Environment

Protecting the environmental quality of Maine's land, water and air is important to preserving the Maine way of life and building a sustainable Maine economy. We must be the stewards of these resources and turn them over to our children in as good or better condition than when we received them to preserve Maine's quality of life for the future. My vision emphasizes building and maintaining green infrastructure so our people and visitors can have access to and enjoy the special places in Maine, and focusing on key economic sectors encompassing our environment. Investing in a clean environment is critical to the well-being of our people.

We have reduced pollutants through
- Mercury reduction laws, moving Maine closer to eliminating man-made sources of mercury emissions.
- Launching the nation's first electronics recycling program as a manufacturer responsibility.
- Leading a Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and established a plan to reduce emissions in the state. Maine became the second state to adopt a full Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- We have protected some of our most significant wildlife areas from development including waterfowl, wading bird and shorebird habitat and significant vernal pools where amphibians breed.
We have protected natural resources by
- Adding Katahdin Lake to Baxter State Park, completing Governor Percival Baxter's vision.
- Substantially eliminating liquidation harvesting (clear-cutting) from Maine's forests.
- Completing conservation projects involving more than 765,000 acres of Maine's forestlands, mountains, coastlands, wildlife habitats, and recreational areas.
- Becoming the national leader in independent third party certification of the woodlands and mills that process forest products that demonstrates the management of Maine's working forests meets sustainable standards.

AGENCY INFORMATION

Environment