Priorities
Beyond these areas of legislative responsibility, I have identified five major issues I would like to see the legislature address in the months and years ahead. Whether or not I am elected, I plan to work on these issues.
Education
We need to invest more in early childhood education. The enormous return on investments in the first three years of a child’s life is unmatched by any other equivalent period. We also need to maintain and improve the quality of our local schools. And we need to increase the number of Maine students who go on to college. We must develop new and competitive graduate programs to supplement the excellent undergraduate programs that Maine offers. Some wonderful collaborative work is currently taking place at the doctoral level in genetics and bioinformatics in the Functional Genomics Ph.D. program administered by the University of Maine (at Orono), the Jackson Laboratory (at Bar Harbor), and Maine Medical Center (in Portland). This is a solid step in the right direction and a wonderful working model for future collaborations.
Economic Development
We need to extend financial security to everyone in the State, not just to an increasingly comfortable elite. We need to keep our college and university graduates in Maine and attract other talented individuals by promoting new technologies and incubating entrepreneurial business opportunities. We should expand our capacity for pharmaceutical development and small manufacturing opportunities in biotechnology. Our forest resources present us with tremendous advantages that could allow Maine to be a leader in the production of cellulosic ethanol which is thought to have considerable environmental advantage over conventional ethanol. While our nation’s workers find themselves increasingly occupying service-related jobs, Maine needs to embrace the challenge of creating economic opportunities that allow all individuals to prosper.
Employment
Manufacturing may never be what it once was in Maine, but that does not mean that our economic fortunes must inevitably decline. Our quality of life is attractive to some companies and workers for whom modern technology has lessened the need for a costly big city location. At the same time, we are near the epicenter of biotechnology in America and we should capitalize on that proximity. In addition, our 3,478 miles of coastline, which have always provided for a resourceful and resilient fishing industry, also offers an untold abundance of opportunities for science-based marine businesses.
Environment
Maine has an unparalleled natural resource base. We must protect it and enhance it for future generations. The quality of our environment is a potential magnet for an educated workforce. We must find a way to grow while steadfastly preserving the environment. Further, the evidence of global climate change must be addressed at the federal and state levels. Maine cannot defer to the federal government or to short-term, ideological interests when it comes to protecting the environment. Our elected representatives must never allow the quality of our air and water to be sacrificed to special interests.
Elder Affairs
When it comes to elders, Maine is No. 1. In 2006, the median age of Maine's (and York County's) population was higher than that of every other state – 41.1 years. The median for the US population was 36.4 while for the world it was only 28 years. Given longevity patterns and given the state's declining school age population, Maine is not going to become a younger state any time soon. We need to ask ourselves what we are doing to support and serve the elderly population in York and in Maine. The health and welfare of our senior citizens is a priority for me.
Energy
While we will have a hard time controlling the price of energy, we can affect the cost. We need to become more efficient in our buildings and more conservative with regard to natural resources. While we are unlikely to see the day when we are completely energy self-sufficient, we must develop clean renewable alternatives. We are well-positioned to do this in such technologies as solar, hydro-electric, and wind-power. Britain has recently announced plans to generate enough electricity through offshore wind farms to power every home in the country by 2020, raising output more than 60-fold. Maine can and must begin embarking on this sort of bold initiative.
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