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janet mills
'Relieved But Not Happy': Maine Mass Shooting Suspect Found Dead
The discovery ended a two-day manhunt that had kept the city of Lewiston and the surrounding community on edge.
Oct 28, 2023
The man suspected of killing 18 people during a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday was found dead on Friday evening.
The body of the 40-year-old Robert Card was found at around 7:45 pm ET near the Androscoggin River in Lisbon Falls, Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said at a press conference a little after 10 pm, as the Lewiston Sun Journalreported. He appeared to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The discovery ended a two-day man hunt that had kept Lewiston and the surrounding community on edge.
"Like many people, I'm breathing a sigh of relief tonight knowing Card is no longer a threat to anyone," Maine Gov. Janet Mills said at the press conference at Lewiston City Hall.
Card allegedly opened fire on the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley and the Schemengees Bar & Grille at around 7 pm ET Wednesday evening, according to the Portland Press Herald. The shooting killed 18 people and injured 13. Three of those injured were still in critical condition as of Friday, the Sun Journal reported.
Among those killed were Joe Walker, who helped manage the bar and grill and attempted to stop the shooter with a butcher knife, his father and Auburn City Councilor Leroy Walker told reporters, and four members of the deaf community, according to The Associated Press. In total, two women, 15 men, and one 14-year-old boy were killed.
"I'm relieved but not happy," Lewiston resident April Stevens, who knew one of the victims, told AP. "There was too much death. Too many people were hurt. Relieved, yes, happy, no."
Lewiston and nearby Auburn were placed under a shelter-in-place order shortly after Card fled the scene Wednesday, according to the Portland Press Herald. That order was then expanded to Bowdoin Thursday morning and northern Sagadahoc and northern Androscoggin counties Thursday afternoon. The order was lifted at 5:23 p.m. ET Friday, roughly two hours before Card's body was found.
Card's motives remain unknown, according to AP. However, he recently told family members he had been hearing voices and had become increasingly fixated on the Lewiston bar and bowling alley, his family told law enforcement officials during the search. In July, Card, an Army reservist, was hospitalized for two weeks after his trainers in West Point, New York, became concerned over the state of his mental health. At the hospital, he said that he was hearing voices and expressed the desire to hurt other soldiers.
"Americans should not have to live like this."
Gun control advocacy group Giffords said on social media that it was unclear whether or not this history would have legally barred Card from owning a gun. Most gun laws only block people from owning guns if they have been "formally committed" to an institution, and it is not yet clear whether Card was. However, the group noted that Maine does not have a Red Flag law, which empowers family members or law enforcement to ask a court to remove a person's guns temporarily if they pose a threat to themselves or others. Maine currently has a Yellow Flag law, which only allows firearms to be removed if a person is taken into protective custody and a doctor agrees they pose a risk.
"When someone shows signs of harming themselves or others, you need to move quickly," Giffords wrote. "Maine's law has been slow and limited, which has rendered it unusable at times when it is critically needed."
The Lewiston shooting marked the 36th mass killing in the U.S. in 2023.
"Americans should not have to live like this," President Joe Biden said in a statement after Card's body was found. "I once again call on Republicans in Congress to fulfill their obligation to keep the American people safe. Until that day comes, I will continue to do everything in my power to end this gun violence epidemic. The Lewiston community—and all Americans—deserve nothing less."
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‘Almost a Miraculous Solution’: 25 Governors Vow to Quadruple Heat Pump Installations
The heat pump target is part of a broader push to decarbonize buildings—which currently contribute more than 30% of the U.S.' climate-heating emissions.
Sep 21, 2023
The U.S. Climate Alliance—a group of 25 governors leading states that make up 60% of the U.S. economy and 55% of its population—pledged Thursday to quadruple the number of heat pumps installed in their states by 2030.
Heat pumps work by either pumping hot air in during winter or hot air out during summer, The Associated Press explained. Because they don't have to first work to heat a coil or other device, they are more energy efficient than other heating methods. They also run on the electric grid, so they don't use extra fossil fuels like oil or gas furnaces.
They're "almost a miraculous solution," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, one member of the alliance, told AP, adding that they solve the problems of "heating in the winter, cooling in the summer, and a reduction of carbon pollution."
"This coalition continues to prove that when we come together, we can make a greener future more equitable and accessible for all."
The alliance made their announcement at Climate Week NYC Thursday. The heat pump target is part of a broader push to decarbonize buildings—which currently contribute more than 30% of the U.S.' climate-heating emissions.
