#mainepolitics — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #mainepolitics, aggregated by home.social.
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#MainePolitics #Background #GrahamPlatner #GovMills
Like the high school version of himself vowing that administrators couldn’t suspend everyone, Graham Platner — veteran, oyster farmer, a nonpolitician with the Reddit posts and questionable tattoo decisions to prove it — is telling today’s Democrats that the way out of the current era isn’t to simply keep fighting Trump; it’s for a mass movement of regular people to organize and challenge the entire system. If he flips a Senate seat, it just might mean that the post-Trump Democratic Party has finally begun.
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AI's Shadow Falls on Political Ads, Stirring Unease
Are AI political ads changing elections? Maine and Vermont now require labels on AI images to help voters spot fake content and stop election misinformation.
#electionintegrity, #aipolitics, #mainepolitics, #vermontnews, #voterprotection
https://newsletter.tf/ai-political-ad-laws-maine-vermont-2024/
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AI's Shadow Falls on Political Ads, Stirring Unease
Are AI political ads changing elections? Maine and Vermont now require labels on AI images to help voters spot fake content and stop election misinformation.
#electionintegrity, #aipolitics, #mainepolitics, #vermontnews, #voterprotection
https://newsletter.tf/ai-political-ad-laws-maine-vermont-2024/
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Campaigns are using AI for cheaper ads, but polls show voter trust drops when they see synthetic content. This is a big change from traditional campaign methods.
#electionintegrity, #aipolitics, #mainepolitics, #vermontnews, #voterprotection
https://newsletter.tf/ai-political-ad-laws-maine-vermont-2024/ -
Campaigns are using AI for cheaper ads, but polls show voter trust drops when they see synthetic content. This is a big change from traditional campaign methods.
#electionintegrity, #aipolitics, #mainepolitics, #vermontnews, #voterprotection
https://newsletter.tf/ai-political-ad-laws-maine-vermont-2024/ -
CW: USPol, Maine Politics
Well, that didn’t take long. Just got a fundraising text message from #JanetMills. considering the fact that I’d rather vote for a raging rattlesnake, I don’t think I’ll be giving her any money. her consistent blocking of anything brought to her by Maine's #Wabanaki People as well as blocking studies to determine the feasibility of bringing #Amtrak northward are disqualifying. Plus, she'd be the oldest freshman Senator ever sworn in in the history of the United States. Absolutely not. #USPol #MainePolitics
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For the past few years, I've had to dedicate time to fight STUPID SHIT here in #Maine. Two years ago, #PolandSpring / #BlueTriton / WhateverTheFuckThey'reCalledNow tried to double water extraction during a #Drought. Last year, #MaineTurnpikeAuthority wanted to put a highway through one of the last working farms in #GreaterPortlandMaine (#SmilingHillFarm). Now this year, #MDOT wants to build a replacement bridge over the #SacoRiver with NO PEDESTRIAN SIDEWALK! In an area with a library, an ice cream parlor, and hiking trails on both sides of the river! WTF is wrong with people! Well, #CorporateGreed is a big part of the problem. I'm sure MTA had the contractors salivating over the contracts they hoped to milk out of them!
#MainePolitics -
Governor’s Bill to Exempt a Sand Dune on #SearsIsland/ #Wahsumkik from #EnvironmentalProtection for #OffshoreWind Port Passes Committee – Full Vote Expected This Week
Sunlight Media Collective March 26, 2024
"Governor’s Bill to Exempt a Sand Dune on Sears Island/ Wahsumkik from Environmental Protection to allow for her choice of the Undeveloped Island as the Site for the most 'Cost-Effective' Offshore Wind Port Passes Committee.
"The #Passamaquoddy and #PenobscotNation and numerous #environmental organizations oppose the development, while large environmental groups and unions back the governor.
"A full legislative vote is expected this week.
"On Thursday, March 21st the Maine Legislature’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources voted in support of a bill that would carve out exemptions from existing environmental protections for the industrial development Sears Island/Wahsumkik.
"#LD2266 “An Act Regarding #OffshoreWindTerminals Located in #CoastalSandDune Systems” put forth by the Governor’s office five days before its public hearing last week, seeks to specifically exempt a sand dune on Sears Island, in Searsport, from current #EnvironmentalProtections to allow for the advancement of an offshore wind staging development on the island.
