"Excellent education and an excellent environment are two hallmarks of our state. How we treat our environment is connected to so many other opportunities in Maine"
About this Quote
Maine’s identity is anchored as much in its classrooms as in its coastlines and forests. The pairing of excellent education with an excellent environment describes a feedback loop: stewardship of land and water sustains livelihoods, and strong schools cultivate the knowledge, skills, and ethics needed to keep that stewardship alive. Former governor John Baldacci saw that link in practical terms. In a state branded as Vacationland, where fisheries, forestry, farming, and outdoor recreation drive so much of the economy, environmental quality is not an abstract value. It is the basis for opportunity.
When the Gulf of Maine warms faster than most of the world’s oceans, lobstermen feel it first. When forests are managed well, mills, carpenters, and the emerging bioeconomy benefit. Trails, clean lakes, and unspoiled coasts bring tourists and remote workers, which in turn support restaurants, guides, gear makers, and small tech firms. Treating the environment well is economic strategy.
Education ties these threads together. From K-12 environmental literacy to marine science at the University of Maine, from community colleges training wind turbine technicians to researchers working on sustainable composites and aquaculture, the state’s learning systems produce the problem-solvers who can adapt to climate change, diversify coastal economies, and make timber, energy, and tourism more resilient. Baldacci championed community colleges and pushed for renewable energy, including wind, recognizing that talent development and clean innovation go hand in hand.
Quality of life is also a recruitment tool. Families and entrepreneurs choose places where schools are strong and the outdoors is accessible and healthy. That attraction keeps young people in the state and draws new ones in, building the civic and economic base that funds further conservation and educational investment.
The message is not nostalgia but strategy: guard the woods, waters, and working waterfronts, and invest in learning at every level. Do both together, and Maine’s opportunities multiply; neglect either, and both falter.
When the Gulf of Maine warms faster than most of the world’s oceans, lobstermen feel it first. When forests are managed well, mills, carpenters, and the emerging bioeconomy benefit. Trails, clean lakes, and unspoiled coasts bring tourists and remote workers, which in turn support restaurants, guides, gear makers, and small tech firms. Treating the environment well is economic strategy.
Education ties these threads together. From K-12 environmental literacy to marine science at the University of Maine, from community colleges training wind turbine technicians to researchers working on sustainable composites and aquaculture, the state’s learning systems produce the problem-solvers who can adapt to climate change, diversify coastal economies, and make timber, energy, and tourism more resilient. Baldacci championed community colleges and pushed for renewable energy, including wind, recognizing that talent development and clean innovation go hand in hand.
Quality of life is also a recruitment tool. Families and entrepreneurs choose places where schools are strong and the outdoors is accessible and healthy. That attraction keeps young people in the state and draws new ones in, building the civic and economic base that funds further conservation and educational investment.
The message is not nostalgia but strategy: guard the woods, waters, and working waterfronts, and invest in learning at every level. Do both together, and Maine’s opportunities multiply; neglect either, and both falter.
Quote Details
| Topic | Nature |
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