Governor pushes back at feds on protection for rare whales

A directive for new protections for endangered right whales represents an "absurd federal overreach" that places an unfair burden on Maine's signature lobster fishery, Gov. Janet Mills said. "My administration will not allow any bureaucrat to undermine our lobster industry or our economy with foolish, unsupported and ill-advised regulations," she wrote in a letter this week to the lobster industry. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wants the state to present a plan in September for reducing the lobster industry's threat to right whales by 60%.