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2014 Gubernatorial Candidate Questionnaire

You have communicated to my campaign that your endorsement will not be based
solely on your organizations principles, so I do not wish to be considered for
Environment Maines endorsement.
Nonetheless, the questions you have asked in your survey involve important issues
that I care deeply about, and I hope that you will forward my answers to your
entire membership.

1. What do you see as the most pressing environmental issues facing Maine?

Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge of our time. Climate change
portends massive and adverse effects on our public health and our way of life, and
the next governor of Maine must exercise strong and informed leadership in limiting
and mitigating those impacts. A good starting point will be to acknowledge the
following facts about climate change:

Climate change is real.

Human activity is chiefly responsible for it.

Maines economy and quality of life including Gulf of Maine fisheries,
forest products, farms and four-season tourism depend on the quality of
our water, our coastal resources and communities, our wildlife habitats and
our infrastructure. All these resources and our public health are threatened
by rising sea levels, rising water temperatures and changes in our flora and
fauna.

Maine cant solve the carbon emissions problem alone, but we can meet our
own commitments and set an important example for others.

Earlier in this decade, Maine was a leader in setting goals to cut carbon dioxide
emissions. We committed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by
2010; 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020; and ultimately by as much as 80
percent. These goals are similar to those set by the Kyoto Protocol. Moreover, in
2005 the Governor of Maine signed the Memorandum of Understanding adopting
the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) calling for total emissions in RGGI
states not to increase from 2009 to 2014, and then to fall by 2.5% per year
through 2018, so that by 2019 emissions must be at least 10% below the 2009
level. In 2013, the member states further agreed to reduce the emissions from
power generating facilities by 45% between 2014 and 2017.

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If I am elected governor, the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and other
emissions such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, ozone, mercury and small
particulates both in Maine and in neighboring states whose policies we can help
influence and whose achievements we can help make possible will be a priority.
My administration not only will work to keep Maine on track to achieve the goals
that we already have set for ourselves, but also will consider tougher and more
challenging goals if that is what sound science directs.

To reduce carbon emissions in Maine, the Cutler Administration will

Redouble Maines efforts at conservation and energy efficiency, starting
with a comprehensive review of existing incentives including the renewable
portfolio standard and the PUCs long-term contracting authority and a
study of the potential for new incentives, such as a more comprehensive
feed-in tariff or an enhanced renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that could
be carefully tailored to encourage renewable development without
unsupportable price impacts;

Push forward with the development in Maine of distributed generation of
electricity from renewable resources such as onshore and offshore wind, tidal
and solar generation;

Increase the availability and use of natural gas, biomass and biofuels and
geothermal energy to back out as much carbon emitting oil burning as
possible;

With the cooperation of Maines attorney general, aggressively join
litigation to defend and to enforce federal regulations that will protect Maine
from upwind emissions of greenhouse gases, ozone precursors, particulates
and toxics; and,

Reverse the parochial, insular and ham-handed behavior, evidenced by
Governor LePages treatment of Statoil, that discourages companies and
industries that can help us meet our goals from doing business in Maine.

In every instance, we will pursue these efforts in concert with a renewed
commitment to preserving Maines quality of place. Sprawl increases carbon
emissions at the same time that it makes public services more expensive, weakens
communities and makes Maine a less attractive destination for visitors. These
concerns should strengthen the arguments for making available more efficient
forms of transportation such as rail, buses, carpooling and bicycling wherever
they are economically feasible. Further, I will call for the enactment of LD 825, the
bill vetoed by Governor LePage, to develop and implement a coordinated statewide
plan to reduce the risks posed by climate change, to increase our resiliency in the
face of more severe and frequent storms, and to help Maine residents, communities
and businesses adapt to climate change.

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Mr. Michauds Congressional websites section on energy states that he supports
an everything on the table approach, whatever that means.
The website goes on to say that he supports increasing domestic production, but in
a way that gives states like Maine a say in what type of drilling takes place off its
shores. I am opposed to any drilling for oil and gas off Maines shores.

