"Maine's new Tea Party governor is drawing the ire of environmental groups and health advocates, who charge that his proposed set of 63 regulatory rollbacks would threaten the state's nature-based economy and hamper its bold climate change efforts.

'Maine has been a real leader when it comes to these issues … and [the proposals] would put us at the back end,' Nathaniel Meyer, a field associate with Environment Maine, told SolveClimate News.

Gov. Paul LePage unveiled his list of proposed cutbacks on Jan. 21, after conducting a series of 'red-tape' audits with businesses and chambers of commerce to single out government rules that could be holding back business development in Maine."

Maria Gallucci reports for SolveClimate January 31, 2011. [2]