Hannah Pingree

The goals of reducing our emissions to meet our climate goals and lowering the cost of power for Maine people are both urgent and within reach with the right policies and action. As Governor, I will hold our state’s largest utilities accountable and ensure that we are putting Maine ratepayers first. I’ll force the Public Utilities Commission to use every tool available to drive down electricity bills, including requirements that we incentivize utilities when customer bills go down, not up; facilitate electrification and home energy efficiency programs that bring down rates; maximize grid utilization to get the most out of the infrastructure we’ve already paid for; and ensure that needed investments to modernize the grid and make it more resilient are made with the lowest-cost financing available.

Maine should invest in clean, locally-produced low-cost renewable energy that supports Maine jobs and energy independence while lowering costs for ratepayers. I will support responsibly-sited clean energy that benefits communities and reform outdated permitting processes to build and connect clean energy projects faster.

I grew up in a lobster fishing community and have spent much of my life working with the people most in touch with ocean ecosystems — fishermen. And I have witnessed and heard firsthand about the impacts fishermen are seeing from a changing climate. Fishermen and coastal communities support sound science that helps us monitor changes, understand the impacts we are seeing, and prepare for the changes to come.

Maine’s lobster fishery is sustainably managed, but not immune to a changing climate and warming waters. I served on my local Lobster Management Zone Council and consistently fought for practical, common-sense management in partnership with fishing communities. As Speaker of the Maine House and leader of Maine’s storm recovery efforts over the last several years, I have worked to protect working waterfronts and ensure fishermen had a seat at the table. Scientists, fishermen, and leaders of coastal and island communities need to be active participants in data collection as we work collectively to manage fishing stocks, monitor climate-driven changes, and work to understand the impacts on our fishermen and communities in the years to come. This includes state and federal leaders, from NOAA, to the Department of Marine Resources, to fishermen scientists.

Maine’s natural lands, clean waters, and natural resources are the foundation of who we are, our economy, and why we love Maine. As governor, I’ll protect these resources, strengthen rural communities and our essential heritage industries, like fishing, farming, and forestry, and ensure that future economic opportunities complement our goals to protect our natural resources. As a lifelong champion of Maine’s Land for Maine’s Future program, I will work to grow our efforts to protect both recreational and working lands, including farmland, forests, and waterfronts. We’ll also increase our climate resilience efforts, ensuring that we are protecting those areas that protect communities from flooding, enhance valuable watersheds and drinking water, and increase our ability to withstand extreme weather like storms and droughts.

I’ll also increase efforts to partner Maine’s conservation, housing, and sustainable economic opportunities — ensuring that we are both protecting the lands that drive our economy, but also ensuring that Maine people can afford to stay in this state and find housing and good-paying job opportunities that allow them to do that.

As Director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, I worked in close partnership with Maine’s recovery cabinet and its leader, Gordon Smith, who worked to rapidly ramp up our efforts to save lives through prevention, treatment, and recovery programs across the state, reducing fatal overdoses, improving access to treatment including rehab beds and peer support, and growing a broad coalition across the state dedicated to saving lives and supporting recovery.

While new federal cuts threaten both health care access and Maine’s recovery community, we must ensure the safety net is protected, especially for those seeking treatment. As Governor, I will expand access to affordable, quality health care.

I’ll also support new models to ensure access in rural areas and improve access to mental health care, especially in rural Maine. Using money from opioid settlement funds and the Rural Health Transformation grant, we can boost our health care workforce and support access to substance use care and mental health care at an urgent time. I will support the network of recovery centers, coaches and peer-support programs, and resources like community liaisons that are saving lives. And I’ll redouble our efforts to support prevention, especially for Maine’s youth.

Maine does not have a data center moratorium in place, but I have called for a moratorium on new AI data centers until strong protections are in place to safeguard Maine’s environment, water resources, communities, electric grid, and energy ratepayers. Maine people cannot afford increased energy costs or environmental damage to line the pockets of big AI tech companies.

Maine should establish the strongest standards in the country that ensure that any future development provides clear benefits to our state, communities, and ratepayers without compromising our state’s natural resources.

Local communities deserve a meaningful seat at the table when decisions are made about major infrastructure projects, including clean energy, other substantial infrastructure, or economic development projects. Through true and sustained engagement, transparency, and required community benefits agreements, projects can demonstrate their value to the state and a community. State policy can and should require that framework for major projects and should support good processes and benefits for communities.

Too many communities in Maine, especially in our rural areas, have watched jobs leave without replacement, watched young people move away without a reason to come back, and watched the state government feel distant and indifferent. I refuse to accept that. Every corner of this state deserves the tools to build a future that works for the people who live there.

State leaders must work for and support small businesses, especially in rural areas that may not have the same partners and infrastructure as our more urban areas. I will simplify and accelerate permitting processes to allow businesses and housing projects to proceed faster. I will create a Rural Opportunities & Growth Partnership to drive targeted investments that create locally-driven economic opportunities, from farming to forest products manufacturing. I will create a State Resilience Bank to finance critical infrastructure, especially in rural and underserved communities. I’ll also help connect rural communities digitally by completing broadband and wireless expansion. When our rural communities succeed, all of Maine thrives.

We’ve already seen the impact of severe weather events on our coastal and inland communities, but we’ve also shown our ability to adapt and rebuild stronger after destructive weather. Following the devastating winter storms in 2023 and 2024, I led the work to pass the largest storm recovery package in state history, helping to rebuild our coastal communities and better prepare them for the future. I also helped start the Community Resilience Partnership program, funding more than 250 Maine communities who were seeking to develop local action plans. I believe the state should be a strong partner in helping communities prepare for these challenges. As governor, I will continue to strengthen the Resilience Partnership Program and the Maine Office of Community Affairs, which I helped start, to ensure that it serves as an essential one-stop shop for municipalities’ needs.

It’s important to help homeowners access resources for flood mitigation. Protecting Maine’s coastline also means preserving the working waterfronts and natural resources that support our economy and way of life. Decisions about coastal resilience should be guided by science, shaped by local communities, and focused on long-term solutions that safeguard both people and the environment.

Artificial intelligence promises advances and savings, but also threatens essential tenets of our economy and communities. I have laid out plans and advocated for a “people-first” AI strategy designed to ensure that rapid technological advancements serve to strengthen, rather than diminish, Maine’s workforce, education system, and economy. I will advance policies that protect worker rights, protect privacy, improve job quality, and guarantee that innovation benefits local communities rather than just corporate bottom lines.

Maine’s future depends on our ability to attract and retain a strong, skilled workforce. One of the greatest obstacles to that is housing, which is why I’ve made investing in housing production and affordability central to my campaign. I will strengthen education and workforce training programs for all Mainers to prepare people for careers in health care, STEM, education, and the skilled trades.

A strong workforce is essential to meeting the needs of an aging population, and making Maine an affordable, healthy place to live helps attract workers and families of all ages. By investing in people and communities, Maine can grow its workforce while ensuring every generation has the opportunity to thrive.