Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – With the end of the campaign trail in sight, Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic challenger First District Congressman Tom Allen went head-to-head Monday night in a U.S. Senate debate that was held at the Presque Isle Middle School auditorium.
A U.S. Senate debate between Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic challenger First District Congressman Tom Allen was held Monday night at the Presque Isle Middle School auditorium. Here, emcee Jason Parent, second from left, introduces Presque Isle High School senior Evan Richards, who will vote for the first time Nov. 4. Richards asked the candidates how they proposed to keep Maine’s youth in the state after college graduation. Hosted by Leaders Encouraging Aroostook Development and the Aroostook Partnership for Progress, the debate was broadcast on both WAGM-TV CBS 8 and the Channel X Radio Network.
Hosted by Leaders Encouraging Aroostook Development (LEAD) and the Aroostook Partnership for Progress (APP), the hour-long, town hall-style exchange featured questions prepared and addressed to the candidates by eight individuals representing different geographic and demographic populations that comprise Aroostook County.
Virginia Joles, communication director for Maine Public Service, asked the candidates how they would support the development of renewable energy opportunities.
“Every time I drive by those wind turbines in Mars Hill, I am excited by the potential for not only Aroostook County, but the state of Maine,” said Allen. “This energy crisis is also an opportunity to create millions of new jobs across the country and thousands right here in Maine.
“I think the federal government needs to make sure that we make the renewable energy production tax credit permanent instead of trying to do it every couple of years. There needs to be cutting-edge research and development funds across the state for universities and other bodies that are engaged in research,” he said. “Wind and solar power are the kinds of jobs you can’t export; they don’t go oversees. Instead they can provide jobs right here at home and I think that has to be a central focus of any energy policy.”
Collins said she, too, is excited about the potential for alternative energy to “create a number of clean jobs in Aroostook County.”
“However, we can put all the windmills up that we could possibly site, but the fact is, if we don’t upgrade the electrical grid, we’re not going to be able to transmit that electricity,” said Collins. “I think a lot of people from southern Maine don’t realize that Aroostook County’s electric grid is not connected to the rest of the state. The power from those windmills in Mars Hill largely goes to Canada because that’s the way the transmission lines run.
“In addition, the transmission lines in Aroostook County are far too small to accommodate all these new wind farms that have been planned,” she said. “I’m excited about the possibility of expanding wind power in Aroostook County, but unless we upgrade the transmission lines, we’re not going to be able to take advantage of that increased capability right here in the state of Maine. We need to connect Aroostook County to the rest of Maine and New England, and we need to upgrade the size of the line.”
Recognizing that the wood products industry is struggling, Jon McLaughlin of the Southern Aroostook Development Corp., asked the candidates if they saw any role of the federal government in energizing the wood products industry.
“The most important thing we could do to help our sawmills and our other wood manufacturers, whether it’s the Ashland mill that recently closed or the Columbia Forest Products here in central Aroostook that recently laid off so many workers,” said Collins, “is to have a solution to the energy problem.
“I remember when I was talking to Jim Irving about the mill in Ashland,” she said. “He said that their energy and electrical costs had gone up by almost 100 percent in the last year. That’s also why we lost the mill in Millinocket, which was dependent solely on oil. The single thing that we could do that would make the biggest difference is to have a comprehensive energy policy to help us combat high costs and be more competitive with other states. We also need to have tax incentives to encourage the creation of jobs.”
Allen agreed that an energy policy “is a significant component,” but said where he and Collins part company “is that she supported the 2005 Cheney Energy Bill which moved billions of dollars in tax breaks and incentives to the oil companies, gas companies and nuclear industry.”
“That was the wrong policy then, and it’s the wrong policy now,” he said. “We need to change. We need fundamental change … an energy policy that emphasizes conservation and efficiency in both the electric market and for vehicles. We need to invest in the areas of wind, solar and bio-fuel, we need to move our vehicles off of running solely on gasoline to the point where they run as much on electricity as they do on gasoline. We haven’t been able to do that during this Administration, but we have to do it.”
Presque Isle High School senior Evan Richards, who will be voting for the first time Nov. 4, wanted to know “with the ever-increasing college cost and financial loans that come with it, how do you propose to keep Maine’s youth in the state after college graduation?”
“That’s the $64,000 question,” said Allen. “In order for you to stay here, we have to grow this economy. We’ve been going through a very dark period in American history with the federal government trying to reduce the amount of funds that it sends to the states, and states need help. We need help with infrastructure, help with education support, help with research and development funds for university systems and others. We have to engage and make sure that the federal government is creating incentives to do cutting-edge technology. We haven’t done that on the scale that we should over the last few years, but I think with a different Administration and a different Congress, we can do a lot better in the future.”
“The answer to your question is jobs, jobs, jobs,” said Collins. “That’s what we need to keep young people in Aroostook County, and to keep our young people in Maine. Maine ranks 50th in the nation in the percentage of young people; we are seeing a drain of our young leaving Maine, so we can keep them here if we have an economic environment that encourages the creation of more jobs.”
Other questions at the debate focused on Medicare rates, health care, Social Security, access to mental health services for veterans, home heating costs and special interest groups.
Joining the panelists on-stage was a small audience comprised of LEAD, APP and Momentum Aroostook members. In addition to the audience present at the venue, the debate was broadcast on both WAGM-TV CBS 8 and the Channel X Radio Network.
Efforts to host the U.S. Senate debate in the county were initiated by LEAD last February when contact was first made to both the Allen and Collins campaigns. A formal proposal was submitted to both sides in June, and confirmation that both candidates would participate was formalized in mid-August.
“As an organization committed to fostering and encouraging the balanced development of Aroostook County,” said Nathan Berry, LEAD president, “it is most fitting that we offer county residents and business owners this type of forum to ensure that, whichever of the two candidates is elected, we can be certain he or she is aware of the issues impacting our region.”
Jason Parent of Northern Maine Community College emceed the debate, which was attended by about 245 county residents.
