Environmental group gives Rep. MacDonald top score

September 13, 2011

AUGUSTA— The non-partisan Maine Conservation Voters (MCV) gave Rep. Bruce MacDonald, D-Boothbay, a score of four out of four for his votes to protect the environment and invest in clean energy during the first session of the 125th Legislature.

MacDonald has a lifetime score of 95 percent from the MCV reflecting his record of supporting Maine’s natural resource based industries and healthy environmental standards over the past five years as a state legislator. Rep. MacDonald and Sen. Seth Goodall were the only members of the Lincoln County delegation to receive positive scores from the MCV.

“This was the first year in my legislative career in which radical anti-environmental proposals had any chance of passing,” said MacDonald. “Luckily the people of Maine made their voices heard loud and clear on most of these issues and helped convince enough moderate Republicans to join Democrats in defeating some of them. Unfortunately we still took some backwards steps in terms of energy policy, protecting our waters, and the opportunity to improve the Land Use Regulation Commission.”

Legislators were graded on their votes regarding energy efficiency, clean water, children’s health, wildlife and the North Woods. The Maine Conservation Voters 2011 scorecard measured votes on some of the most significant environmental issues passed this year:

• Children’s Health: LD 412 voting to ban the toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in food and beverage containers, like baby bottles and sippy cups;
• Children’s Health: LD 228 voting against the repeal of Maine’s pesticide spraying notification law;
• Energy Efficiency: LD 1416 voting against weakening the statewide uniform building and energy efficiency code;
• North Woods: LD 1534 voting against establishing a biased study committee to eliminate the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC), the state agency charged with conserving Maine’s vast North Woods.

In past years, MCV scorecards have been used to showcase votes that furthered protections for Maine’s environment, which is central to the state’s economic brand. This year, the scorecard evaluated votes against an anti-environment agenda advanced by certain Republican lawmakers and Governor Paul LePage.

View the full scorecard on the web site for