UPDATES
Eliot has been spending a lot time talking about Maine’s financial and budget problems. Maine needs to re-start economic activity — investment, jobs, and incomes — and Mainers need to start mapping out a strategy works toward shared goals.
Here are three, separate YouTube videos in which Eliot discusses Maine’s financial problems and how we can go about solving them.
PART I
PART II
PART III
Eliot spoke at the Fishermen’s Forum on March 5th, 2010, in Rockport, ME. He discussed the critical importance of working together — as One Maine — to address and beat the critical challenges facing Maine today.
SHOULDERS TO THE WHEEL
On March 5th, 2010, Eliot spoke at the Fishermen’s Forum in Rockport, ME about the importance of building the Maine Brand as a way to create jobs and incomes in the Fishing Industry.
Here is a YouTube video of his talk:
Eliot received the below question from Karen Mayer via Facebook. Please see the question and answer below:
THE QUESTION
I want to ask your position on the new push for nuclear power. Given your history, I know you are environmentally sensitive. I am, I guess, looking for some assurance that you won’t support nuclear power and that Maine will continue to be a nuclear-free state. Thank you.
- Karen Mayer
ELIOT’S ANSWER
Hi Karen,
Thank you for your question.
I do care greatly about the environment, and have spent much of my career working on environmental issues, going back to my days with Sen. Muskie when I helped to write the Clean Air and Water Acts.
I do not support nuclear power in Maine.
I do believe, however, that we must lower the cost of living and doing business in Maine and that lower cost electricity is one of the major ways we can accomplish that.
I want to create Maine Energy Resources, a public power authority that will use low-cost capital to help entrepreneurs develop clean, renewable energy to be used in Maine, creating more jobs and higher incomes for Maine people.
Eliot
Mainers must to be careful to preserve our pristine environment, which is part of the heart and soul of our state. While at the Maine Forest Products gubernatorial forum, Eliot outlined the need to protect the environmental integrity of the North Woods and Gulf of Maine:
We can bring healthcare costs under control in Maine by providing essential health-care services for all Maine citizens through Maine Wellness, a new statewide framework within which coverage and care will be provided at a price that Maine businesses and taxpayers can afford.
Here is a YouTube video in which I explain my above vision for healthcare in greater detail.
MAINE’S HEALTHCARE OPPORTUNITY
Eliot recently spoke with the UMaine student senate about his experience helping to formulate energy policy in the White House and why he believes that Maine can become an leading global energy center.
The Portland Press Herald covered the 1st gubernatorial debate, held by the Associated General Contractors of Maine, which covered high unemployment rates in the Maine economy. Below is an excerpt from one of Eliot’s answers:
”Governors and government create choices,” offered Eliot Cutler, an independent candidate from Cape Elizabeth. ”We are not going to create jobs. A governor will create conditions in which businesses can thrive and prosper.”
You can read the full article here.
Eliot recently received the following question on Facebook from Markos Miller. We thought that it was intriguing and the question and answer were both worth posting here on our site.
THE QUESTION
How would your administration address land use and transportation issues so that we protect rural Maine, strengthen urban centers, and invest in more sustainable forms of moving people and goods?
- Markos Miller
ELIOT’S ANSWER
Markos,
As the recent abandonment of substantial trackage in northern Maine demonstrates, “sustainable forms of moving people and goods in Maine” largely will depend on a well-maintained system of roads. It is hard to imagine that widespread mass transportation — whether by bus or rail — will be self-supporting, cost-effective and “sustainable” in most parts of Maine. The more heavily urbanized counties in the southern part of the state may be an exception to a limited degree, and we should pursue these options where they can be cost-effective and sustainable, but the fact is that most Mainers and our principal industries, such as tourism, will continue to depend on the quality of our roads.
Having said that, it is important to acknowledge that not all roads are the same; roads are precursors to, attractants of and instruments of growth as much or more than the other way around. This means that we need to use roads in Maine as much as possible as levers, along with other tools, to try to channel growth in ways that protect the integrity and character of rural Maine and our cities and towns. I helped write the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air Act and the Water Quality Act, and I helped to protect Section 4(f) of the Highway Act. I have fought numerous battles across the country in cases involving both good roads and bad, good planning and bad. Believe me, I know the difference, and I understand the importance of sound transportation planning.
I have no interest in going to Augusta just to maintain the status quo. We can do things better and smarter in a whole host of areas, including transportation policy. You obviously have strong feelings and interest in this area and I welcome your ideas.
Eliot