Tag: Maine

Democracy Forum 6/16/17

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine    
Engineer: Amy Browne

Jobs in Maine: What’s the Future?

Key Discussion Points:
a) global changes in employment and the nature of work
b) the shifting demographics of jobs
c) barriers to work
d) what it means for Maine

Guests:
James Breece, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Maine. http://umaine.edu/soe/faculty-and-staff/breece/
Rosalie Hughes, is an investigative journalist and writer at the Bangor Daily News and a contributor to the Maine Focus series. http://bangordailynews.com/staff/bdn-maine/content/rosalie-hughes/
Beth Stickney, Executive Director of the Maine Business Immigration Coalition http://mainebic.org/about/

To learn more about this topic:
The State of American Jobs, Pew Research Center
Did China Eat America’s Jobs, Freakonomics, January 25, 2017
Visualizing the Jobs Lost to Automation
An Overview of the Maine Economy: Per Capita Personal Income 2014, James Breece, 2016
Maine Job Outlook to 2024

The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes:
Starr Gilmartin
Maggie Harling
Linda Hoskins
Ann Luther
Maryann Ogonowski
Pam Person
Leah Taylor
Linda Washburn

FMI re League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

RadioActive 6/15/17

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Penobscot River Rally and Flotilla

1) Today we hear some audio from Saturday’s Penobscot River Rally and Flotilla on the Bangor Waterfront, where people gathered to support the Penobscot Tribe’s struggle for continued stewardship of the River, and other local and statewide struggles for clean water and clean energy.
2) Over 30 organizations co-sponsored the event, which showed support for the Penobscot Nation’s efforts to retain sovereignty and stewardship on the section of the river passing through their island territory. In 2012, the Maine Attorney General’s office sought to establish that section as State territory. The Tribe has sued the State in an on going legal case: Penobscot Nation v Attorney General Janet Mills.
3) Speakers broadcast in this program address the Juniper Ridge Landfill expansion in Old Town and the dumping of toxic leachate into the Penobscot River and on state bills and policies that could support or paralyze the development of solar energy in Maine.

Guests:
Ed Spencer, Old Town resident, logger and intervenor in Juniper Ridge Landfill expansion process
Dawn Neptune Adams, Penobscot tribal member and activist
Fred Greenhalgh, ReVision Energy and solar activist
Jim Freeman, Flotilla organizer, Alliance for the Common Good,

This program was produced in partnership with the Sunlight Media Collective.

Power for the People 6/14/17

Producer/Host: Steve Kahl
Engineer: John Greenman

Alternative Energy: Solar PV policy in the current legislature

Key Discussion Points
a) net metering
b) proposed PUC rules
c) solar Power Purchase Agreements

Guests:
Chuck Piper, Sundog Solar
Vaughn Woodruff, Insource Renewables
Holly Noyes, Revision Energy

RadioActive 6/8/17

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

BEP Proposed Rule Changes to Allow Increased CDD Import; Solar Legislation; Penobscot River Rally and Flotilla

1) Today we look at rule changes the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) is poised to make which would allow for the increased importation and incineration of toxic Construction and Demolition Debris (CDD) in Maine. The BEP will be accepting comments on the rule changes until June 25th.
2) We also look at two solar energy bills currently before the Maine legislature: LD 1504: An Act Regarding Solar Power for Farms and Businesses and LD 1444: An Act Regarding Large Scale Community Solar Procurement.
3) We also look towards Saturday’s Penobscot River Rally and Flotilla, where people will gather to support the Penobscot Tribe’s struggle for continued stewardship of the River, and other local and statewide struggles for clean water and clean energy. Over 30 organizations are co-sponsoring this event.

Guests:
Hillary Lister, waste activist, Maine Matters Research, Consulting and Advocacy. ( BEP Rule Changes Summary : https://app.box.com/s/acwa9mqnl7firfw9y5ori9ua40oim60y)
Dylan Voorhes, Clean Energy director at Natural Resources Council of Maine
Sherri Mitchell, Penobscot Tribe, indigenous rights attorney, Land Peace Foundation

This program was produced in partnership with the Sunlight Media Collective.