2. If elected, what are the three most important things you will seek to accomplish
on the environment and energy?

Vigorous protection of our natural assets is one of the most important investments
we can make in Maines future. If I am elected governor, the protection of Maines
environment will be at the top of my personal priorities and a principal criterion for
every item on my administrations agenda. At the outset, our top three priorities
will be:

Rebuilding Maines Department of Environment Protection. We will
restore the DEPs leadership, integrity and funding so that it once again will
have the staffing levels, competence, expertise and leadership it needs to
protect Maines environmental quality and public health. The DEP will once
again work in the interests of all Maine citizens and be an environmental
leader for the nation.

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions at a faster pace. In order to
mitigate and limit the effects of climate change, my administration will (i)
work with our neighbors to develop a clean fuels standard for Maine and New
England that will reduce the carbon content of our transportation fuels over
time; (ii) promote cost---effective transportation alternatives that will
decrease our dependence on oil; and (iii) redouble Maines efforts at
improving energy efficiency and energy conservation, starting with a
comprehensive review of existing programs including the renewable
portfolio standard and the long term contracting authority and the potential
for new incentives.

Promoting distributed generation and the diversification of Maines
renewable energy portfolio. Natural gas is certainly a cleaner alternative
than oil or coal for electricity generation and is a necessary bridge fuel, but
for several reasons we should try to leapfrog as much as possible our
growing dependence on it. My administration will work to protect and develop
export markets for Maines renewable energy production and assist in the
development of solar, land-based and offshore wind and tidal generation of
electricity in ways that are cost effective from a life-cycle perspective and are
consistent with the protection of Maines vital interests.

3. What do you see as the best evidence in your record to support our choosing
you as the gubernatorial candidate who will best protect and champion Maines
environment?

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I have a world of experience in environmental policy and management in both
the public and private sectors that neither of my opponents can match.

When I worked with Senator Ed Muskie from 1967 to 1973, I helped write the
Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act so that Maines bays, rivers and air
would be clean again. The most vital and enduring legacy of Ed Muskie is that
the vitality of Maines natural resource-based economy depends directly on
protecting our environment.

As Associate Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for Natural Resources, Energy and Science under President Carter, I
supervised the policies and budgets for the Departments of Interior, Agriculture,
and Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Park Service and
the Forest Service. I was in charge of ending wasteful water projects; restoring
the National Park Service, the Forest Service and EPA to healthy budget and
personnel levels; deregulating oil and gas prices; building Americas first
renewable energy and conservation programs; reclassifying Alaska lands and
countless other matters.

Later, I founded and built the worlds second largest environmental law firm and
represented scores of cities, counties and states in battles over airports and
highways. I was responsible for writing and negotiating the toughest noise
regulations for airports in the world; supervised our firms pro bono work on the
Edwards Dam case; engineered the legal strategy that led to the landmark
agreement to clean up the spent nuclear waste at West Valley, New York; and
worked with justices of the Supreme Court of the Peoples Republic of China to
strengthen Chinas air pollution regulation.

I am the only one of the three gubernatorial candidates with deep environmental
experience and whose record consistently has demonstrated leadership,
independence and integrity on environmental issues.

During Mr. Michauds time in the Maine Legislature, he compiled only a 55%
lifetime score from the Maine League of Conservation Voters. Said another way:
Mr. Michaud voted the wrong way on nearly half of the votes that Maines
environmentalists judged to be important over a 17-year period.

As a member of the state legislature, Michaud voted to allow jet skis in Acadia
National Park. He voted against community Right to Know legislation, against
energy efficiency standards, against stronger wetlands protection, and against
GMO labeling.

In the US House of Representatives, time and time again, Michaud cancelled out
the votes of his delegation colleagues, Representatives Tom Allen (D-ME) and
Chellie Pingree (D-ME), casting votes to eliminate food safety warnings, to
continue taxpayer subsidies for the oil industry, and to allow snowmobiles in
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

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4. What do you see as the appropriate role for environmental regulation?

In my opinion and experience, the keys to striking the right balance are
a transparent discussion of potential impacts, the development and even-
handed implementation of sound, science-based standards to protect the public
health and welfare and the quality of our environment, and rigorous and
predictable permitting and enforcement.

I know how to ensure that the right balance is struck, because I have done it. I
helped write our nations foundational environmental laws. During the course of
my long career as an environmental and land use policy official and lawyer, I
successfully blocked bad projects and guided the permitting of good ones
airports, highways and other major facilities by preventing and mitigating
adverse impacts. My Administration will see to it that we strike the right
balance in Maine.


