Emmett Gartner

77 posts

Emmett Gartner is an environmental reporter for The Maine Monitor. Having grown up on the Chesapeake Bay, Emmett has long been interested in stories of adaptation and accountability.

He joined the newsroom in 2023 as a Roy W. Howard fellow and now explores how environmental policy aligns with Mainers’ lived experiences and where climate change complicates the status quo.

Previously, he reported for a daily newspaper in Maryland and spent separate summer stints working as a trail maintenance worker in Nevada, a wildland firefighter in Oregon and an environmental educator on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Contact Emmett with questions, concerns or story ideas: emmett@themainemonitor.org

Language(s) Spoken: English

Officials from Norridgewock stand on the bridge during an interview with The Maine Monitor.

‘All emergencies are local until they’re not’: How one Maine town is prepping for its next disaster

Like much of inland Maine, Norridgewock was isolated when rivers surged late last December. Town officials don’t want to be in that position again.

ByEmmett Gartner

September 7, 2024

A heating pump installed against the brick wall of a residence.

Federal grant will help Maine install heat pumps in low-income homes

The funding is expected to allow the state to add thousands of heat pumps and train HVAC technicians to install and maintain them.

ByEmmett Gartner

August 16, 2024

State denies initial request of Bucksport-area owner to give up dams

What happens if the forfeit requests are accepted has never been tested.

ByEmmett Gartner

August 3, 2024

Checking in on Maine’s dams: Here’s what you need to know

Changes in ownership and oversight complicate the futures of four dams, while another is poised for removal.

ByEmmett Gartner

July 26, 2024

exterior of the Raymond Elementary School.

Schools across Maine confront unique challenges in ridding their water of ‘forever chemicals’

Funding and delays have kept schools on bottled water for over a year as they try to eliminate their PFAS.

ByEmmett Gartner

July 21, 2024

Storm surge in Camden pushed water onto public walkways.

Climate change, rising home costs converge to drive up insurance rates in Maine

A study projects that Maine rates will increase 19 percent by the end of the year, though much of that change will be driven by homes on the storm-exposed coast.

ByEmmett Gartner

July 5, 2024

Meeting attendees sit in chairs around a room.

Denmark considers tightening regulations on water extraction despite Poland Spring opposition

The proposed changes come as statewide efforts to curb large-scale extraction have failed in recent years.

ByEmmett Gartner

June 22, 2024