The mayors of Portland and South Portland, Maine, are urging Congress to reject a provision in a wide-ranging farm bill that would nullify local anti-pesticide ordinances adopted in recent years.
In a joint opinion piece published by The Hill, a news website focusing on national politics, Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling and South Portland Mayor Linda Cohen urged federal lawmakers to kill a provision of the farm bill passed by the House of Representatives that would make regulating pesticides the purview of the federal government.
“As elected officials, we strongly oppose congressional interference in our mandate to protect our communities’ health and environment,” the mayors wrote. “Here on the rocky coast of Maine, we live in a complex and fragile ecosystem that we strive to protect. We do not want the federal government to roll back our high standards and replace them with laws favorable to chemical corporations.”
The House and the Senate passed different versions of the bill, which is now being reconciled by the Congressional Conference Committee. National environmental advocacy groups say the pesticide industry spent tens of millions of dollars on lobbying and won significant concessions in the House bill, which passed by only a two-vote margin in June.
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