We can say one thing about the climate beat in 2025 - it was never short of news. While we scrambled to keep up with federal and regulatory changes, we also continued to cover the ongoing impacts of climate change on our state. We’re reversing the classic spaghetti western title to deliver you the highlights (and lowlights) of the year.
The Ugly: Climate policy under attack
Donald Trump returned to office Jan. 20 swinging a sledgehammer against American climate policy – and the blows reverberated across Maine.
Right out of the gate came nationwide funding cuts to climate and environmental protections and research, grants for clean energy and rollbacks at federal regulatory agencies. After Governor Janet Mills publicly challenged the president at a February breakfast in D.C. (the “see you in court” moment) the crackdown turned personal. Trump’s administration allegedly turned its sights on specific state programs including research through Maine Sea Grant, money for Maine’s floating offshore wind experiment and an award to raise a flood-prone Downeast road.
Some of the money cancelled early on has been restored. But other awards, including a $62 million “solar for all” grant, were terminated and are now locked in federal lawsuits.
In the meantime, Trump’s administration aggressively pushed a pro-fossil fuel agenda, at the expense of renewable energy. And if there was one obvious casualty, it was offshore wind power.
Maine and New England have focused on offshore wind’s promise to deliver huge amounts of clean, relatively cheap energy to the region and feed surging electricity demand.
Those aspirations were crushed by Trump’s campaign to sink the offshore wind industry. The administration has repeatedly blocked federal approvals for development, including Revolution Wind and Vineyard Wind arrays off Rhode Island and Massachusetts. In Maine, the government’s new position stifled a nascent floating offshore wind industry and prompted an indefinite pause in negotiations to sell power from a proposed 12-turbine experimental array.
Offshore wind power might still be the future. But right now, it’s a future that seems much further away.
The Bad: Weather served more signals of climate disruption
It was hard to tear attention away from the news maelstrom coming out of Washington D.C. this year. But closer to home, there were big swings in the weather, including temperatures.
First it was a dry January that rang alarm bells for the future of cross country skiing traditions in Maine.
Then came spring with weekend after weekend of heavy rain. Soon after, a series of extreme heat events sent temperatures into the triple digits, triggering warnings for older people, infants and other vulnerable groups to stay cool inside. Brief periods of extreme heat gave Mainers a taste of future summers if rising global temperatures aren’t checked. To dig into the heat issue further, Maine Public teamed up with the Portland Press Herald for a series of stories about what to expect. You can find some of our work here.
Those hot days gave rise to a flash drought that started in August and intensified through the fall. Dry weather sparked widespread brush and forest fires and damaged crops like blueberries and apples. Scores of wells across the state dried up. And the drought is expected to continue.
The Good: Mainers aren’t giving up
Despite federal hostility to climate work, Maine lawmakers further codified a goal to reach 100% clean energy by 2040, a move aimed at shifting away from the price volatility of fossil fuels. At the same time, the number of Maine households burning oil to heat their homes dropped to the lowest level in decades, alongside a growth in high efficiency heat pumps, gas, and propane heat. And a law was passed to spend millions of dollars on storm resilience, flood planning and emergency communications.
Meanwhile, state regulators at the Public Utilities Commission and newly formed Department of Energy Resources raced against the clock to contract for new renewable energy before federal tax breaks for developers run out in 2027. And in the last few weeks of the year, the state moved forward with plans to order 1,200 megawatts of wind generation in Aroostook County, enough power for 475,000 homes. The state has also been exploring additional alternatives to fossil fuel energy, like ‘green hydrogen’ and geothermal energy.
Meanwhile, local and solutions moved forward. Portland installed its first public electric boat charger. Some Mainers are coming together to learn how to keep clothes and household items out of landfills. More than 150 towns and communities are working on climate resilience projects. And Maine Youth turned up again and again this year to rally for climate action.
So, it’s been quite a year. We intend to keep a laser focus on climate, environment and energy issues that are critical to Maine. Thanks for being a reader, and we hope you stick with us for whatever comes next.
~ Molly Enking and Pete McGuire
Presence of invasive sea squirts increasing as Gulf of Maine warms
As the Gulf of Maine warms due to climate change, invasive sea squirts have become a major issue for the aquaculture industry, weighing down equipment and colonizing underwater surfaces
With nowhere left to run, Maine wildlife face heat-related risks
The state’s mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians are already facing threats from habitat loss and disease. Extreme heat events up the ante.
The search for Maine’s missing mussels
Warming ocean waters and invasive predators took a toll on Maine’s wild blue mussels. But researchers think they may have migrated to deeper, cooler water.
Maine's green transit options clash over rail corridor use
Transportation is the most polluting economic sector in Maine, accounting for nearly 50% of the state's carbon emissions. But greener transit alternatives, such as biking and mass transit, are competing for limited funding and, in some cases, the same physical space.
Heat grows as top workplace hazard for Maine laborers
Companies and workers in the construction and other outdoor industries are increasingly considering dangerous heat as a critical workplace safety issue.
Flash drought brings hay shortage to Maine farmers
Extreme dry weather left some farmers digging into wintertime feed reserves and ordering hay deliveries from as far away as New York.
Climate educators search for federal tools, data needed for lesson plans
Since President Trump took office in January, environmental information, including climate-related data has been scrubbed from some federal agency websites. While scientists and policymakers are concerned about disappearing data, it also disrupts teachers' lesson planning.
Maine communities prepare for future wildfire threat
Extreme dry weather this summer brought concern about wildfire risk to the forefront of some communities, which are adopting fire prevention methods more common in fire-prone areas out west.
Maine’s shifting songbirds reflect a warming climate
Shorter, easier winters mean species like Eastern bluebird and red-winged black bird can stay in parts of Maine year round.
Acadia National Park removes educational signs about climate change, Indigenous history
Informational signs containing information on climate change, ecology and Native American history have been removed from Maine's Acadia National Park, one of the country's most popular national parks. Many national parks are seeing similar actions.
As the holiday season winds down, many Mainers are looking for an eco-friendly way to dispose of old Christmas trees.
First, it’s important to strip the tree of all decorations, tinsel, glue, plastic - anything that can’t be burned, eaten or buried when the tree is turned into a bonfire, feed, or mulch Trees that have been painted or sprayed with fake snow aren’t good candidates to be reused and likely need to be disposed of.
If you’re a plastic tree person, hopefully that bad boy is going back in the basement until next year. Real Christmas trees are biodegradable, but not recyclable and there are plenty of things you can do instead of sending them to landfill.
In addition to composting them or chopping them up for firewood, some take a less conventional approach: feeding the trees to goats. Call a local farm and ask if they’re accepting Christmas trees.
Farms aren't the only places taking trees: community gardens, sports teams, and some cities or municipalities will pick up and compost Christmas trees for free.
Drop it off at EcoMaine or bring it to your local recycling center to be mulched
Leave it in the stand and set it up in your garden or backyard - songbirds will eventually start using it for shelter or nesting materials. You can also hang birdseed in it as a natural feeder
In Portland, you can leave your tree on the curb from Jan 6-17, and EcoMaine will collect it and bring it to a waste-to-energy facility where it will be burned to create electricity
With permission from the landowner, it’s fine to bring an old tree out into the woods and leave it - it’ll break down on its own eventually
You can burn the tree yourself, outdoors with a permit while snow is still on the ground, works best. And actually, a New Year's Day bonfire sounds like just the thing.
Happy New Year,
The Climate Desk
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