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Maine House Majority Leader encourages young people to take an active part in politics
May 21, 2008
AUGUSTA – One day after headlining a national news story on CBS about her work to eliminate toxic flame retardants that are potentially dangerous to Maine children from household products, Maine House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree was featured in a video on a Web site hosted by national cable channel MTV.
The Web site, Think MTV, was established by the music and entertainment network in order to encourage young people to get involved with politics, volunteer and learn about important national issues of the day. The site contains links to issue pages about the environment, human rights, politics, war and peace, and poverty, among others.
Jamie McLeod, a freelance reporter who covers Maine issues for the site, first visited Pingree at the State House in January to follow her around during meetings and the legislative session. She returned in May, after the legislature had finished its business for the year, to interview the Majority Leader on the importance of young people taking an active role in politics.
“State Rep. Hannah Pingree is one of Maine’s most prominent young leaders,” the video begins, showing footage of Pingree in the House Chamber. Most of the video features Pingree describing her own experiences of running for office and serving as the a young political leader.
In the video, Pingree, 31, said that she feels young people are generally disenfranchised with the political process and do not have their voices heard, so they are left with two options: to walk away altogether and take no part in politics, or to get involved with a friend’s election or run themselves and try to change the process.
“I ran for office when I was 24. I’ve been in office for six years. People have taken me seriously, and I’ve figured out how to work the process,” she said. “I’ve been able to work on all kinds of issues I care about. Environmental issues, health care, expanding access to health care for young people, getting rid of toxic chemicals in the environment, representing the fishing communities I grew up in, working for affordable housing.”
“I’ve been able to do a number of things in my job as a legislator that have made it feel like it’s worthwhile,” she said.
Pingree talks about her first time running for the legislature in the video, and said that people living on rural Maine islands and coastal communities were thrilled to see a young person running for office during her campaign. “In rural Maine, in small towns, they’re dying for young people to get involved,” she said.
As the second youngest person to ever hold the post of majority leader - and the youngest woman - in Maine history, Pingree has already established herself as a national leader on a number of issues relating to health and the environment. She sponsored successful legislation during her first legislative term in 2004 to ban the use of octa-BDE and penta-BDE flame retardants in Maine households, which have proven negative health impacts on humans and the environment, and replace them with newer and safer alternatives. Last year she sponsored a bill to ban deca-BDE, the last of the PBDE category of flame retardants on the market, from household products after years of testing proved the same harmful impacts on children and the environment. At least six other states have since moved toward bans.
She followed up that bill this year with a new law that expands the concept behind the deca bill to other harmful chemicals, establishing a regular process for the State’s Department of Environmental Protection and Center for Disease Control to identify, test and eventually replace toxic chemicals that come in regular contact with children.
She has also sponsored a number of successful bills to encourage renewable energy, particularly on offshore islands; to increase access to broadband internet in rural Maine communities; and to expand access to affordable health care through the state’s public-private partnership program.
To view the MTV video, visit
Contact:
Travis Kennedy, Communications Director, 287-1433