cutler's energy and environment press packet

PO BOX 17766 PORTLAND, MAINE 04112 207.358.7000 AUTHORIZED BY THE CANDIDATE AND PAID FOR BY CUTLER FOR MAINE

When Eliot helped Senator Ed Muskie craft the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts,

Muskie emphasized that Maine need not sacrifice jobs for a clean and healthy

environment. He taught us that we don’t need to choose between payrolls and pickerel.

That's still sound thinking.

Maine is a place of unrivaled natural beauty. Our state also can be a place of

boundless opportunity – but only if we protect our environment, minimize environmental

threats to the health of our citizens, and build our renewable energy generation portfolio.

New energy solutions can help meet our economic goals and protect the

environment. If we capitalize on this opportunity, extending Ed Muskie’s legacy, we can

once again make Maine a great place to live and a great place to make a living.

Imagine a different and better approach to governing. Imagine a state where

government’s decisions are made based on evidence, not ideology. Imagine a state where

dramatic advances in science complement Maine’s natural competitive advantages.

Imagine a state that emerges as a magnet for the best new businesses, the most

innovative and skilled employees and the finest cutting-edge manufacturers—while

conserving and sustaining the natural environment we cherish.

This is the moment for Maine.

Here’s how the Cutler Administration will pursue these extraordinary

opportunities:


I. REBUILD THE DEP TO MEET TODAY’S ENVIRONMENTAL

CHALLENGES

The Cutler Administration will rebuild and strengthen Maine’s Department of

Environmental Protection (DEP), restoring its integrity and funding and providing the

department with the staffing levels, competence, expertise and leadership that it needs to

discharge its responsibilities. We will modernize an often-cumbersome review process,

improve the predictability of environmental regulation in Maine, and encourage more

environmentally sound development and investment in Maine by transforming the citizen

Board of Environmental Protection into a professional, adequately staffed, three-judge

court of first-stage appellate review.

As Associate Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Eliot

led the effort to restore funding and personnel to the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency after it was weakened dramatically during the Nixon and Ford Administrations,

and he will apply those skills in the similar circumstances now apparent at the Maine DEP.

Moreover, because Eliot is an independent, he will be able to select the most

qualified individuals for key positions of responsibility, regardless of political

affiliation. He will find the most qualified people to lead the DEP, and he will support them

in their work to protect Maine’s public health and environment.

Among the priorities for the Cutler Administration’s DEP will be these:

• Implement Maine’s Kids Safe Products Act, which was adopted with bipartisan

support in 2008, but has been stalled in its implementation by the LePage

Administration.

• Promulgate mining regulations that strengthen the Aroostook County economy while protecting the County’s water and land resources through rules that will

permit minerals extraction by mining companies that make enforceable, long-term

commitments to protecting Maine’s environment.

• Increase protection of inland waterways and lakes through oversight of municipal

water systems, attention to problematic stormwater runoff, and support for local

associations that safeguard the quality of our lakes.


• Assist Maine’s towns and cities in coming to grips with the monumental financial

challenges of rebuilding or replacing aging sewer systems, separating sanitary and

storm sewers, building new treatment works and dealing with urban and rural

runoff.

• Defend and enforce federal regulations that protect Maine from upwind emissions

of greenhouse gases, ozone precursors, particulates and toxics.

II. REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS FROM TRANSPORTATION

Climate change is real, and human activity is its chief cause. The greatest

environmental challenge of our time, global warming portends massive effects on our

public health and our way of life. The next governor of Maine needs to acknowledge the

facts about climate change and lead Maine people to limit and mitigate its impacts.

Maine’s economy – including our Gulf of Maine fisheries, forest products, farms

and four-season tourism – depends on the quality of our water, our coastal resources and

communities, our wildlife habitats and our infrastructure. All these resources are

threatened by rising sea levels, rising water temperatures, ocean acidification and

changes to our habit including our flora and fauna.

