Statement by NRCM Executive Director Lisa Pohlmann
The message from the poll that we are releasing today is absolutely clear: Maine’s clean air, clean water, and natural heritage is a high priority.
The poll also demonstrates that Mainers decisively reject the notion that our environmental laws are causing a significant drag on our economy. They just don’t believe that’s true, and they don’t believe that wrecking our environment will be good for our economy.
The governor has claimed that environmental regulations are one of the leading causes of Maine’s economic condition. But Maine people don’t see it that way at all.
In fact, as Portland-based Critical Insights has demonstrated in this poll, Maine people believe that the costs of health care, the cost of energy, a weak national economy, taxes, the condition of Maine’s transportation systems, the availability of trained workers, and Maine’s geographic location.
And when you ask Maine people their opinion on some of the major environmental rollback proposals now before the Legislature, the message from this poll also is very clear: Maine people don’t support rolling back our laws protecting our state’s air, land, and water.
They don’t support weakening shoreland zoning. They don’t support weakening the bottle bill. A Maine’s energy and building codes.
But they do support – by levels of 80% or higher – investing in the Land for Maine’s Future program, phasing out the toxic chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), increasing investments in energy efficiency, and taking actions to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
None of this should come as a surprise. Maine voters have the same opinions and values today that they have had for decades.
This poll sends a strong message to lawmakers about the attitudes of Maine people when it comes to protecting the environment they love.
