Michaud chides Bush about environment

EDDINGTON – Democrat Mike Michaud on Sunday released his environmental plan, in which he criticized the Bush administration for weakening a host of environmental standards during its first two years.

Locked in a close race with Republican Kevin Raye to fill Maine’s open 2nd Congressional District seat, Michaud used the backdrop of the Penobscot River to debut his position paper.

Michaud also proposed a coalition of lawmakers devoted to labor and environmental issues to oppose Bush initiatives such as drilling for oil in the Arctic.

The “Blue-Green Coalition,” Michaud said, would also pressure Bush to re-engage in negotiations around the Kyoto Protocol, an internationally devised set of rules on air emissions and climate change.

“We must do everything we can here in America to protect the environment, and we must lead the world in advancing global initiatives which will protect the planet,” Michaud, the Maine Senate president pro tempore, told about 20 sign-waving supporters on a drizzly Sunday morning outside the Eddington Salmon Club.

“We must do it because it is the right thing: the right thing for our health, the right thing for our children, and the right thing to protect our jobs and our way of life,” he added before leading the group on a canoe trip down the river.

Responding to sections of Michaud’s position paper, Raye said that, if presented with a “black and white choice” between drilling in the Arctic refuge or not, he would vote against it.

On Kyoto, Raye, the former chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, said that while he supported the protocol’s goals, he was pleased the Bush administration was working to propose “fair and responsible alternatives” to the plan.

Michaud, in his position paper, said he would support higher automobile emissions standards, tax incentives for greater fuel efficiency, and an initiative to advance alternative fuel development.

The East Millinocket lawmaker targeted Bush administration policies that he said slowed down enforcement of environmental laws limiting mercury emissions and forcing industries to reduce hazardous air pollutants.

Increased funding for rail travel and higher efficiency standards for electrical appliances are also among the points in Michaud’s plan.

For the North Woods, Michaud said he would support funding for conservation efforts to acquire land and easements to protect the area and its traditional uses.

“Maine has traditionally used the great northern forest for recreation, to support diverse wildlife, and to provide the wood products which support the Maine economy,” reads the position paper. “Today we need more diverse use, not less.”