Maine’s transportation sector is our largest single source of both liquid fuels

consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, so powering cars and trucks with lower-

carbon alternatives such as electricity from solar or other renewable energy sources

sustainably-produced biofuels and other clean fuels will preserve our health, clean our

environment and strengthen our economy. By being vigilant and forward-looking, state

leaders can protect the region from dirtier fuels and put us on a more sustainable path.

By taking the following steps, the Cutler Administration will place at the top of its

environmental agenda the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions – both in Maine and in

neighboring states and provinces:

• Develop in cooperation with northeast states and Canadian provinces a regional

Clean Fuels Standard and market-based incentives to gradually reduce the carbon

intensity of transportation fuel use and resulting carbon emissions.


• Join the multi-state effort to increase the number of zero-emission vehicles to 15%

of all new cars sold by 2025, develop shared standards for electric charging

stations, and shape new policies that will make it easier to build and use charging

stations.

• Procure increased numbers of energy-efficient state fleet vehicles.

• Encourage more efficient forms of transportation – including rail, buses,

carpooling, commuter lanes, and bicycling and sidewalks –where it is cost-effective

to do so.

• Collaborate with Maine communities to better coordinate state transportation

policies and local landscape and zoning policies in order to combat sprawl, which

contributes to increased carbon emissions, drives up the cost of public services,

weakens communities and makes our state a less attractive destination for visitors.

III. DEVELOP RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

Reducing Maine’s dependence on fossil fuels and reducing energy costs are critical

goals for Maine’s future. Towards these goals, the Cutler Administration will:

• Re-double Maine’s efforts at conservation and energy efficiency, starting with a

comprehensive review of existing programs and incentives, including smart grid

technologies, new rate structure designs and diversified energy sources for Maine

homes and businesses.

• Consider new incentives that can spur development of energy storage

technologies and distributed energy generation from onshore and offshore wind,

biomass, biofuels, geothermal, tidal and solar resources.

• Support regional efforts for investment in increased pipeline capacity for to

deliver natural gas to Maine and the rest of New England.


• Jumpstart the introduction of natural gas into more Maine communities as a lower

cost bridge fuel between higher carbon fossil fuels and cleaner renewable energy

sources, helping more Maine communities attract and maintain employers.

IV. CREATE THE MAINE ENERGY FINANCE AUTHORITY

Maine should make sound public investments in the energy sector in order to both

restore economic activity across Maine and spur the wider development of renewable,

distributed generation.

The Cutler Administration will establish the Maine Energy Finance Authority (MEFA)

within the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) – not in a separate new bureaucracy – to

provide low-cost capital for 21st-century energy projects that promise to make energy

more affordable for citizens and businesses.

Through low-interest, tax-exempt financing and public-private partnerships, MEFA

will encourage investment in renewable energy resources and help construct needed

energy infrastructure, including expanded natural gas pipeline capacity for industrial and

commercial users and communities in Maine.

In circumstances where high energy prices might discourage a company from locating

in Maine or increasing existing activity and employment, MEFA financing or contracting

will be able to facilitate investments in cost-effective distributed generation or

cogeneration options at large industrial or commercial facilities. This could hasten the

development or expansion of a lumber mill or wood products manufacturer in Penobscot

County or a high-tech manufacturing facility in Cumberland County. In communities

where access to a lower-cost energy source, such as natural gas, could transform the

region’s economic prospects, MEFA will be able to finance or co-finance energy

infrastructure improvements that target job growth.

V. MAKE GOVERNMENT WORK BETTER

Innovation and investment in Maine’s energy infrastructure needs to be supported

by a fair, predictable and efficient regulatory process that will help move this agenda

forward while meeting our tough environmental standards.


As Maine people and businesses invest in new technologies that will save energy,

reduce emissions and create jobs, the last thing we should do is put unnecessary

roadblocks and delays in their way. The rules need to be clear, and state regulators and

inspectors must have the knowledge and training to make informed and timely decisions.