5. Do you support the Board of Environmental Protection? Why? Would you seek to
change the role or structure of the BEP? If so, how?

Yes, I support the review functions of the Board of Environmental Protection, but
I do not believe that the Board as currently constituted is competent to do its
job.

To do its job well, the Board of Environmental Protection should become the
Board of Environmental Appellate Review -- an appropriately staffed three-
person appellate panel that will have the training, expertise and resources
necessary to serve as the first forum for appellate review of decisions by the
DEP. Decisions of the Board would be reviewed directly by the Maine Supreme
Court.

The inability of the Board as currently structured and supported to professionally
review environmental rules and decisions became painfully apparent when the
Board sought to modify the metallic mining rules initially issued by the DEP late
last year. I submitted testimony opposing the rules to the Maine legislatures
Environment and Natural Resources Committee because I felt strongly that
these rules, created as part of a flawed, limited, and non-transparent process,
did not regulate mining in ways that will adequately protect Maines
environmental resources.


6. What do you see as the most promising energy sources for Maine moving
forward? Why?

Promoting distributed generation and the diversification of Maines renewable
energy portfolio will be a priority. My administration will work to protect and
develop export markets for Maines renewable energy production and assist in the

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development of solar, land-based and offshore wind and tidal generation of
electricity in ways that are cost effective from a life-cycle perspective and are
consistent with the protection of Maines vital interests.

Natural gas is certainly a cleaner alternative than oil or coal for electricity
generation and is a necessary bridge fuel, but we need to focus our attention as
well on developing Maines clean, renewable energy resources, including land-based
and offshore wind power, in ways that are cost-effective and consistent with the
protection of Maines vital assets.

I share rational concerns about how and where generation and transmission
facilities are sited, about their noise, wilderness and view-shed impacts, and about
their effects on wildlife and habitat. We need to strike and restrike, over and over,
the right balance between meeting our energy needs with renewables and
protecting what is unique about Maine.


7. Currently, Maine is essentially tar sands-free; however, by 2020 due to new
pipeline and refinery infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada, tar sands-derived
fuel could comprise as much as 18 percent of our fuel mixwhich would entirely
wipe out the promised carbon reductions under the landmark Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Do you support policies to keep tar sands crude and
tar sands-derived fuels out of Maine?

Fuels refined from diluted bitumen (tar sands) arent good for the planet.

I share the views expressed by Senator King and Representatives Pingree and
Michaud to the effect that any reversal of flow through the Portland Pipeline,
particularly if it involves anew form of oil such as diluted bitumen (tar sands),
should not be undertaken in the absence of a new Presidential Permit, which would
need to be preceded by an environmental impact statement.

As governor, I will aggressively promote policies such as a regional carbon-
content standard for transportation fuels that discourage the use of high carbon
fuels like tar sands and ensure the safe transport of petroleum products. Neither
Congressman Michaud nor Governor LePage has made such a commitment.


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8. What are your views on natural gas fracking? What do you see as the role of
natural gas in Maines energy future? Do you think our state is over-dependent
on natural gas? How do you weigh energy efficiency, renewable heating, and
distributed renewables to keep gas demand low versus new pipeline
infrastructure in the region? Should the Maine people publicly finance new
natural gas pipeline infrastructure in the region, as envisioned by the Maine
Legislatures 2013 omnibus energy bill (LD 1426)?

While natural gas is cleaner than coal and oil, I recognize that it is a fossil fuel. The
extraction of natural gas, through hydraulic fracking, should not compromise
ground and surface water quality and air quality, and in this regard the process
should not be exempt from regulation under the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air
Act. Moreover, the operator should provide verifiable financial assurances to
demonstrate that it can meet its obligations to protect the environment.

Natural gas is a cleaner alternative than oil or coal for electricity generation and is a
necessary bridge fuel, but we should try to leapfrog as much as possible our
growing dependence on it.

I support the introduction of natural gas into more Maine communities as a lower
cost bridge fuel between higher carbon fossil fuels and cleaner renewable energy
sources, helping more Maine communities attract and maintain employers. To that
end, I will support regional efforts for investment in increased pipeline capacity to
deliver natural gas to Maine and the rest of New England.