"Governor Mills announced last month that Sears Island is the state’s “preferred site” for the major development, instead of the already industrialized #MackPoint, also in Searsport.
"The bill’s passage could set a dangerous precedent for the quick rollback of environmental protections at the behest of industry and the state.
"The development of Sears Island (known also by the Penobscot name Wahsumkik)), the largest undeveloped island within the state and one of the largest on the eastern seaboard, has been a lightening rod over the past decades, as the state and prevailing industry have attempted to site a number of projects there and received concerted local push back that stopped development.
"On this current attempt, the Governor’s office has gathered a roster of supportive environmental groups eager to be seen making visible strides on climate change, and unions eager for employment opportunities. But opposition to Sears Island development has not dissipated, and has increased in diversity to include both political parties, as well as local and state environmental groups, fisherman and the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe.
"This movement is pushing back on what they see as a false choice on #ClimateChange action– alternative energy vs the destruction of #forests and critical habitat on the undeveloped island. They challenge the Governor’s conclusion that Sears Island should be chosen over Mack Point.
"LD 2266 would allow for the exemption of a coastal sand dune on Sears Island within the proposed wind port from current protection under the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
"Expressing public support for the bill at the hearing were: The Governor’s Office, The Maine DOT, Maine Labor Climate Council, Maine AFL-CIO, Maine State Camber of Commerce, Maine Peoples Alliance and the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Some expressed openness to locating at Mack Point, if it was considered viable.
"Against the development of Sears Island and additionally opposed to the bill that would make changes to the DEP coastal sand dunes protections, include: The Passamaquoddy Tribe, Searsport Representative Reagan Paul, the Alliance for Sears Island, #FriendsOfSearsIsland, Isleboro Island Trust, #SierraClub Maine, Preserve Rural Maine, New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association , Upstream Watch, Community Water Justice, #FriendsOfCascoBay and Casco Bay Keepers and a number of individuals speaking on own behalf. The Penobscot Nation did not give testimony at the hearing but opposes the development at Sears Island/Wassamkeag.
"Speaking Neither for nor against were: Maine Conservation Voters and #MaineAudubon, who stated they could not support the bill as written, but could potentially with an amendment .
"Testimony from the March 18th hearing can be viewed online at
https://legislature.maine.gov/committee/#Committees/ENR
"A vote by the full legislature on the the rollback is expected this week.
Sunlight Media Collective will continue to follow this story.
Further coverage can be heard archived on WERU FM Community Radio on the programs Maine Currents and RadioActive. www.weru.org"
#Corporatocracy #Maine #MainePolitics #Greenwashing #JanetMills #ProtectTheForest #SaveSearsIsland
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Hmmmm... I'm seeing a pattern here. #PeterMills and #MaineTurnpikeAuthority are looking to build a highway through forests and farms because it would be cheaper (but #LightRail would be even CHEAPER, but would involve less #contractors). Peter's sister #JanetMills wants to put an #OffshoreWindFarm on #SearsIsland because it would be cheaper than #MackPoint (which would involve cleaning up pollution -- the horror!)
[Article is behind a paywall -- full text in comments]
The unusual political alliance opposing an offshore wind port in #Maine
by Billy Kobin
December 4, 2023"The 941-acre Sears Island, the largest undeveloped island in #PenobscotBay, is connected to the mainland by a causeway and is located off the coast of #Searsport, the Route 1 town of about 2,600 residents. The state owns the island, though #NativeAmericans who called it #Wassumkeag, or 'bright sand beach,' used it over thousands of years for camping, hunting, fishing and resting along paddling routes."
#MainePolitics #Environment #Greenwashing #EnvironmentalRacism
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So, what's going on with the #GorhamSpur seems a lot like what happened with the #CMPCorridor (which #Mainers voted against). Despite public opposition, #MTA will say, "Oh, well we already bought most of the land, so we have to keep going!" The same tactic was used with the CMP corridor through the North Woods, when CMP said, "Well, we already started the project -- we plan on completing if, even if the public opposes it!"
#MainePolitics #Maine #JanetMills #PeterMills #Corporatocracy #Overreach #TheWillOfThePeople #WorkingFarms #MaineTurnpikeAuthority
#Sprawl #GorhamSpur #GorhamConnector #Wetlands
#Meadows #EnvironmentalImpact #SaveSmilingHillFarm #SaveTheNorthWoods -
ICYMI - from 2019:
VERIFY: does Gov. #JanetMills' brother have ties to #CMPCorridor project?
