This week Representative Bruce MacDonald of Boothbay announced his candidacy for re-election to the Maine House of Representatives. MacDonald has represented the people of Arrowsic, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Georgetown, Southport and Westport Island for the past two years. MacDonald is proudest of three major achievements during his time in the Legislature.

First, MacDonald was the sponsor of a bill to limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from new coal-fired plants in the state. The bill was a response to a plan to put a massive new coal-fired refinery on the Sheepscot River in Wiscasset. The plant, if it had been allowed, would have doubled Maine's output of CO2, the major cause of man-made global warming. This bill, one of the top five priorities for the Maine Environmental Coalition, was passed and signed into law this spring.

Second, he was the sponsor of an amendment to the K-12 school consolidation law which will give local communities the option to maintain local school control while still providing for consolidation of administrative functions. A version of this amendment survived into the final law. He believes that communities who choose this local control option will be able to preserve what is best about living in small towns in Maine.

Third, MacDonald was a member of the Governor's Wind Power Task Force, where he was able to lead in the development of tax credits and other benefits for the development of small scale and community wind projects.

He serves on the Marine Resources Committee and also on the Business, Research and Economic Development Committee, one of only a few first term legislators to be named to two committees. "On Marine Resources we represent fishermen, clammers, lobstermen and other harvesters," MacDonald said, "who are all independent business people utilizing the natural resource base of our state to build a business and make a living. It's a tough way to make a living, and the state plays a role in helping to preserve the resource so that it will be there for future generations."

MacDonald is particularly proud of the role he played in preserving the future of the lobster industry in Maine by working to block a plan to allow draggers to catch and sell lobsters here. "This would have been devastating to the lobster population, and would have endangered the livelihoods of hundreds of Maine lobstermen," MacDonald said.

On the Business Research and Development Committee, MacDonald cites the work he did with the committee in supporting a state-wide building and energy code. This new code will save people money, because it creates a level building development playing field across the state, Instead of a mix of local laws, now developers will work to a single code across the state. MacDonald said, "This means that consumers will pay less for new construction because developers will not have to spend time and resources figuring out the nitty-gritty details of codes in different towns across the state.

MacDonald cites his twenty-year background in education as a teacher and administrator, followed by a twenty-year career in high technology corporate life, coupled with his growing success as a landscape artist as giving him a broad perspective on the problems facing Maine today. "In representing people, and in making laws, you can't have just a one-issue, one size fits all approach," he says. "My background in the arts, in corporate life in a high tech company, and in the schools gives me the ability to see things from many different angles. I believe this gives me a way of understanding more deeply the issues that face us.

"I have worked hard at this job, and I hope I have represented the people of this district well," he said. "I have worked with both Republicans and Democrats to craft good legislation. I have worked with scores of constituents in facing up to the many critical issues of our time.

"There's still a lot to do. We need to work smarter at creating jobs. We need to develop better alternative energy plans. We need to extend affordable and adequate health insurance to more people. We need to spend scarce state dollars in the most efficient way. We need to continue to control spending, and develop a better tax system that will attract more businesses and burden our citizens less than they are now burdened. This is the work that I want to continue to do, and I hope that you will support me as I seek a second term as your state representative."