Maine also should make sound public investments in in order to spur the wider
development of renewable, distributed generation. The Cutler Administration will
establish the Maine Energy Finance Authority (MEFA) within the Finance Authority
of Maine (FAME) not in a separate new bureaucracy to provide low-cost capital
for 21st-century energy projects that promise to make energy more affordable for
citizens and businesses. Through low-interest, tax-exempt financing and public-
private partnerships, MEFA will encourage investment in renewable energy
resources and help construct needed energy infrastructure. In circumstances
where might discourage a company from locating in Maine or increasing existing
activity and employment, for example, MEFA financing or contracting may be able
to facilitate investments in cost-effective distributed generation.


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9. In the next 10 years, up to one-third of Maines most productive farmland will
change ownership. What role do you believe the state should play during this
transition?

Agriculture offers a compelling picture of a sector of the Maine economy where
there is great potential and no plan. Farming is both central to our Maine heritage
and can leverage big competitive advantages plenty of water and arable land and
proximity to afuent markets. Moreover, the more farms we have and the more
local food we produce, the more good restaurants they supply and the more
attractive a place Maine is for tourists to visit, helping to build Maines brand.

According to the Maine Farmland Trust, there were 6.5 million acres under
cultivation in Maine in 1880, when our state was a breadbasket for the northeastern
United States. Today there are only 1.4 million cultivated acres merely 20% of
what we once had even though transportation and technology have brought the
northeastern markets much closer to us than they were 135 years ago. Acreage
under cultivation in Maine is slowly growing again, generating jobs and incomes,
but agriculture is not growing nearly as rapidly as it could if Maine were following a
strategy to encourage it and put in place the right policies to make it happen.

Many of Maines new farmers are young and educated; indeed, in a state that is the
oldest in America and is aging faster than any other state, some have suggested
that Maines population of farmers is among the youngest in America. Heres a
place where inventive public policies focused on attracting young people to Maine
to farm and helping them nance their entrepreneurial efforts should both
leverage competitive advantages and help turn around Maines demographic
disadvantage. I have proposed, for example, that Maine recruit young farmers
from around the country and the world by offering a dollar-for-dollar tax credit
against Maine income tax liability for every dollar that a graduate who becomes a
new Maine resident or who stays in Maine pays down his or her student debt.

We also need to better coordinate public and private sector investments in
aggregation, in cold storage and drying facilities and in other infrastructure and
transportation resources that small farmers need to survive and prosper.

10. Do you support policies and programs to rebuild Maines agricultural
infrastructure and improve/incentive local food purchasing by state institutions?
In general, how do you view the role of the state when it comes to supporting
and expanding Maines sustainable food economy?

I do support these policies, so long as they are cost-effective for both buyers and
sellers. Some 400,000 acres of farmland will be up for sale in the next few years
as the current generation of farmers ages. Its important that the state have a
strategy for accelerating the development of Maines agricultural sector and that we
invest in implementing that strategy. (See answer to Q9.)



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It is just as important that we avoid ruinous mistakes. In 2012 a narrow majority of
the Maine Legislature voted to change Maines Dairy Tier Support Program, causing
all our small farms to operate below their break-even point. Losing this support has
made it impossible for some small dairies to stay in business. Tragically, more than
30 small farms have been lost in the last few months. I believe the Dairy Tier
Program should allow all farms, no matter their size, to achieve a break-even price
for milk. While the farm bill continues to be tied up in our dysfunctional Congress in
Washington, we should make supporting Maines dairy industry part of our
turnaround story for Maine and the Maine brand.

Helping small Maine family farms helps support the rural quality of life we all
cherish. Young farmers give us a perfect opportunity to both increase agricultural
production and combat Maines looming demographic winter.

11. Do you support the Land for Maines Future Program? Would you seek to make
changes to the program? If so, what changes?

Maine has a very special quality of place and a unique civic culture. Maintaining
these important characteristics is one of the most important investments we can
make. That means protecting our natural environment and our wild and scenic
places; preserving farmland, forest, harbors and downtowns; and ensuring that
people in historic mill towns and villages can both live here and earn a living. The
Land for Maines Future Program continues to be an important mechanism for
accomplishing those goals.

12. If there were clear support in the region, would you support and advocate for a
new national park and national recreation area on land east of Baxter donated
by Elliotsville Plantation? How about a national monument on the same donated
land?