The Cutler Administration will make government a reliable partner in our efforts to

improve Maine’s energy infrastructure, reduce our carbon emissions and maintain our

precious environment. Here are some of the measures we will take to do that:

• Undertake a comprehensive study to identify the most serious long-term risks

posed to Maine residents, communities and businesses by climate change, develop

a statewide plan to mitigate those risks and to take advantage of any opportunities

for Maine—such as increased use of our ports—that will emerge as a result of

climate change.

• Eliminate or modify regulations that cause unnecessary costs, delays and

uncertainties and deter investment in clean, cost-effective energy projects.

• Implement a Dig Once policy requiring the Public Utilities Commission and the

Department of Transportation to consider whether road or utility construction

affords an opportunity to bury conduits for services such as fiber optic cables,

permitting us to meet our transportation, communications, and energy challenges

more efficiently and cost effectively.

• Put in place a new Buy Once policy requiring that whenever the State of Maine

purchases certain categories of goods or services, the vendor will make the same

price for the same goods or services available within a reasonable period of time to

any unit of local government in the state that also wants to purchase the same

goods and services. Better leveraging the state’s buying power, particularly in

cases where the costs of new technologies remain relatively high, will help drive

down costs and expand access to those technologies.


VI. MAKE PLANS THAT LEVERAGE MAINE’S NATURAL ASSETS

To pay for all the things we want and need to do in Maine – protect our natural

resources, maintain our parks and recreation areas, invest in education, develop new

energy sources – we must have economic growth that is fully consistent with our

environmental goals. Indeed, Maine’s most important competitive advantages are our

magnificent natural resources. That’s Ed Muskie’s most enduring legacy: Good jobs and

the extraordinary quality of Maine’s natural environment can and must coexist.

Maine is one interdependent community, with merely 1,300,000 of us responsible

for a vast piece of extraordinary real estate. If opportunities aren’t available for people of

all ages in all parts of Maine, the entire Maine community will suffer. A fundamental

responsibility of Maine’s next governor will be accelerating economic activity in Maine

counties where it has lagged for decades, where prosperity has vanished and towns have

lost population.

Certain traditional industries in Maine – papermaking is a good example – should

continue to add value to our natural resources and generate exports for our economy and

incomes for Maine citizens, but as more and more sophisticated technology is introduced

and as productivity increases, employment will never again reach earlier levels.

Yet, these daunting challenges often hide great opportunities. The very same

resources that have sustained and supported many of Maine’s traditional industries – the

North Woods, our rivers and the Gulf of Maine, the western mountains, and our arable

lands and abundant water supplies – also sustain and support Maine’s dominant tourist

economy and can fuel new economic growth in that sector and others.

The Katahdin Region is a perfect example of a place where boundless prospects hide

behind the challenges facing the Region’s traditional economy. In recent decades the

Region has suffered from dramatic job loss, industrial flight and a precipitous decline in

homeowner property values. Stearns High School in Millinocket, the Magic City, once was

a Class A basketball powerhouse that won the New England championship; Stearns teams

today compete in Class D. Yet, nowhere in Maine do the potential benefits of renewable

energy and the rich promise of a flourishing natural environment come together with

more possibility and potential than here.


As governor, Eliot has promised to personally apply his own skills and experience in

the Katahdin Region to assist area residents and communities in crafting an economic

development plan that capitalizes on the Region’s natural riches, while protecting and

celebrating its recreational wonders; that harnesses available low-cost energy from the

hydroelectric dams on the mighty Penobscot River to spark new centers of manufacturing

and new economic activity; and that advances the Region’s enormous tourism and

recreational potential through branded development, including a possible new state or

national park and recreation area.

