Democracy Forum 2/17/17

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine    
Engineer: John Greenman

Program Topic: Ballot Questions in Maine: Whose Initiatives Are They?

Key Discussion Points:
We’ll discuss what happened in the recent election
What our constitution provides
What role the legislature and the governor are playing now.

Guests:
a) John Brautigam, Attorney and election law expert
b) Ron Schmidt, Associate Professor of Political Science at USM. https://usm.maine.edu/pos/ronald-schmidt

To learn more about this topic:
Laws Governing the Initiative Process in Maine
Initiated Bills in Maine 1911 –
Peoples Vetoes in Maine 1909 –
Referenda in Maine 1910 –
As Progressives Turn to Ballot Initiatives, GOP Eyes Restrictions Steve Mistler story for Maine Public, February 2, 2017.

The all-volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes:
Don Carmichael
Suzanne Carmichael
Starr Gilmartin
Maggie Harling
Linda Hoskins
Ann Luther
Maryann Ogonowski
Pam Person
Leah Taylor
Linda Washburn

FMI re League of Women Voters of Maine: www.lwvme.org

RadioActive 2/16/17

Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco

Issue: Environmental and Social Justice

Program Topic: Update from Resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock

Key Discussion Points:
1) Penobscot Water Protector Dawn Neptune Adams and Indigenous Environmental Network organizer Kandi Mossett report on the Dakota Access Pipeline, which is slated to cross Standing Rock Sioux treaty lands, directly above their reservation and under the Missouri River’s Lake Oahe, source for the area’s water supply.
2)Under the directive of a Trump executive order, the Army Corp of Engineers halted an Environmental Impact Study and issued the last easement needed by Energy Transfer Partners to lay the Dakota Access Pipeline across Standing Rock Sioux treaty lands, directly above their reservation and under the Missouri River’s Lake Oahe, source for the area’s water supply. Though legal challenges are still in court, the company has resumed construction of the pipeline.
3) The Dakota Access Pipeline is slated to carry fracked oil from the locally polluting Bakken Shale fields, an extraction operation effecting the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation at the Fort Berthold Reservation. IEN organizer, Kandi Mossett is a member of this Nation.

Guests:
Dawn Neptune Adams, Penobscot Water Protector at Standing Rock
Kandi Mossett, Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) www.ienearth.org www indigenousrising.org
indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/fort-berthold-reservation-to-provide-backdrop-for-international-discussion-on-energy-and-climate-change/

This program was produced in partnership with the Sunlight Media Collective.