By Mario Moretto, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story AUGUSTA, Maine — A state senator known as a moderate on Tuesday called out Gov. Paul LePage for the “artificially created crisis” about voter-approved conservation bonds worth more than $11 million. LePage has refused to issue the bonds, jeopardizing more than 30 land preservation projects Read More
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Bipartisan Ire Grows Over Governor’s Refusal to Issue Land Bonds
By A.J. Higgins MPBN news story AUGUSTA, Maine – A showdown is looming in the Maine Legislature over Gov. Paul LePage’s refusal to release about $11.5 million in voter-approved conservation bonds until lawmakers approve his plan to increase timber harvesting on public lands. Republican Sen. Roger Katz of Augusta is building a bipartisan coalition to Read More
LePage Doubles Down on Effort to Trade Conservation Bonds for Timber Harvesting
By Mario Moretto, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story CUMBERLAND, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage on Monday reiterated that he will not authorize roughly $11.5 million in voter-approved conservation bonds unless the Legislature approves a new plan to cut more timber on public land and use the new revenue to pay for heating assistance Read More
Group Calls on LePage to Release Conservation Bonds
WCSH-6 TV news story CUMBERLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Lawmakers, town officials and conservationists are calling on the governor to release voter-approved bonds to preserve land. They held a press conference in Cumberland Monday, where they raised public and private money to buy a 215 acre parcel of private land. The remainder of the funding Read More
Legislation Escalates Augusta Clash Over Conservation Bonds Withheld by Governor
A bipartisan group hopes to force release of voter-approved funds caught in a political battle, as LePage calls again for expanded timber harvests on public lands. By Matt Byrne, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story A bipartisan group of lawmakers will propose legislation Tuesday that would force Gov. Paul LePage to issue voter-approved bonds, Read More
LePage’s Refusal to Release Bonds Jeopardizes Conservation Projects
By Tom Porter MPBN news story CUMBERLAND, Maine — The LePage administration is still refusing to release more than $11 million worth of voter-approved bond money, earmarked for land conservation projects across the state, until lawmakers approve the governor’s proposal regarding timber harvesting on state land. Conservationists say they are frustrated by the political card Read More
NRCM Testimony in Opposition to LDs 1120, 1191, and 1093, All Bills Related to the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code
Senator Amy Volk, Chair Representative Erin Herbig, Chair Joint Standing Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development NRCM Testimony in Opposition to LD 1120: An Act To Repeal the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code; in Opposition to LD 1191: An Act To Remove the Municipal andate To Enforce MUBEC; and in Opposition to LD Read More
We Must Reduce Our Carbon Footprints, But That’s Only the Beginning
By John Tjepkema, Special to the BDN Bangor Daily News op-ed The Earth’s climate is changing. The Arctic Ocean is becoming ice-free in the summer, and more than 80 percent of the world’s glaciers are melting. The frequency and strength of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, heat waves and droughts is increasing. The acidity of the oceans Read More
Withholding Bonds an Attack on Maine’s Democracy
By Ann-Marie Mastraccio, William Noon and Patricia Hymanson Seacoast Online news story In 2010 and 2012, Mainers voted to approve over $14 million in bonds to fund projects by the Land for Maine’s Future program. These projects involve nearly 50,000 acres of conservation land used for recreation, agriculture, water access and wildlife preservation across the Read More