Coastal Conversations 5/26/17

Producer/Host: Natalie Springuel
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Issue: Maine coastal and ocean issues

Program Topic: Downeast Fisheries Partnership

Key Discussion Points:
1. What is the Downeast Fisheries Partnership and what is its vision for a future where Maine’s fishing communities keep fishing forever?
2. What are the changes related to fisheries ecology, economy, and policy that suggest a need for a new way of dealing with fisheries management?
3. What is the relationship between ocean fisheries and river fisheries?

Guests:
Robin Alden, Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries
Jacob van de Sande, Maine Coastal Heritage Trust
Charles Rudelitch, Sunrise County Economic Council
Anne Hayden, Manomet

RadioActive 5/25/17

Guest Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Issue: Environmental and Social Justice

Program Topic: Trump Proposed Budget Cuts to EPA and Social Safety Net

1) This morning, a coalition of organizations gathered to voice opposition to President Trump’s deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency proposed in his 2018 budget.
2). 60 organizations will present a letter to Maine’s Congressional delegation today imploring them to push back against the deep cuts and program eliminations that would impact Mainers. These include cuts to clean water protections, funding to brownfield and Superfund sites, indoor and outdoor pollution. climate change and the EPA lead program.
3) We also look at the Trump Administration’s deep proposed budget cuts to social safety net programs. These include a 29% to Food Stamps, a 19% cut to the Children’s Heath Insurance Program, a 17% to Medicaid, a 13% to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and a 12% to Unemployment insurance.

Guests:
Jeff Wallace, Housing Rehabilitation Coordinator, City of Bangor
Samantha Paradis, Staff Nurse, Waldo County General Hospital
Patrick MacRoy, Epidemiologist, Environmental Health and Strategy Center
Pete Didisheim, Advocacy Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine
Ann Woloson, Policy Analyst, Maine Equal Justice Partners

This program was produced in partnership with the Sunlight Media Collective.

Maine Currents 5/24/17

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
2nd segment audio recorded by John Greenman

Minimum Wage Increase: Did Mainers Know What They Were Doing?

Last November Mainers voted to gradually increase the state’s minimum wage from the (then) current rate of $7.50 an hour up to $12 an hour by 2020. After 2020 increases would be tied to inflation. Despite the fact that the measure drew strong support, several bills have been introduced in the state legislature that roll back the increases in various ways. In some cases the rate of increase is reduced. Other measures would tweak the formula for tipped staff or for younger workers or those in training.
9 such bills were presented in the legislature back in April, and yesterday the Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee held a public hearing on yet another, LD1609 (“An Act To Support Maine’s Employers and Encourage Employers To Hire Young Workers”) and arguments on each side were reiterated.

Some of those who advocate overturning the will of the voters have said Mainers didn’t understand the consequences of their vote. They argue that small businesses will be forced to lay off workers or limit hiring and will pass along costs to consumers.

Supporters of the minimum wage increase say that even the slight increase makes a difference for low wage workers who are often forced into making tough choices with their limited pay. Matt Schlobohm, Executive Director of the Maine AFL-CIO told the committee that the $30 extra per week in one 70-year-old woman’s pocket had allowed her to purchase windshield wiper blades. She had lost her home and was forced to return to work when her husband became disabled, and before the first incremental increase in the minimum wage went into effect in January her budget was so tight that needing new wiper blades would have been a crisis.

On this week’s Maine Currents we listen in as the debate continues

Area Resident Weighs in on Bar Harbor Cruise Ship Pier Proposal
An event in Bucksport last week brought together several environmental groups for a discussion of local issues. “The Future of Our Forests, Rivers, Lakes, Fields and Ocean” was hosted by Maine Common Good Coalition Renata Moise expressed concerns about a new cruise ship pier being proposed in Bar Harbor:


Maine Currents- independent local news, views and culture, every Wednesday at 4pm on WERU-FM and weru.org
NOTE: Maine Currents will be moving to Tuesdays (4-5pm) starting in June 2017