Penelope Overton

Press Herald

Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Herald’s first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maine’s lobster and cannabis industries, covered state politics and spent a fellowship year exploring the impact of climate change on the lobster fishery with the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team. Before moving to Maine, she has covered politics, environment, casino gambling and tribal issues in Florida, Connecticut, and Arizona. Her favorite assignments allow her to introduce readers to unusual people, cultures, or subjects. When off the clock, Penny is usually getting lost in a new book at a local coffeehouse, watching foreign crime shows or planning her family’s next adventure.

Latest

Published
October 24, 2024

Without fast EV adoption, Maine must get creative to meet emissions goals

A state-hired consultant said the Maine Climate Council will have to turn to green hydrogen and ask its industrial sector to use more renewable energy if it can’t meet its already lowered electric vehicle adoption targets by 2030.
Published
October 18, 2024

Lobsters in the shallows are emerging from their caves

Those living in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Maine are trading the rocky crevices they have always favored for a life spent out in the open foraging for food on the ocean’s muddy bottom or open ledge, according to a new UMaine study.
Published
October 13, 2024

Climate change delays, disrupts Maine’s fall foliage season

Warming temperatures are pushing back peak conditions by more than a week since the 1950s. But several factors shape the timing and brilliance of autumnal color.
Published
October 9, 2024

Director of Brunswick airport authority resigns in wake of toxic foam spill

Kristine Logan steps down about a month after one of the nation’s biggest spills of toxic firefighting foam has left the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority struggling to pay for a costly cleanup and regain the public trust.
Published
October 2, 2024

EPA: Navy has ‘ultimate responsibility’ to address Brunswick chemical spill

The head of the federal agency’s Superfund program told the Navy in a Sept. 26 letter that it must ‘take any and all actions necessary to address the recent spill of AFFF at Hangar 4 and to ensure protection of human health and the environment.’
Published
September 26, 2024

Vulnerable Mainers weigh in on state’s climate action plan

The Maine Climate Council on Wednesday heard the results of an equity study that asked low-income residents, older and rural Mainers, veterans and others about the state’s goals.
Published
September 25, 2024

Portland educator, politician hired as Maine’s first green schools director

Former University of Southern Maine President Glenn Cummings began work this week promoting sustainability in the state’s schools.
Published
September 24, 2024

Foam spill flushes wave of toxic chemicals into troubled Androscoggin River

‘We will be dealing with the fallout of this for generations to come,’ says Ed Friedman, chairman of Friends of Merrymeeting Bay.
Published
September 18, 2024

Toxic foam risks persist at other ‘deficient’ Brunswick airport hangars

Inspection reports from 14 months ago show unaddressed deficiencies in 2 sprinkler systems that still use aqueous film-forming foam that contains forever chemicals.
Published
September 16, 2024

Maine congressional delegation presses Navy for help with Brunswick chemical spill

The Navy still owns the airport hangar where 51,000 gallons of toxic firefighting foam was discharged after an overhead fire suppression system with a deficient service record malfunctioned.

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