Tribal land return, a total ban on synthetic pesticides and the creation of a new state office of conservation anchor a new environmental report that calls on Maine to convert its voluntary climate goals into state law over the next five years.<\/p>\n
The Meeting the Moment report, released Tuesday<\/a> by a coalition of 17 advocacy and public health organizations, challenges Augusta to adopt a values-driven blueprint for protecting the state\u2019s natural assets as Mainers face record energy costs and increasingly destructive storms.<\/p>\n The plan represents expansion of existing state policy, starting with a call for a Wabanaki-led process for returning ancestral lands<\/a> and the full restoration of self-governance<\/a> for the Mi\u2019kmaq Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation.<\/p>\n \u201cOur young Wabanaki people deserve to live in a world where their sovereignty is not questioned and their rights to self-governance do not waver,\u201d Penobscot Nation citizen Sage Phillips says in the report.<\/p>\n Moving to the modern power grid, the coalition turns its attention to the pocketbooks of Maine ratepayers. The report calls for a legal mandate to reach 100% clean energy by 2040 while demanding that state regulators rein in the profit margins of electric utilities to ensure affordability.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t sit back and hope that the high cost of electricity will come down on its own,\u201d Emily Rochford, a community engagement manager at Maine Community Power Cooperative, said in the report.<\/p>\n Meeting the Moment calls for a restrictive approach to Maine\u2019s traditional working lands. The coalition is pushing for a total phase-out of synthetic pesticides to safeguard the health of the agricultural workforce and the state\u2019s food supply.<\/p>\n \u201cNo parent wants their child exposed to dangerous chemicals \u2014 especially in their water, food and air,\u201d said Abby Fleisch<\/a>, a pediatric endocrinologist in Portland.<\/p>\n