From his first month in office, Gov. Paul LePage has broken a long and important tradition of bipartisan collaboration that has protected Maine’s natural resources and the health of Maine families. Instead of advancing policies that would protect Maine’s clean air and water — or even maintaining those policies already in place — LePage time and again has sided with polluters over the public interest and the health of Maine people.
As a lifelong Republican, former business owner and conservationist, I have watched this unfold with great disappointment.
Incredibly, LePage is now trying to position himself as a leader on the environment, touting in a recent campaign ad the fact that his administration applied existing laws to fine Chevron for spilling oil into the Penobscot River. While his ads may tell one story, LePage’s record on the environment is very clear, and it is disastrous.
From his earliest days in office, LePage has tried to undermine and repeal basic protections for our air, land and clean water. It is especially cynical he wants credit for the record of the Department of Environmental Protection, which under his leadership cut lake protection staff and funding and saw a 49 percent decrease in enforcement actions for land use violations.
As governor, LePage has vetoed key legislation, including bipartisan bills that would have kept pollutants out of our lakes, protected our children from harmful chemicals and invested in our clean energy economy. He has even joked about the effect hormone-disrupting chemicals like BPA have on women and the very real threat of climate change to our fisheries and way of life.
As a businessman, I have long believed protecting our environment makes economic sense. Maine’s beautiful lakes, for example, not only provide clean drinking water but help generate more than $3.5 billion in economic activity, sustaining as many as 52,000 Maine jobs.
With these facts in mind, the governor’s support for a law to protect lakes from pollution should have been a given — especially after it passed the Maine Legislature with broad bipartisan support, including a unanimous initial vote from the state Senate and a 119-24 vote in the House. Sadly, LePage ignored that support for clean water and Maine’s lakes and vetoed this important bill.
The next time you see his ad touting leadership to keep Maine’s waters clean, remember he overturned votes by his Republican colleagues in the Legislature to oppose this commonsense legislation. That’s not leadership.
In another startling example of putting his rigid ideology ahead of the best interests of Maine people and our environment, LePage bullied away a $120 million investment in Maine’s clean energy future from Statoil. This project would have created jobs, generated clean, renewable energy and positioned Maine as a leader in the energy sector.
How could any true leader — regardless of party affiliation — not view that as a positive opportunity? But he didn’t, and according to the company’s representatives, the governor’s active opposition was a “key factor” in their decision to leave.
I hope Maine voters will consider this reality the next time they hear LePage or one of his spokespeople touting he has made Maine “Open for Business.” This was more than $120 million worth of business LePage actively thwarted. This is not the leadership Maine needs for our environment, our economy or the many critical issues facing our families.
Some will surely decry what I have written as “negative campaigning,” but these are not attacks, they are facts. I urge the people of Maine to consider them before they head to the polls. LePage cannot ignore his true record of vetoes, obfuscation and opposition.
Fortunately, Mainers have an excellent choice in U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, who has been a true leader for Maine’s clean waters, natural heritage and renewable energy economy. Mike is the best choice to bring Maine people together and get things done about the environment and other critical issues. I hope voters will join me in supporting Mike, who will be a governor we can all be proud of, no matter our party.
Roger Berle is a Republican, a former businessman and the vice president of the board of Maine Conservation Voters. He has spent decades serving causes aimed at conserving land, water, trails and Maine’s island communities. He lives in Falmouth and on Cliff Island.