In the Katahdin Region and throughout the State of Maine we need to stop looking

for our future in the rearview mirror. Challenges and opportunities that mirror those

found in the Katahdin Region exist throughout rural Maine. With an open mind, a

willingness to innovate, and with our gaze fixed on the road ahead, the Cutler

Administration will lead Mainers in efforts to balance preservation and use, to protect

Maine’s natural resources and to harness Maine’s competitive advantages in pursuit of a

more prosperous future.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:

Crystal Canney

Cutler for Maine

[email protected]

www.cutlerformaine.com

207-615-5968

Embargoed until 11:00am May 06, 2014

CUTLER TALKS ENERGY AND THE ENVIORNMENT

(Bangor, Maine) -- Independent for Governor Eliot Cutler rolled out his latest in a series of major

policy initiatives this morning, outlining his proposals for energy and the environment on the banks of

the Penobscot River.

Cutler who worked hand in hand with Senator Edmund Muskie on the Clean Water and Clean Air

Acts said, "Our state has boundless opportunity - but only if we protect its natural beauty, minimize

environmental threats to the health of our citizens, and build our renewable energy generation

portfolio. If we extend Ed Muskie's legacy, we can once again make Maine a great place to live and a

great place to make a living."

Cutler said he would rebuild and strengthen Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP),

' but also that the regulatory process must be fair, predictable and efficient.

“As Maine people and businesses invest in new technologies that will save energy, reduce emissions

and create jobs, the last thing we should do is put unnecessary roadblocks in their way,” he said. “The

rules need to be clear, and state regulators and inspectors must have the knowledge and training to

make informed and timely decisions.”

Other initiatives include creating a Maine Energy Finance Authority which would provide low-cost

capital for 21st century energy projects that promise to make energy more affordable for citizens and

businesses. Cutler said, "In cases where high energy prices might discourage or prevent a company

from locating in Maine or increasing activity and employment, this financing opportunity could hasten

the development or expansion for a number of businesses allowing businesses to expand and add

jobs."

Among Eliot's Environmental & Energy priorities:

1. Rebuilding the DEP to meet today's environmental challenges

2. Reduce carbon emissions from transportation

3. Develop renewable energy sources

4. Create a Maine Energy Finance Authority

5. Make government work better

6. Leverage Maine's natural assets

(Details for each of these areas are included in the policy statement)

*Details around each of the priorities are included in the press kit.

####


Energy & the Environment Eliot’s Remarks

Bangor, May 6th, 2014

This is the right place for me to release the latest in our series of policy initiatives, the one

focusing on Energy and the Environment, because it’s home.

As a young man in my 20s, I was privileged to work with Maine Senator Ed Muskie on two

of this nation’s foundational environmental laws, the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

As we worked to craft the Clean Water Act and get it passed, we knew that we were doing

something important for America, but also something good for Maine. Senator Muskie grew up in

Rumford, on the Androscoggin River; I grew up here on the Penobscot, and I remember when the

first salmon caught in the Bangor Salmon Pool was presented with great ceremony to the

President of the United States.

Our environmental laws stand as a testament to Ed Muskie’s foresight, courage and

perseverance, but among his most enduring legacies here in Maine is his insistence that we need

not sacrifice jobs for a clean and healthy environment, that we don’t need to choose between

payrolls and pickerel.

Maine can be a place of boundless opportunity – but only if we both protect and capitalize

on our state’s natural beauty, minimize environmental threats to the health of our citizens, and

build our renewable energy generation portfolio.

We can extend Ed Muskie’s legacy and once again make Maine a great place to live and a

great place to make a living.

Here are some of the ways my Administration will pursue these extraordinary

opportunities:


FIRST, we will rebuild and strengthen Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection

(DEP), restoring its integrity and funding and providing the department with the staffing levels,

competence, expertise and leadership that it needs to discharge its responsibilities. As an

independent, I will be able to select the most qualified individuals for key positions of

responsibility, regardless of political affiliation, and support them in their work to protect Maine’s

public health and environment.

SECOND, we will reduce carbon emissions from transportation. Maine’s transportation

sector is our largest single source of both liquid fuels consumption and greenhouse gas emissions,

so powering cars and trucks with lower-carbon alternatives such as cleaner conventional fuels,

electricity from solar or other renewable energy sources and sustainably produced biofuels will

preserve our health, protect our environment and strengthen our economy.

