Environmental Writer
Climate Change/Energy / Education/Family / Housing / Sustainable Practices
by Marina Schauffler · Published May 14, 2023 · Last modified May 15, 2023
My cousin Linda Labaree could hardly contain her enthusiasm over learning that her home could readily be converted to heat pump technology. “The relief I feel comes from having an opportunity to make an...
Climate Change/Energy / Economics / Pollution/Waste
by Marina Schauffler · Published April 2, 2023 · Last modified April 6, 2023
On the first morning of spring, with temperatures hovering around freezing, a large flock of retirees descended like robins on a former farm field in Belfast, the site of a sprawling Bank of America...
Climate Change/Energy / Sustainable Practices / Technology / Transportation/Travel
by Marina Schauffler · Published March 12, 2023
With global carbon pollution at an all-time high and transportation the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Maine and the U.S., it’s encouraging to see the auto industry pivoting to electric vehicles (EVs) and more people acquiring them. Maine is installing new...
by Marina Schauffler · Published February 12, 2023 · Last modified February 16, 2023
Reading Matt Simon’s disturbing new book, “A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies,” I found a question running through my head like a refrain: Why did we not...
by Marina Schauffler · Published January 15, 2023 · Last modified May 15, 2023
Going back in time can reveal how far we still have to progress. In researching per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for a recent article series, I found myself ricocheting between the present and the...
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...
Found in water, air, soil, food, consumer products and work settings, ‘forever chemicals’ pose risks to both physical health and mental well-being At the end of Joy Road in Fairfield, a steep dead-end road...
