Survey of Gubernatorial campaign websites, 2010-2011: on Environment

Henry McMaster: Protect marsh islands from illegal encroachment

John Hickenlooper: Water policy: Collaboration, Conservation and Capacity

We need to understand that water is critically important to every part of the state. We must continue to develop processes that allow resolution of the many conflicts over water that exist across the state, bringing individuals, communities, businesses, organizations together to work out comprehensive solutions.

Andrew Cuomo: Greater focus on environmental justice

• Ensure that, as the State's fiscal position improves, the Environmental Protection Fund ("EPF")--a dedicated fund to protect the environment and enhance our communities--will again be used only for the purpose for which it was created;
• Order greater focus on environmental justice to identify adverse human health effects on racial and ethnic minority and low-income populations and to develop strategies to eliminate practices, which have a disproportionate impact on such groups.

Charlie Baker: Protect & preserve natural resources for future generations

Dan Malloy: Invest in clean water projects to clean up Long Island Sound

As governor I will:
• Work with environmental experts to find innovative ways to reduce the pollution, toxins and chemicals flowing into Long Island Sound. I will make investing in clean water projects such as sewage treatment plant upgrades a priority.
• Engage municipalities in the fight against water pollution by incentivizing green infrastructure like permeable pavers, vegetated swales, and greening of public areas to prevent runoff from reaching the storm system.
• Ensure that DEP has the resources and support it needs to seek out polluters and hold them accountable for fouling the waterways and harming marine life.
• Encourage homeowners and businesses around the state to adopt greener and cleaner habits including discouraging residential dumping and encouraging rain barrels, rain gardens, green roofs, and other mechanisms for slowing storm water or preventing it from reaching the system altogether.

Jill Stein: $200M for 50,000 green jobs: address both supply demand

• Jobs in energy efficiency--like retrofitting homes
• Jobs in local sustainable agriculture
• Recycling workers
• Construction workers to build renewable energy infrastructure & public transportation infrastructure

Kay Ivey: Tax credits for landowners who replant cut trees

According to the EPA, Alabama's air is much cleaner than it was 30 years ago. So is our water: 97% of our rivers and streams are clean, as are 84% of our lakes. Alabama is also blessed to have some of the largest areas of forest in the nation. And most of this land--almost 75% of it--is owned by private, non-industrial owners who use it for camping and hunting.

Surprisingly, most of the progress Alabama has made in being a cleaner state came way before the federal government decided it was a problem. Rather than rely on a slow-moving state or federal bureaucracy to tell us when our air, water, or land is in trouble, we need to encourage public-private partnerships that would reward responsible landowners for keeping their land pristine. Tax credits for landowners who replant trees when they are cut would be a good start.

Kay Ivey: No water commissions with onerous regulations & litigation

We do not need to establish commissions and departments which would create excessive, onerous regulations. We need to avoid the potential for more litigation which would clog our overburdened courts. We must guard against creating financial obligations that the state can't adequately fund. And, I'm ever mindful that without proper rules and accountability in place, governmental regulatory bodies invite the potential for corruption.