2014 Maine Governor's race: on Environment

Paul LePage: Abstain from EPA petition to cut Midwest emissions

Governors in eight stats--including every New England state except Maine--have asked the US EPA to force states in the Midwest and South to reduce ozone-forming power plant emissions.

The LePage administration said Maine joined two other Ozone Protection Zone states--PA & NY--in abstaining from the petition, in part because Maine's air is already clean enough to meet federal standards: "Maine is in attainment with federal air standards and the largest source of impacts to Maine's air is actually from mobile sources, not stationary ones. DEP has strong reasons to believe that future state and federal pollution requirements will mean further overall emission reductions from mobile and stationary sources, and that the state will continue to meet the federal air standards."

Mike Michaud: AdWatch: Replace LePage with a pro-environment governor

The group had already said there's one candidate who's been stricken from their list: Gov. Paul LePage. That left either Michaud or independent Eliot Cutler. A spokesman says the environmental group is devoting all of its resources to replacing LePage with "a pro-environment governor."

Eliot Cutler: More bus services, dedicated HOV lanes, and bike routes

A: Our transportation goal should be moving more people and more goods at lower costs and with fewer environmental impacts. New bus services, dedicated lanes for high-occupancy vehicles and buses, bike routes, and sidewalks along existing roads can typically all be obtained for less than 1/10 of the cost of a typical road widening. The last decade has brought exciting success stories for rail transportation in Maine, notably the intermodal facility in Auburn and the return of passenger rail service to Maine. State investments in new or expanded transportation systems--whether roads, passenger or freight rail, buses or other modes--need to meet a cost-effectiveness test and need to be compared with alternatives where the analysis takes into account not only the economic costs and benefits of the alternatives, but also the environmental costs and benefits.

Paul LePage: Change environmental laws to replace red tape with jobs

LePage's proposals are based on a series of "red tape workshops" that the administration is holding with chambers of commerce to identify government rules that may dampen the state's business climate. "Job creation and investment opportunities are being lost because we do not have a fair balance between our economic interests and the need to protect the environment," LePage said in a written statement accompanying the list.

Paul LePage: Stop manufacturer recycling; start cost-benefit analyses