Top Environmental group gives local reps high marks

September 16, 2011

AUGUSTA - The non-partisan Maine Conservation Voters (MCV) gave local representatives from the Maine House top marks for their votes to protect the environment and invest in clean energy this year.

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 primarily evaluated votes against an anti-environment agenda advanced by certain Republican lawmakers and Governor Paul LePage.

“We worked to moderate the most extreme proposals to rollback environmental protections,” said Rep. Tom Longstaff, D-Waterville. “We balanced the needs of business to find solutions that won’t harm our environment.”

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.

“Rather than focusing on how to create jobs, we had a governor who wanted to put toxic chemicals in sippy cups and right wing Republicans who wanted to allow billboards on our public roads,” said Rep. Henry Beck, D-Waterville. “For the first time in decades we were blocking bad environmental policies instead of working to protect the natural resources our economy depends on.”

View the full scorecard on the web site for Maine Conservation Voters.

Contact:

Jodi Quintero [Beck, Longstaff] - 287-1488, c. 841-6279