Issues: Energy and Environment
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine) last night wrote to the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) urging it to reconsider its proposed strategies to address the maintenance backlog in the National Park System. The letter follows an announcement this week from the DOI that it is proposing to increase fees at 17 highly-visited national parks – including Acadia National Park – during peak seasons to help offset the backlog.
Click HERE to watch Senator Collins’ floor remarks on the GAO report
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced that the University of Maine will receive $229,469 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support its research on the age, growth, and stock composition of Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Northwest Atlantic.
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tom Carper (D-DE) introduced the Incentivizing Offshore Wind Power Act, which would provide critical financial incentives to encourage investment in offshore wind energy. This bipartisan bill would create an investment tax credit that is redeemable for the first 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind facilities placed into service, amounting to approximately 600 wind turbines.
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded $445,041 to Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay. The award will help fund a project titled, “Microbial Activity in the Crustal Deep Biosphere.”
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced today that the Senate Appropriations Committee approved $15 million for the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC), an increase of $5 million over the previous year.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke urging him to reconsider the suspension of the Acadia National Park Advisory Commission. In their letter, the Senators expressed support for the Acadia Commission’s work to help build bridges between the park and the communities it surrounds.
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that two Maine communities will receive a total of $1.1 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to continue their work cleaning up contaminated brownfield properties. The Kennebec Valley Council of Governments in Fairfield will receive $500,000, and the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission in Saco will receive $600,000.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that a combined total of $1.85 million in federal funding has been awarded for the assessment and cleanup of 9 Brownfields sites in Maine. The federal grants awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will assist local communities as they work to redevelop these contaminated sites in order to promote environmental integrity and future economic investment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King today introduced legislation that would make it easier for Maine seafood dealers to export sea urchins and sea cucumbers outside of the United States. The legislation, which also has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Congressman Bruce Poliquin, would put an end to repetitive, mandatory inspections of urchins and sea cucumbers exported from the country.
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) co-led a bipartisan coalition of 48 senators, including Senator Angus King (I-ME) in urging the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies to support the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and Forest Legacy Program, the nation’s federal conservation program, as they begin considerations for the upcoming fiscal year.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King released the following statement on today’s launch of the Biomass to Bioproducts Pilot Plant at the University of Maine’s Technology Research Center in Old Town:
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) joined Senators Richard Burr (R-NC), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and others in introducing bipartisan legislation to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which would fully realize LWCF’s promise to conserve parks, open spaces, and wildlife habitat for the benefit of hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation.
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) led a bipartisan letter to the Trump Administration urging reconsideration of proposed cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that would disproportionately affect coastal states like Maine. Their letter was cosigned by four bipartisan Senators, including U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME).
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced today that she will oppose the confirmation of Scott Pruitt to become Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Her full statement follows:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King and Congressman Bruce Poliquin applauded today’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is awarding a $6 million grant to a Maine partnership led by the Nature Conservancy that will help private forestland owners reduce the impacts that flooding has on road networks and restore more than 250 miles of fish habitat in northern and eastern Maine.
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King today announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest a total of $427,000 to help six Maine small businesses purchase and install renewable energy systems or upgrade to more energy efficient equipment. The grants were awarded through the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King applauded Paul Dest, the Director of the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve, for being one of only two people across the country to be awarded the 2016 Dr. Nancy Foster Habitat Conservation Award by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Senators wrote a letter supporting Mr. Dest’s nomination for the award.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King today congratulated Robin Alden of Stonington, a former Commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources, on being named a “Champion of Change for Sustainable Seafood” by the White House. Robin is one of 12 people from across the country to receive the award, which recognizes local leaders who have devoted themselves to helping the United States become a global leader in sustainable seafood management.
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King today announced that Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) will receive $5,350,000 through the Department of Energy to enhance the performance of its tidal turbine system. ORPC was one of 10 organizations across the country to receive funding to support the development of a commercially viable marine and hydrokinetic industry.
WASHINGTON, D.C—U.S. Senator Susan Collins released the following statement today in response to the President’s designation of the North Woods and Waters National Monument:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King today welcomed an announcement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that it will fund an estimated 85 percent of the sea days needed for the At-Sea Monitoring (ASM) Program for the current fishing year. Beginning July 1, groundfish fishermen covered by the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan will be reimbursed for their at-sea monitoring costs through an arrangement with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today that Maine’s New England Aqua Ventus I offshore wind pilot project, designed by a world-class University of Maine-led consortium, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to participate in the Offshore Wind Advanced Technology Demonstration program. Maine’s project now officially joins the demonstration program.
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins’ tripartisan biomass amendment, cosponsored by Senator Angus King, has been included in the final Energy Policy Modernization Act that passed the Senate 85 to 12 today.
Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Senate passed the Energy Policy Modernization Act today with a provision authored by Senator Susan Collins to help make schools more energy efficient.
U.S. Senator Susan Collins will deliver remarks and participate in a panel discussion today at the Biomedical Innovation Summit, which will be hosted by the Maine Medical Center Research Institute. Panelists will discuss some of the promising biomedical research that is currently being conducted by Maine scientists.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), and Angus King (I-ME) congratulated the workers at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) on receiving environmental awards for the fifth year in a row. PNSY received two Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Environmental Awards for Natural Resources Conservation and Environmental Restoration for fiscal year 2015 on February 22, 2016.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced that the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $1,950,034 grant to the University of Maine to support Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in rural Maine. The grant will support 22 fellowships for recent STEM graduates or current STEM professionals to further their knowledge base and become certified STEM teachers in rural, high-need Maine schools.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced a $4.6 million investment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that will support conservation efforts in Maine’s Western Mountains. The Senators, along with Congressman Bruce Poliquin, wrote a letter in support of the project which will help private landowner efforts to bolster fish and wildlife habitats in western Maine between the White Mountains in New Hampshire and Moosehead Lake.
Washington, D.C.—A tripartisan biomass amendment, authored by Senator Collins and cosponsored by Senator Angus King, has been adopted unanimously as part of the Energy Policy Modernization Act, which is currently under consideration in the Senate. The amendment was also cosponsored by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Al Franken (D-MN), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and James Risch (R-ID).
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