March 13, 2010 -- I sat down at the Elm Tree Cafe in Houlton with Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Beardsley to have coffee and discuss his thoughts about his aspiration to govern the state of Maine, and particularly what he thinks about the part of the state north of Bangor.
We discussed how he turned Husson College from a near-bankrupt college to the thriving Husson University, LURC, energy, Henry Joy's "Two Maines" legislation, and the Treasured Landscapes scheme.
"I think that a lot of the people who call themselves environmentalists are really much more interested in getting rid of private land...[T]hey don't need to win a referendum. They don't need to win a lawsuit. They don't need to pass a bill. All they need to do is create uncertainty, risk, and delay, and the family business will hesitate to invest; the big corporation will hesitate to invest...I don't consider that activity environmental at all. I consider that anti-business or socialistic or people that are elitists that want to soak Maine forests in formaldehyde and put a sign over it that says, 'Look, but don't touch.'"
Listen to part 1 of the interview here:
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Here is the second half of my conversation with Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Beardsley.
In this section he talks about the White Pine Revolt, the Tenth Amendment, the Progressive movement, the right to live, and his belief that one group of people should not be able to decide about another group's lives.
"..[T]here's an old cellar hole, and it's got some water in it, and it's got some salamander eggs...we have a law that says you can't cut your trees. That is just as much a taking of land as the White Pine Revolt, 300 years ago where the king came here and said, 'It may be private land, but I own all the trees.' That's what we fought about with the White Pine Revolt, and we won, finally, with the Revolution, but I..sit here sometimes and say, 'The battle isn't won.'"
Listen to part 2 of the interview here:
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Full disclosure: I was a paid staffer for the Beardsley for Governor campaign.