"We are in a climate emergency and the window to act is closing," Inslee said in a statement. "U.S. Climate Alliance states get that."
The heat pump commitment means that participating states will install 20 million heat pumps by the end of the decade, up from 4.8 million today, according to energy transition nonprofit RMI.
"Heat pumps and heat pump water heaters are core decarbonization technologies that allow buildings to switch from burning fossil fuels for heating and hot water to using electricity instead," the group wrote in response to the news. "Making this switch can reduce home heating emissions in every US state by 35–93% while saving lives through improved air quality and protecting residents from volatile gas commodity prices."
U.S. Climate Alliance members also pledged to ensure 40% of the benefits from the green-buildings mobilization go to marginalized communities.
"This coalition continues to prove that when we come together, we can make a greener future more equitable and accessible for all," New York Gov. and alliance member Kathy Hochul said in a statement.
Fellow alliance member and Maine Gov. Janet Mills spoke of her state's positive experience with heat pumps. Maine set a goal in 2019 of installing 100,000 by 2025 and ended up significantly overshooting that, installing 104,000 by the end of August, as The Cool Downreported at the time.
"Transitioning to heat pumps in Maine is creating good-paying jobs, curbing our carbon emissions, cutting costs for families, and making people more comfortable in their homes," Mills said Thursday, adding that her state would ramp up its target to 275,000 installations by 2027.
The alliance, which was first formed by Washington, New York, and California in response to former President Donald Trump's decision to pull the U.S. from the Paris agreement, is partnering with the Biden administration for their new endeavor.
Other goals include supporting the development of codes and standards for net-zero buildings, working to speed the process of retrofitting homes and businesses to electrify them and make them more efficient, and creating well-paying career-track green building jobs.
"Combined with President Biden's historic climate leadership, these bold commitments by governors to cut emissions from buildings will have a catalytic impact across America," White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaid said in a statement Thursday. "It will clean up the air our children breathe, save hardworking families money on their monthly energy bills, strengthen America's climate resilience, and create good-paying jobs in every corner of the country."
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Unions Furious After Democratic Maine Gov. Vetoes Offshore Wind Bill Over Fair Labor Rules
Janet Mills' "ideological opposition to strong labor standards jeopardizes the build-out of this industry and all the climate, economic, and community benefits that come with it," said the leader of the Maine AFL-CIO.
Jun 28, 2023
Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills on Monday vetoed an offshore wind development bill because she opposed an amendment requiring collective bargaining agreements for future projects, drawing condemnation from the state's largest federation of unions.
"Maine's climate motto has been 'Maine Won't Wait.' With this veto, Gov. Mills is saying, 'Maine Will Wait'—for thousands of good jobs, for clean energy, and for the build-out of a new industry," Maine AFL-CIO executive director Matt Schlobohm said in a statement. "We will wait because the governor is opposed to fair labor standards which are the industry norm."
"The governor's ideological opposition to strong labor standards," said Schlobohm, "jeopardizes the build-out of this industry and all the climate, economic, and community benefits that come with it."
Mills supported an earlier version of Legislative Document (L.D.) 1847 that originated from her office. Last week, however, the governor made clear that she opposed the addition of an amendment requiring project labor agreements (PLAs)—pre-hire deals negotiated between unions and employers that establish wage floors and other conditions—for the construction of offshore wind ports as well as the manufacturing of turbines and other components needed for wind energy projects.
In a letter to state lawmakers, "Mills argued that mandating a PLA would create a 'chilling effect' for non-union companies, discouraging them from bidding on construction," The American Prospect's Lee Harris reported. "Supporters of the PLA provision say that is a far-fetched objection, since the agreements do not ban non-union contractors from vying for jobs. (In fact, that's one reason some more radical unionists say PLAs do too little to advance labor's cause.)"
The governor vowed to veto the bill unless the Legislature recalled it from her desk and revised it to the initial version or adopted "language that would ensure that union workers, employee-owned businesses, and small businesses could all benefit."
"Maine's climate motto has been 'Maine Won't Wait.' With this veto, Gov. Mills is saying, 'Maine Will Wait'—for thousands of good jobs, for clean energy, and for the build-out of a new industry."
In a Friday letter to Mills, state lawmakers told the governor they would introduce "Maine Resident Priority Language" to encourage contractors to first hire qualified workers who reside in the state.