THIRD, we will develop renewable energy sources. Reducing Maine’s dependence on

fossil fuels and reducing energy costs are critical goals for Maine’s future. That is why my

Administration will re-double Maine’s efforts at conservation and energy efficiency, get more

natural gas into Maine towns and cities and spur development of energy storage technologies and

distributed energy generation from onshore and offshore wind, biomass, biofuels, geothermal,

tidal and solar resources.

FOURTH, we will create a Maine Energy Finance Authority. Maine should be making

sound public investments in the energy sector in order to both restore economic activity across

Maine and spur the wider development of renewable, distributed generation.

FIFTH, we will make government work better and reform the regulatory process. If we are

going to promote private sector innovation and investment in Maine’s energy, then a fair,

predictable and efficient regulatory process must support those efforts.

FINALLY, we will leverage Maine’s natural assets.

To pay for all the things we want and need to do in Maine – protect our natural resources,

maintain our parks and recreation areas, invest in education, develop new energy sources – we

must have economic growth that is fully consistent with our environmental goals.


A fundamental responsibility of Maine’s next governor will be accelerating economic

activity in Maine counties where it has lagged for decades, where prosperity has vanished and

towns have lost population.

The very same resources that have sustained and supported many of Maine’s traditional

industries – the North Woods, our rivers and the Gulf of Maine, the western mountains, and our

arable lands and abundant water supplies – also sustain and support Maine’s dominant tourist

economy and can fuel new economic growth in that sector and others.

The Katahdin Region is a perfect example of a place where boundless prospects hide

behind the challenges facing the Region’s traditional economy. In recent decades the Katahdin

Region has suffered from dramatic job loss, industrial flight and a precipitous decline in

homeowner property values. I remember when Stearns High School in Millinocket – the Magic

City –was a Class A basketball powerhouse that won the New England championship; Stearns

teams today compete in Class D.

Nothing would make me happier than seeing the Cate Street folks keep their promises to

the taxpayers of Maine and to the people of the Katahdin Region. I have my fingers crossed.

I hope that they restart the mill in East Millinocket and develop the Thermogen project in

Millinocket, putting hundreds of good people back to work.

I hope that they make good on their debts and pay the millions of dollars in overdue

property taxes to the Towns of Millinocket and East Millinocket, and that they pay the many, many

thousands of dollars that they owe to vendors in the area.

I have my fingers crossed, but I also am deeply worried.

Even in the best case, the people of the Katahdin Region deserve more than a recovered

employment base; they deserve a truly growing economy. And the elected officials who have

brought Cate Street to Maine had better have a Plan B in place if their hopes and mine are dashed.

Nowhere in Maine do the potential benefits of renewable energy and the rich promise of a

flourishing natural environment come together with more possibility and potential than in the

Katahdin Region.


When I was in Millinocket last month, I promised the people of the Katahdin Region that

when I am governor I will personally apply my skills and experience to help the Region, and I will

start doing that the first week I am in office.

Together with the people and communities of the Katahdin Region, we will craft an

economic development plan that capitalizes on the area’s natural riches, while protecting and

celebrating its recreational wonders; that harnesses available low-cost energy from the

hydroelectric dams on the mighty Penobscot River to spark new centers of manufacturing and

new economic activity; and that advances the Region’s enormous tourism and recreational

potential through branded development, including the possibility of a new state or national park

and recreation area.

Challenges and opportunities that mirror those found in the Katahdin Region exist

throughout rural Maine. In the Katahdin Region and throughout the State of Maine we need to

stop looking for our future in the rearview mirror.

With an open mind, a willingness to innovate, and with our gaze fixed on the road ahead,

the Cutler Administration will lead Mainers in efforts to balance preservation and use, to protect

Maine’s natural resources and to harness Maine’s competitive advantages in pursuit of a more

prosperous future.

