Jon Reisman

I am more than ready for Spring, so the fresh, wet, white blanket that I observed at sunrise several days after spring had allegedly sprung was worth at least a question mark, but the preceding days of melting, initial raking, and garden prep, and baseball dreams were sufficient to somewhat salve the political and policy pounding Governor Mills and her Democratic legislative majorities have been so kindly administering to me, rural Maine, and the 2nd Congressional District.

Maine’s climate policies subsidizing intermittent solar and wind power over reliable fossil fuels and nuclear power are raising our electricity prices, making the grid less reliable, enriching solar and wind crony capitalists (not to mention China), and, despite the green agitprop emerging from Maine’s environmental and climate cult “sustainability” clergy, doing exactly nothing to actually avert adverse climate change. On top of that, the climate action plan’s policy goal of 30% of Maine in conserved public land is and will continue to have an adverse disparate impact on the 2nd Congressional District, particularly the highest public lands and lowest income rim counties of Washington, Aroostook, Piscataquis, and Somerset. 

For some reason, the residents of the 1st Congressional District are amongst the lowest counties in public conserved land.

I tried to craft some legislative responses to the damages the climate cultists are doing to Maine. House Republican leader Billy Bob Faulkingham agreed to sponsor the bills. I can’t say that there’s much to be happy about, and no changes in Maine’s disastrous climate policies are likely as long as the Democrats control the Blaine House and the legislature.

LD 183 sought to cap public conservation lands at no more than 50% of any county. It was co-sponsored by the entire Washington County delegation, and opposed by Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Maine Conservation Voters, and the usual environmental/land trust community suspects.

The Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee voted unanimously ought not to pass, which means there won’t even be a roll call vote: Just shut up and obey. When your property tax bill continues to increase, don’t wonder about the erosion and destruction of the tax base. Those issues are not the concerns of peasants but rather our feudal land trust land lords.

LD 495 sought to require the climate cultists to tell the people of Maine how much adverse climate change their policies are averting and at what cost to consumers. The Environment and Natural Resources Committee issued a divided report — majority ought not to pass. There will at least be a roll call vote, so it’s possible that Maine voters will know who is responsible for our outrageous energy bills and totally ineffective climate policies. I wouldn’t bet on it if the voters rely on the Soros-backed failing Maine legacy media.

An Act to Define and Assess Equity is not out of the Revisor's office yet. This bill requires state agencies and public K-12 and higher education to define and assess equity if they promote it in any policy area. Maine’s climate action plan has a big equity component, but no definition of equity. A series of FOIA requests revealed that no definition of equity exists in Maine state government or the University of Maine System (including the Law School). Pursuing an undefined policy goal is pure policy malpractice.

Given the national DEI Trump/Mills Title IX brouhaha, An Act to Define and Assess Equity should be quite the show. It will go to the Judiciary Committee, but given the late date and controversy, I expect this bill will be put off till next year. 

Maine will continue to pursue undefined and federally denounced equity policies. I wonder if that might be because the lack of a definition of equity makes it difficult if not impossible to argue about the inequity of Maine’s climate policies to the 2nd District and rural Maine. Peasants with pitchforks probably won’t make it past State House security these days, but it’s a meme I’d love to see.

Jon Reisman is an economist and policy analyst who retired from the University of Maine at Machias after 38 years. He resides on Cathance Lake in Cooper, where he is a Selectman and a Statler and Waldorf intern. Mr. Reisman’s views are his own, and he welcomes comments as letters to the editor here or to him directly via email at [email protected].