Maine

A group of state attorneys general just declared war on big polluters.

The group, representing 17 states, said it will pursue climate change litigation. Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands officially joined an ongoing investigation into potential fraud by ExxonMobil, and all the states committed to working together as “creatively, collaboratively, and aggressively” as possible to combat climate change.

AUGUSTA — House lawmakers voted Tuesday to move forward with a proposed constitutional amendment declaring Mainers have a “right to food freedom,” a step that could increase tensions among local food producers, government regulators and the agribusiness industry.

The amendment contains declarations of Mainers’ “natural, inherent and unalienable right” to grow, acquire and consume food of their own choosing. Yet the lofty-sounding proposal stems from the growing debate in Maine and nationally over what some “local foods” advocates and small farmers view as over-regulation by the

Was your salmon dinner grown in a lab, or out in nature? And what about those innocent-looking ears of corn in the produce aisle? How about the cans in your pantry? Maine’s Legislature is mulling an act that would require food companies to label genetically modified food — and for the consumer that would mean more food transparency here.

The bill, LD 991, would require

It turns out that what happens in my household is not atypical: My wife insists upon discarding products promptly upon reaching the date stamped on the packaging, against my arguments that such action is premature.

This common scene is actually part of a larger problem of food waste, according to Rep. Chellie Pingree of southern Maine. Pingree introduced the Food Recovery Act last week, the latest and perhaps most ambitious of her attempts to address the issue—a crusade she somewhat immodestly compares, wishfully, to the days of recycling.