To: Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
From: Ania Wright, Legislative and Political Specialist, Sierra Club Maine
Date: 5/1/2023
Re: Testimony in Support of LD 1723: An Act to Prevent the Automatic Transfer of Permits and Contracts in a Sale of Assets of a Water Export Company Without Review and to Amend the Membership of the Water Resources Planning Committee and the Maine Public Drinking Water Commission
Senator Brenner, Representative Gramlich, and members of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, I am testifying on behalf of Sierra Club Maine, representing over 22,000 supporters and members statewide. Founded in 1892, Sierra Club is one of our nation’s oldest and largest environmental organizations. We work diligently to amplify the power of our 3.8 million members nation-wide as we work towards combating climate change and promoting a just and sustainable economy. To that end, we urge you to vote ‘ought to pass’ on L.D. 1723.
Recognizing that water is basic to all life, we urge the Committee to support L.D. 1723 in order to ensure sustainability of water resources and natural ecosystems, to protect water quality, to promote environmental justice and democratic decision-making, and to prevent domination of water resources by transnational corporations and other powerful private interests.
Water is a public resource, not a commodity. Public policy must ensure the sustainability of safe water supplies for the benefit of all people and the natural environment, and this bill would work towards that by creating a more accountable process to ensure the State is protecting communities and the environment from the privatized interests of Maine’s water for export, and ensuring more transparency and accountability for the bottled water industry.
Governmental policies should not provide incentives for or otherwise promote the private sector with regard to water supply and services. This bill aims to close some of the loopholes that currently risk allowing this by limiting conflicts of interests on the Water Resources Planning Committee and the Maine Public Drinking Water Commission.
In order to ensure one of our most valuable natural resources is protected in the public interest, we urge this committee to vote ‘ought to pass’ on L.D. 1723. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Ania Wright
Legislative and Political Specialist
Sierra Club Maine Chapter