking lot when everyone else had gone home. They were fun to drive, especially the Zenn, zipping around the parking lot and would be perfect for city or island living. Check them out for new higher-speed, larger range models.

If you attended the Summit please share your thoughts with us below! And if not, stay tuned for a couple of regional energy efficiency workshops in the coming months.

Sara Lovitz
Clean Energy Outreach Coordinator

Update on alewives bill

Here is an article from today's Bangor Daily News that explains the latest on the St. Croix alewives bill:

Compromise Would Allow Alewives Up to Grand Falls
Tuesday March 18th, 2008, by Kevin Miller

AUGUSTA - A legislative committee has reached a tentative compromise that would allow alewives in the St. Croix River up to the Grand Falls dam this year.

A majority of members of the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee have voted once in support of a bill that would reopen the Woodland dam to alewives, also known as river herring, for the first time since 1995. The committee is expected to revisit the vote this Wednesday.

The original version of LD 1957 would have allowed sea-run alewives to swim above both the Woodland and Grand Falls dams in the St. Croix. But that bill, like similar proposals in past years, encountered stiff opposition from registered guides and others who fear the sea-run alewives will destroy the prized smallmouth bass and landlocked salmon fisheries in the area.

Under the amended version, the Department of Marine Resources and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife would work together to develop a river herring management plan before any alewives would be allowed beyond Grand Falls.

The two departments would consult with the leadership of the Passamaquoddy Tribe when developing the plan. An earlier proposal would have given Passamaquoddy leaders, who have lobbied against upriver passage of alewives, an equal role in development of a management plan.

The presence — or lack thereof — of alewives in the St. Croix has been an inflammatory issue during the past 15 years.

Kid-Safe Products Bill Passes Out of Committee 9-4 yesterday evening!

Hi folks,

We’re very excited about this strong vote out of committee.  But with 25 industry lobbyists working the Senate, the real work begins now. Please contact your Senator in the next couple of weeks and urge them to support this bill.

Thanks for all your help.

-Matt

Here is a press release from the Maine House Majority Office that we received today:

For Immediate Release
March 10, 2008
Contact: Travis Kennedy, Communications Director, 287-1433

Natural Resources Committee Endorses Bill to Track and Prohibit Toxins in Children's Products

Committee combines two similar bills into Pingree proposal - measure now heads to full House

AUGUSTA - A majority of the Legislature's Natural Resources Committee voted Monday in support of a bill to test, track and eliminate dangerous chemicals from products that are exposed to children in Maine.

The bill, proposed by House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, would require the State to create a regularly-updated list of chemicals that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection identifies as harmful, and require manufacturers to disclose if their products contain those chemicals. It would establish a process for replacing them with safer alternatives, and allow the Department to cooperate with other states, share information and promote safer chemical use.

Pingree, D-North Haven, said that the federal EPA has failed to keep up with identifying and regulating the use of chemicals in household products, and manufacturers are using toxic substances in products that children and adults are exposed to every day. Chemicals like phthalates and bisphenol-A, which have proven negative effects on fetal brain development and behavior, turn up in everything from shampoo to teething rings, and are among thousands of chemicals of concern that are currently unregulated by the federal government.

Her bill would start with a list of already identified chemicals of concern that an authoritative government agency has determined are hazardous to health or the environment based on credible scientific evidence. After a review of the evidence, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection would identify the priority chemicals that come in contact with children.

Update on LD 2179 - energy efficiency standards for new homes and buildings

Last Thursday, February 28th was a busy day in Augusta; the list of bills being heard was almost too long to keep track of! A few of NRCM’s priority bills were all scheduled for hearings at the same time: LD 2179 energy efficient building codes, LD 2048 toxic toys, LD 2126 no coal, and a few others we are keeping our eyes on.

I spent the afternoon in the Business, Research and Economic Development (BRED) Committee room which was hearing the building codes bill, but the Natural Resources Committee room was also buzzing with activity. The hearing on efficient building codes went quite well, with the number of bill supporters far outweighing the two opponents (who said that they support uniform energy codes but felt the Legislature should slow down in addressing this issue.)

Keep Toxic Chemicals Out of Maine Children - Attend Public Hearing on Thursday, Feb. 28

Please plan to attend the public hearing on LD 2048, "An Act to Protect Children's Health and the Environment from Toxic Chemicals in Children's Products," on Thursday, February 28 at 1 PM in Augusta.  To learn more, please visit www.nrcm.org/kid_safe_products_2008.asp