NEWS CENTER #Maine verifies #PeterMills' involvement in the CMP corridor.
July 3, 2019
"In the last year, we have been bombarded with questions and concerns surrounding the #CMP transmission line project.
"Most recently, some of those concerns from you at home have shifted to Governor Janet Mills' support behind the project -- more specifically, if her brother, Peter Mills, has any ties to the corridor or if he has anything to gain from it.
"To verify these claims, NEWS CENTER Maine spoke with Peter Mills himself and referenced these public documents -- 'The Memorandum of Understanding between Central Maine Power Company and Western Mountains and Rivers Corporation'.
Here's what we found out.
"Mills does currently sit on the board of a charitable non-profit called Western Mountains and Rivers Corporation, an organization established back in 2017.
"He admits the non-profit has ties to CMP and the corridor project, but he says it's a very specific partnership.
"'The purpose of the corporation was to negotiate with #CentralMainePower and possibly #HydroQuebec to see to it that they would put together terms to mitigate in a public and charitable way, to mitigate for the impact of the power line if it were built.' says Mills. [I've seen this tactic before -- with #MaineTurnpikeAuthority donations to non-profits affected by #highway expansion]
"Public documents detail this agreement between the two entities, which includes CMP's requirement to provide $250,000 dollars to the non-profits trust fund; for start-up costs and other proceedings.
"It has been used to hire an #attorney to represent the interests of the #corporation in the #Legal proceedings before the #PUC and #LERK and the #DEP, and in negotiating for any mitigation terms including the creation of land rights of way in the #KennebecValley." says Mills."
Read more:
#MainePolitics #ClimateActivism #CorporateColonialism #CorporateFascism #Nepotism
#MaineTribes #Mining #GorhamSpur #GorhamConnector #SaveSmilingHillFarm #NoCMPCorridor -
Despite local opposition and a statewide vote, the #CMPCorridor through #Maine's #NorthWoods is getting pushed through! #PeterMills, head of the #MaineTurnpikeAuthority and brother of #JanetMills, is on the board of a corporation involved in the project! Nothing to see here, eh? No wonder MTA has no problem destroying woods, streams and farmland here in southern #Maine!
#CMPCorridor Proposal: A Bad Deal for Maine
"In April 2023, a Cumberland County jury ruled in CMP’s favor during a court case that very likely will decide the future of the company’s controversial transmission corridor. The decision was based on technical legal issues and not on the merits of whether or not this was a good project for Maine.
"We are disappointed with the outcome and remain sharply focused on achieving a just and equitable clean energy future that works for all Mainers.
"Maine has already shown there’s a better path forward than the CMP corridor. A path focused on regional collaboration and centered in Maine’s pragmatic approach to solving problems.
"Mainers are pursuing home-grown clean energy sources, like the #KingPineWindProject in Aroostook County that will deliver new and verifiable reductions in pollution rather than a shell game that shifts existing energy for maximum profit.
"#MaineVoters got it right when they overwhelmingly passed a referendum rejecting the CMP corridor because it’s a bad deal for Maine and a bad deal for our climate.
"#NRCM is honored to stand with youth #ClimateJustice activists, tribes in Maine and Canada, people across western Maine who rely on a vibrant outdoor recreation economy, and many others in opposing the CMP corridor. Thank you to everyone who partnered with us on this hard-fought campaign."
Top 4 Reasons NRCM Opposes the Corridor:
- Won’t reduce climate-changing pollution, and may actually increase it.
- Cuts 53 miles of new transmission lines through undeveloped #forests in Maine’s #NorthWoods, harming brook trout, deer, other #wildlife, and the tourism economy.
- Jeopardizes the construction of new in-state #RenewableEnergy projects and creation of clean energy jobs.
- Generates billions of dollars of profit for CMP and #HydroQuebec while offering very little to Maine people and businesses.Read more:
https://www.nrcm.org/programs/climate/proposed-cmp-transmission-line-bad-deal-maine/#MainePolitics #ClimateActivism #CorporateColonialism #CorporateFascism #Nepotism #MaineTribes #Mining #GorhamSpur #GorhamConnector