Maine Conservation Voters names environmental ‘leaders and laggards’

Local lawmakers score low
on key bills

Contributed Article

    AUGUSTA — Maine Conservation Voters released their 2014 Environmental Scorecard today, which tracks the votes of each member of the 126th Maine Legislature on key pieces of environmental legislation.

    “This year’s report highlights a pattern of missed opportunities to protect Maine’s water quality, invest in clean energy technology, and build Maine’s natural resource-based economy,” according to the MCV press release.
    “Here in Maine, a clean environment and a healthy economy go hand-in-hand,” said Beth Ahearn, political director for Maine Conservation Voters. “Over the last two years, legislators have worked hard to craft careful, common sense solutions to emerging threats like water pollution, toxic chemicals in household products, and the realities of our changing climate. Unfortunately, Gov. (Paul) LePage used his veto pen on several bills, putting our lakes, our drinking water, and the health of our children needlessly at risk.”
    Local lawmakers — all Republicans — received relatively low marks on the MCV scorecard.
    Rep. Paul Davis of Sangerville, who is running for Senate District 4, received a score of 38 percent; Rep. Peter Johnson of Greenville earned a 31 percent; Rep. Raymond Wallace, 21 percent; and Sen. Doug Thomas of Ripley, who was defeated in the June primary by Davis, was rated at 8 percent.
    Of the 13 bills included in the scorecard, legislators took pro-environment votes on 12 of them. But in six cases LePage vetoed their passage and lawmakers failed to override, despite strong bipartisan support in earlier votes.
    The governor vetoed bills that would have required a 25 foot setback from lakes for fertilizer application; strengthened water protections in Maine’s metallic mineral mining rules; required manufacturers to disclose their use of the hormone-disrupting chemical BPA in food packaging; promoted ‘food hubs’ to aggregate and distribute local food to institutions like schools and hospitals; studied the health and economic impacts of climate change on Maine people and businesses; and reinstated a solar power rebate.
    Over the past two years, the governor only signed two pro-environment bills into law (wind power siting and GMO labeling) and allowed three others to be enacted without his signature (paint recycling, opening the St. Croix river to alewives, and the $10 million water bond being considered by voters in November). Legislators also rejected the governor’s proposal to divert money from the sale of timber harvesting on public land.
    The 13th bill included in the scorecard was a 2013 proposal to amend the rules for open-pit mining in order to strengthen water quality protections and prevent Maine taxpayers from footing the bill for clean-up costs once a mine is closed. While this bill went down to defeat, lawmakers took a pro-environment vote on mining rules in 2014 when they rejected new rules on metallic mining that would have made it easier for mining companies to engage in highly polluting open-pit mining operations in Maine.
    The scorecard can be found online at www.maineconservation.org/scores.