Maine’s environment is Maine’s economy. I worked in the Department of Environmental Protection from 1987-2016. The majority of my service was in water enforcement. Over the years the political pendulum swung back and forth depending on the governor. Unfortunately, the general trend has been to promote development at the expense of the environment. As governor, I pledge to overhaul the DEP and return it to its roots of protecting Maine’s environment.
As someone who tried to enforce Maine’s water quality laws, I found it almost impossible to do so. This was because of an anti-enforcement managerial mindset and the complexity and cumbersomeness of Maine’s environmental enforcement statutes. Many potential enforcement cases were not pursued, and It would sometimes take years to resolve enforcement cases if they were ever resolved. Even when they were resolved, in my opinion the resolution was not adequate.
Maine’s legislature must streamline our environmental enforcement statutes as the current system is clearly rigged to benefit polluters and other violators. We must change the mindset of the department and weed out those who favor environmental destruction over protection. We must increase our enforcement efforts and provide a deterrent to violators. As part of the government wide program audits, we will look at every program within the department to make necessary changes.
The DEP is a good example of an agency in which politics often dictates policy and action. It is an agency where employees are afraid to speak up for fear of retribution and where necessary changes are not implemented because of management. Maine’s PFAS debacle has its roots in the DEP and an agency culture that inhibits individual thinking and promotes groupthink.
As governor, I will make sure that we do more to protect and enhance our environment for Maine residents and visitors alike.
