Independent Journalist
Economics / PFAS Project / Pollution/Waste
by Marina Schauffler · Published December 18, 2022 · Last modified January 15, 2023
Maine’s strong policy response could mitigate future expenses, but short-term expenditures are proliferating and many costs remain untallied. Widespread contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “has the potential to impose an unsustainable burden...
Economics / PFAS Project / Pollution/Waste
by Marina Schauffler · Published December 18, 2022 · Last modified January 15, 2023
With Maine facing escalating costs from contamination due to ‘forever chemicals,’ work is under way to recoup some losses. Shortly after hearing from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection that their well should be...
Maine’s transition to clean energy hinges on a wholesale transformation of the electrical grid. Several laws passed in recent years may improve grid planning, but legislating institutional change in the utility field could prove...
Climate Change/Energy / Coastal Issues / Economics / Sense of Place / Sustainable Practices
by Marina Schauffler · Published January 30, 2022 · Last modified March 30, 2022
Weather disasters inflicted $145 billion in damages in the U.S. last year. The Northeast escaped largely unscathed, but that could change at any moment. More than 40 percent of Americans live in counties hit...
Climate Change/Energy / Economics / Health / Pollution/Waste / Sustainable Practices
by Marina Schauffler · Published December 5, 2021 · Last modified March 30, 2022
The plastic industry could soon surpass coal in greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, its growing climate impact is largely unnoticed. Plastic is ubiquitous, filling stores, overtopping landfills and littering shorelines. It’s even within us,...
Climate Change/Energy / Economics / Sustainable Practices / Technology / Transportation/Travel
by Marina Schauffler · Published November 7, 2021 · Last modified March 30, 2022
Our family got an electric car two years ago and I have one major regret: I wish our previous cars could have been electric. Recalling years spent contending with the expense, pollution, noise, mechanical...
Climate Change/Energy / Economics / Sustainable Practices / Technology
by Marina Schauffler · Published September 12, 2021 · Last modified March 30, 2022
In the wake of Ida, a hurricane intensified by the warming climate, more than a million electric consumers in Louisiana and hundreds of thousands more households across the eastern U.S. lost power. It was...
Climate Change/Energy / Ecological Values / Economics / Sense of Place
by Marina Schauffler · Published August 29, 2021 · Last modified March 30, 2022
In a summer awash with climate catastrophes, stories of creative solutions float like lifeboats. One Maine example is particularly heartening: an unusual partnership between philanthropists and state policy leaders that has directed more than...