That last-ditch effort to save the bill was unsuccessful, however. On Monday, the final day of Maine's legislative session, Mills vetoed L.D. 1847, just as the Maine State Chamber of Commerce had urged her to do.
In her veto letter, which repeated language from last week's threat letter, Mills wrote, "Generally speaking, I recognize the value of PLAs, or collective bargaining agreements, as a tool to lift up working men and women by ensuring that they are paid strong wages with good benefits."
However, as The Portland Press Heraldreported, Mills contended that the legislation's PLA requirement "was a step too far because more than 90% of workers in Maine's construction industry—which would compete for these jobs—are not unionized." The governor "also pointed out that no other New England state requires labor agreements for offshore wind development projects."
Mills wrote that a PLA requirement "could stifle competition, which could cut out thousands of workers and employee-owned businesses, and could end up favoring out-of-state unions in the region, over Maine-based companies and workers—and I do not believe any of us want to see out-of-state workers being bussed up to coastal Maine to build our offshore wind port while Maine workers are sidelined, sitting at home."
Jason Shedlock, president of the Maine Building and Construction Trades Council and an organizer for the Laborers' International Union (LiUNA), told the Prospect: "Right now what we see is the opposite. People leave the state every day to go to other states in New England, to earn family-sustaining wages."
According to Harris:
Maine's Building Trades include more than 6,000 workers who routinely struggle to find work nearby.
The construction industry has always involved travel. But Shedlock says part of the case for a PLA is that it will grow Maine's skilled apprentices and eventually its union halls. If non-union contractors win bids on jobs, he said, they will look to the building trades' apprentice programs for staff.
Maine Sen. Chip Curry (D-11), the bill's lead sponsor, said in a statement that he is "disappointed by the governor's veto."
It "threatens this new industry, putting good jobs for Maine people and the environmental benefits that go along with offshore wind at risk," said Curry. "Maine voters understand the opportunity that we have, and they overwhelmingly support an offshore wind industry that guarantees workers good pay and benefits, protects our environment and host communities, and reduces our dependence on fossil fuels."
"This is a critical issue for Maine's future," he added. "I remain committed to working with all parties, including Gov. Mills, to find a path forward."
Earlier this month, the House voted 73-64 to pass L.D. 1847, and the Senate followed suit with a 22-11 vote. The former margin doesn't meet the two-thirds threshold needed to override Mills' veto, but the governor reiterated in her Monday letter to lawmakers that she is still committed to reaching a compromise.
According toBangor Daily News, "Mills and progressives could come to a deal on the subject as part of a different bill on offshore wind procurement that the full Legislature has not yet acted upon." That legislation, L.D. 1895, contains the same labor standards, and the governor has already threatened to veto it unless they are removed.
In an attempt to justify her opposition to PLA requirements, Mills warned that robust pro-worker provisions would put Maine "at a disadvantage compared to other New England states," adding, "It is imperative that investment in offshore wind facilities and projects foster opportunities for Maine's workforce and construction companies to compete on a level playing field for this work."
But according to Schlobohm: "Every single one of the 16 offshore wind projects in development or permitting in the Northeast/East coast is being built under these exact labor standards. The same is true for offshore wind ports. It is the industry norm. Why would Maine lower our standards?"
"Funding from the federal government to support these projects is contingent on these exact labor standards," he continued. "These bills embody the playbook—pushed by the Biden administration—for how we decarbonize in a way that benefits working people and creates a durable transition."
The Maine Beacon reported Tuesday that Mills' veto could cause Maine to miss out on millions of dollars in federal subsidies earmarked for offshore wind development.
"We would expect this type of resistance from a Republican governor," Francis Eanes, executive director of the Maine Labor Climate Council, toldThe Washington Post. "But to have a Democratic governor impeding the president's agenda is something that we just didn't expect."
As Harris explained: "At stake is whether the offshore wind industry will offer decent work—particularly compared with the industrial-scale solar sector, which promised good-paying careers but has delivered unpredictable temp jobs. In nearly every state, similar fights are playing out as business groups try to beat back labor provisions attached to new federal spending."
"Labor groups across clean energy are hoping to capture not just installation but manufacturing jobs," she continued. "Because operations management for offshore wind uses relatively little manpower, retaining the manufacturing is critical. In Scotland, recent reports suggest that heavy investment in offshore wind over the past decade has generated just one-tenth of the jobs promised by government officials, partly because the manufacturing of turbines has been offshored."
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