Ink & Pine podcast: South Portland’s anti-tar sands oil ordinance

In the previous editions of our Ink & Pine podcast, Maine Digital Press President Dan Bodoff and I were joined by guests who helped us drill down on the Affordable Care Act and a proposed marijuana legalization referendum in Portland.

This time around, we tackled another potentially complicated issue, South Portland’s Waterfront Protection Ordinance, a proposed ordinance that supporters say will specifically prevent bituminous oil from being transported through their city on its way to tankers off the coast and, by extension, the international market.

For this episode, The Forecaster’s Dylan Martin returned to his co-host chair — he was a key part of our development efforts as we refined our format and delivery during a small sampling of unpublished test episodes, so while this will be the first time most listeners hear his voice on Ink & Pine, he’s not new to us. Most weeks from here on out, you’ll hear Dylan joining us.

Our special guest this time around was a coworker of Dylan, David Harry of The Forecaster. David’s been covering, blow-by-blow, the campaigns on both sides of the Waterfront Protection Ordinance.

Opponents have argued the proposed ordinance will not only prevent the upgrades necessary to accommodate so-called tar sands oil, but also any other expansion or upgrade projects South Portland’s large community of waterfront businesses might need in order to remain viable.

David, BDN Business Editor Whit Richardson, BDN Health Editor Jackie Farwell, fellow BDN staffer Beth Brogan, several of our colleagues from the Sun Journal and myself have followed this issue closely over the past year. Click here for a decent overview of the issue, or here for an archive of stories for incremental coverage over time.

As always, we’re now offering Ink & Pine as another way for you to absorb your news, with a lengthy, thorough and in-depth look at an issue of great interest in Greater Portland. Download it to your mobile device and take it to the gym or in the car, or listen through your computer at work or home. Click here for the WPO episode.

This is just another way we’re trying to make the news accessible. You can’t read the BDN while you’re driving, and it’s difficult to do on a treadmill (I’ve tried), but a podcast? That hits the spot.

And of course, if hard news isn’t your thing, Dan Bodoff’s Maine Digital Press has an array of podcast programming that may be more suitable to your liking — fun shows about local music and local cuisine are among his offerings. Please check them out.

 

Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.