I believe that the designation(s) of approximately 75-150,000 acres as a National
Park or National Recreation Area has real merit as part of a strategy to reinvigorate
the economy of the Katahdin Region, one of Maines most important sporting
regions. According to a Bangor Daily News article posted on 6/10/2014, both
Governor LePage and Congressman Mike Michaud oppose the park.

Maines North Woods are a valuable source of wood fiber and related jobs; the
North Woods also are an important destination for hunters, fisherman, and tourists.
We need to look at economic development strategies that will leverage these
advantages, and I believe that a North Woods National Park or Recreation Area will
help brand the Katahdin Region and attract people and jobs to the area.

Sustainable natural resources including Maines forests are critical to Maines
future growth and prosperity. They represent a key competitive advantage over
other states and a strong foundation for creating jobs and reviving the economy.
Northern Maine has important assets that are among those critical competitive
advantages: farms, forests, lakes, rivers, streams, communities, and the
people. We need to look at strategies that make use of these advantages in the

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broadest possible ways, and I believe that there exists considerable potential in
identifying and branding areas of Maine like the North Woods in ways that will
attract people and jobs to the area.

Earlier in my career, during the late 1970s, I led the federal governments effort to
classify the Alaska public lands under the provisions of the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act, and my team reviewed the prospects for conservation and use
under a long list of native, state and federal classifications. I have commended
Lucas St. Clair for examining some of the important questions concerning the
creation of National Park: (i) what is the best balance of protection and use for
current and future generations of Maine people, and (ii) what is the best
mechanism to achieve that balance. As governor, I will work with the owners of the
land, the affected communities, National Park advocates and other interests in the
State to identify the optimum balance of preservation and use and the
best mechanism to achieve it.

13. Will you support strengthening the Kid-Safe Product Act to ensure Maine makes
steady progress to phasing the most dangerous chemicals out of everyday
products?

A top priority in the Cutler Administration will be to rebuild the capacity of Maines
Department of Environment Protection (DEP) to protect human health from unsafe
exposure to toxic chemicals and to establish consumers rights to know the nature
of the substances contained in products they use and consume. To protect the
health of women and their families, the Cutler Administration will:

Work to Eliminate Toxins in the Environment. The DEP needs the
resources and capacity to implement the Maines Kids Safe Products Act
and the Safer Chemicals program.

Enact the Healthy Kids Bill. The Cutler Administration will seek
enactment of the Healthy Kids Bill, vetoed by Governor LePage in July
2013, which would have required more stringent labeling of potentially
harmful chemicals in food packaging in order to protect children and
pregnant women from the harmful effects of potentially toxic chemicals
such as BPA.

Support GMO Labeling. The Cutler Administration will support the
labeling of genetically modified organisms in food. Mainer consumers
deserve to know whats in the milk and food they buy. They have a right
to know that the milk they drink is free from artificial growth hormones
(bSTs) and that the food they eat is free of genetically modified
organisms (GMOs).

Today, no governmental agency can certify the safety of GMOs nor can companies -
like the large chemical producer Monsanto - ensure that GMOs pose no health risk
to humans.

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Labeling food, similar to the pledge made by Oakhurst Dairy that its milk did not
contain artificial growth hormones, gives consumers an opportunity to know the
origins of the food they are buying and to decide whether or not they want to
purchase foods that contain GMOs. The bottom line is that Maine consumers ought
to have the information they need to make informed choices about the food they
buy and which agricultural practices they choose to support. A Cutler
Administration will support Maines efforts under LD 718, An Act To Protect Maine
Food Consumers' Right To Know about Genetically Engineered Food and Seed
Stock, to require the labeling of food and seed stock containing GMOs.

I believe consumers should have the information they need to make informed
choices about the food they buy and which agricultural practices they support.

Apparently, Congressman Michaud does not share that commitment. Mr. Michaud
has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Monsantos PAC
and voted for a Monsanto-supported bill that would have barred Oakhurst Dairys
No Artificial Growth Hormones label. (HR4167, 3/8/06, Roll Call Vote #32.
Congressman Tom Allen voted against the bill, and it failed in the US Senate.)

As a state legislator, Mr. Michaud voted against enacting Maines Right to Know law.
Mr. Michaud also voted to kill a bill requiring retailers to label all genetically
engineered food. (LD1928, 1994) Governor LePage has also vetoed bills to protect
consumers.