Environmentalist blasts lawmakers, calls them obstructionists

AUGUSTA – Everett “Brownie” Carson, executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the state’s largest environmental advocacy organization, says two lawmakers on the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee are “obstructionists” who are blocking important environmental legislation.

He accused Rep. Tom Saviello, D-Wilton, Rep. Bob Daigle, R-Arundel, both members of the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee of “making problems for virtually any environmental legislation we want to get through.”

Pointing out that Saviello is employed by International Paper and that Daigle used to work in the plastics industry, Carson said: “We ought not have people from the industry representing industry, disrupting the public interest.”

He said on issue after issue the two lawmakers put up a “united front” to block legislation. He cited their opposition to legislation establishing a fee on pesticide containers to fund the cleanup of toxics in schools, mercury battery bills and water quality on the Androscoggin River as examples of their efforts to scuttle environmental legislation.

Daigle countered that his background is no secret to his constituents and that his engineering background helps make for better environmental legislation.

“There is nothing wrong with teachers serving on [the Legislature’s] Education [Committee],” he said, “and the Judiciary [Committee] and Criminal Justice [Committee] are full of attorneys.”

Daigle said both he and Saviello have “real-world” experience in dealing with cleaning up the environment and that means they both sometimes do “get in the way” of environmentalists.

“What have they done to clean up the environment?” Daigle asked. “They have pushed legislation, but they haven’t really done anything. It is industry that has actually done the cleaning up.”

Saviello said he was surprised at Carson’s comments. He said personal attacks are an indication a group or person can’t win on the facts. “I have never attacked Brownie Carson personally nor have I attacked any of his staff,” he said. “Representative Daigle and I do have background in environmental issues, and that’s why we ask the questions the way we do in committee. That does not mean we are any less concerned about the environment.”

He rejected the suggestion that he has a conflict of interest by serving on the committee. He agreed with Daigle’s contention that lawyers serving on the judiciary panel and teachers on the education committee are good for the process and not a conflict of interests.

“The whole premise of the Legislature is a citizens legislature,” he said. “We all have other jobs than being in the Legislature.”

Saviello said he is “very proud” of his environmental record at International Paper. He said he has nine environmental awards on his office wall. “I really think my record speaks for itself,” he said.

But Carson said the state is facing serious environmental challenges and claimed that Daigle and Saviello have opposed some crucial issues.

“Ought we not have the same standard for the Androscoggin River that we have for virtually all the other Class C rivers in the state?” he asked. “Don’t the people of Lewiston-Auburn deserve a clean river?”

Rep. Ted Koffman, D-Bar Harbor, is the House co-chairman of the Natural Resources Committee and is considered a strong environmental advocate on the committee. He said that while he does not often agree with either Daigle or Saviello, he does not believe their work has created conflicting situations on the committee.

If either lawmaker ever did anything he thought might be improper or could be considered a conflict of interest, Koffman said, he would “go to them and raise the issue.”

So far, Koffman said both lawmakers have brought expertise to the panel that has helped in crafting better legislation. He said their questioning and thoroughness have been a help, not a hindrance.