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Cathy Breen is director of government affairs for Maine Conservation Voters and former Maine state senator representing Senate District 25 (Falmouth, Cumberland, Yarmouth, Gray, Long Island, Chebeague Island and part of Westbrook).
The final days before an election are full of speculation. Polls lift our spirits or heighten our anxiety as dinner table conversations go around and around. What will happen — and will it matter? As a former state legislator, my own pre-election jitters reflect my firsthand experience in the Maine Senate. I’ve seen what it means when we elect lawmakers who prioritize protecting the environment and addressing the climate crisis, and what happens when we fall short.
Electing pro-environment lawmakers is one of the best ways to ensure strong protections for the air, lands and waters that we love. It can mean the difference between phasing out toxic PFAS to protect drinking water or continuing to pollute the resources we rely on; between helping towns all over Maine adapt to increased storm damage or leaving them to fend for themselves; between implementing the will of the voters or disregarding it.
Before I served in the Maine Senate, I served on the Falmouth Town Council. Like many towns in Maine, Falmouth relied on the Land for Maine’s Future program to conserve recreation land, wildlife habitat, riparian ways and forests from growing development pressure.
But shortly after I was elected to the Maine Senate in 2014, then-Gov. Paul LePage brazenly ignored the bipartisan will of the Legislature and of Maine voters by refusing to issue voter-approved Land for Maine’s Future bonds. This jeopardized pending conservation deals all over Maine — deals that had raised private and local funds based on the awards that the program had already announced.
One of the deals that almost unraveled was the Knight’s Pond Preserve in Cumberland-North Yarmouth (which I represented) because the closing date for this local gem was fast approaching. Partners in the project had to scramble to secure a loan, and the deal nearly fell through. Some other conservation projects were not so lucky.
Even though LePage eventually bowed to public pressure and issued the bonds, and this loan was repaid with belated Land for Maine’s Future funds, we learned the hard way what happens when we elect leaders who don’t share our environmental values or our respect for Maine voters.
I remembered this experience when, as a state senator, I chaired the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee. I successfully pushed to include $40 million in the 2020-2021 state budget for the Land for Maine’s Future program rather than relying on bonds. That wouldn’t have been possible without a narrow majority of state legislators who prioritized environmental protection, or the Maine people who voted to send those environmental champions to the Legislature.
In my new role as an environmental advocate, my priorities remain closely tied to conservation and environmental protection, while also addressing the overarching threat of climate change. With extreme storms endangering Maine people and their livelihoods, polluted fertilizer impacting farmland and our drinking water, and threats to public health from toxic “forever chemicals,” protecting the environment and acting on climate is more important than ever. We need legislators in Augusta who will vote to protect our health, democracy, and the environment.
We need an environmental majority.
At Maine Conservation Voters Action Fund, we endorse and help elect candidates who have a proven record of supporting environmental priorities, or new candidates who are willing to go on record about their commitment to the environment, democracy, and our climate future. You can view a list of endorsed candidates on our website.
When our elections are decided by slim margins, every vote really counts. Don’t miss your opportunity to speak up for the environment at the ballot box by Nov. 5. The future of Maine depends on it.