Op-Ed: Sen. Ed Muskie believed in Eliot Cutler. Youshould, too

cutlerformaine.com /oped_muskie

By Edmund S. Muskie Jr.

On the 100th anniversary of his birth, I ask you to remember what my f ather stood f or and what heaccomplished. Examine the records of all the candidates f or governor this year. Only one measuresup to the leadership standards Dad set, and that’s Eliot Cutler.

My f ather would have turned 100 years old this week. He has been gone f or 18 years now, but hisplace in Maine and America as a leader and statesman is as secure as ever. I am proud to bear hisname and proud that his centennial has sparked a renewed appreciation f or all that he accomplished.

Of course, no one accomplishes all the things my f ather did without the help and support of othertalented people. Sen. Ed Muskie had many trusted aides and advisors over the years, outstandingpeople like George Mitchell, Don Nicoll, Leon Billings and Eliot Cutler. I know that he would be pleasedthat Eliot, a person f or whom he had the greatest respect, is seeking to be Maine’s governor.

I have known Eliot all my lif e. He worked side by side with my f ather on two of the most importantlaws in our nation’s recent history — the landmark Clean Air and Clean Water acts. These laws havehad f ar-reaching impacts on all of our lives, protecting public health and the quality of our naturalenvironment.

Beyond his work on the Clean Air and Clean Water acts, Eliot’s environmental record over his entirelif e and career has been exemplary. My f ather recommended to President Jimmy Carter that heappoint Eliot to be associate director of the White House Of f ice of Management and Budgetbecause Dad trusted Eliot’s environmental commitment and believed in his leadership abilit ies.

At the agency, Eliot oversaw policies and billion-dollar budgets f or the nation’s principal naturalresources, environmental, energy and science agencies, strengthening the Environmental ProtectionAgency, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlif e Service and the Forest Service.

Eliot went on to establish what became the nation’s second largest environmental law f irm, where hef orced the f ederal government to clean up nuclear waste, lent his f irm’s expertise at no charge toreopening the Kennebec River to f ish running upstream to spawn and f igured out environmentallysound ways to build desperately needed new roads and airports in state af ter state around thecountry.

As many people in Maine can still recall, my f ather was never shy about saying what he believed, andblind partisan loyalty was never his path. Were he alive today, I believe he would proudly support Eliotf or governor.

For purely partisan reasons, some environmental groups have decided to support Michael Michaud,the Democratic Party candidate f or governor this year, not because of his environmental record butrather in spite of it.

They are supporting a candidate who voted to eliminate f ood saf ety warnings, f or continued

http://www.cutlerformaine.com/oped_muskie

taxpayer subsidies f or the oil industry, and against a “right to know” law that enables the public tof ind out about hazardous substances in their community. They are standing behind someone whoserecord over two decades in the Maine Legislature was so abysmal, according to the Maine League ofConservation Voters, that he voted right on environmental issues barely half the time. My f atherwould be amazed and distressed.

On the 100th anniversary of his birth, I ask you to remember what my f ather stood f or and what heaccomplished. Examine the records of all the candidates f or governor this year. Only one measuresup to the leadership standards Dad set, and that’s Eliot Cutler.

Sen. Muskie believed in Eliot. So do I, and so should you.

Bangor Daily News, 3/27/14

Hoddy Hildreth: Eliot Cutler is only candidate forgovernor with deep environmental ties

cutlerformaine.com /eliot_cutler_is_only_candidate_f or_governor_with_deep_environmental_ties

By Hoddy Hildreth

”...[Eliot Cutler] remains guided by Muskie’s legacy that not only can we have both jobs and a healthyenvironment, but that, in f act, we must have both."

FULL LETTER (via Bangor Daily News):

I am supporting independent Eliot Cutler in the race to be Maine’s next governor because he is theonly one of the three announced candidates with deep environmental t ies and the in-depthexperience to be ef f ective. While lacking the legislative record of a prof essional polit ician, f or f ourdecades he has consistently demonstrated leadership and independence on a whole range ofenvironmental issues.

Cutler ’s career began with Ed Muskie and work on creating the landmark Clean Air and Clean WaterActs to clean the dirty rivers and air they both grew up with here in Maine. He understands that“pickerels vs. payrolls” was a f alse choice, and he remains guided by Muskie’s legacy that not onlycan we have both jobs and a healthy environment, but that, in f act, we must have both.

On Muskie’s recommendation, Cutler moved on to the executive branch, where he was responsiblef or supervising the policies and budgets f or the nation’s natural resource agencies — thedepartments of interior, agriculture, and energy; the Environmental Protection Agency; the NationalPark Service and the Forest Service.

His work in restoring key agencies such as the National Park Service, the Forest Service and EPA tohealthy budget and personnel levels af ter their resources had been slashed by the NixonAdministration will serve him well in restoring the budgets and personnel levels of Maine’s naturalresource agencies that have been slashed by the LePage administration over the last three years.

He helped to build America’s f irst renewable and energy conservation programs, managed theprocess to classif y the Alaska public lands as national parks, national f orests and wilderness areas,and undertook other init iatives to sustain and protect America’s natural resources. Again, workexperience directly related to crit ical issues that Maine will f ace in the next decade with respect to ournatural resources.

In the private sector, Cutler f ounded a very successf ul law f irm and personally represented scores ofcit ies, counties and states in disputes and disagreements over big inf rastructure projects likeairports and highways. He worked f or solutions that were both environmentally and economicallysound.

His law f irm was also committed to giving back to the community, including providing pro bono legalservices that led to the removal of the Edwards Dam f rom the Kennebec River, the f irst successf uldam removal case in the United States. In short, Cutler has experience and a demonstrable record ofaccomplishment on the environment unmatched by any other candidate in this race. Cutler is no “tree

http://www.cutlerformaine.com/eliot_cutler_is_only_candidate_for_governor_with_deep_environmental_ties

hugger” but a pragmatic problem solver.

It is clear is that Gov. Paul LePage has a terrible environmental record, and the environmentalcommunity should be united in the ef f ort to limit him to one term. It is also clear that Democraticcandidate Mike Michaud is a nice guy. But that’s not nearly enough to make him the best candidate f orgovernor. And as f ar as environmental records go, Michaud’s actions when he was a Maine legislatorare nothing to crow about. According to the Maine Conservation Voters, which keeps track of suchthings, Michaud voted f or the environment on important issues only 55 percent of the time during the15 years he was in the Maine Legislature. This is a f ailing grade by any measure.

In spite of this record, one environmental group has already endorsed Michaud, and others aref eeling pressured to make an endorsement now, even though there is nearly a year to go bef ore theelection. This would be a mistake. The public has heard very litt le f rom either Michaud or Cutler ontheir posit ions on current environmental issues, f ar too litt le on which to base a thoughtf ulendorsement. If environmental groups are going to choose between Cutler and Michaud onenvironmental grounds, rather than on partisan polit ical grounds, the choice is pretty clear.

It is also clear that a split vote resulting in another LePage victory where less than 40 percent ofMaine votes f or him must be avoided. But that does not mean that Maine’s environmental communityshould make endorsements on a hunch rather than a thorough examination af ter hearing f rom andseeing the candidates in action. Rather, they should be f ocused on using their polit ical muscle toteach the value of Maine’s environment and work to get the best candidate elected rather than givingup and settling f or second best a year bef ore the election.

Horace “Hoddy” Hildreth Jr. of Falmouth is the former president and chairman of DiversifiedCommunications and has served on a number of non-profit boards, including Maine ConservationVoters, Maine Audubon Society, College of the Atlantic, Maine Outdoor Heritage Trust, The NatureConservancy, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, the Maine Community Foundation and the DavisConservation Foundation. He currently serves on the board of The Island Institute.

cutler's energy and environment press packet

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