Maine Small Business Coalition Endorses Waterfront Protection Ordinance
The Maine Small Business Coalition, comprised of more than 3,600 small business owners from across the state, is pleased to endorse the Waterfront Protection Ordinance, which will keep tar sands oil out of South Portland, risking spills and air pollution that will harm the environment and damage the community on which local small businesses rely. MSBC has over 100 businesses in South Portland specifically, and many others in the Casco Bay region that would be impacted by a tar sands facility there.
As an organization committed to building a strong economy that works for small business owners and their customers, protecting Maine's natural resources and Maine's quality of life is a top priority for MSBC. Large, multinational oil companies are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in South Portland to spread fear and misinformation, but small business owners know the truth. There has been a lot of talk about the economy in this campaign. But the real threat to the local economy comes from the health and environmental dangers posed by the handling of tar sands oil, not from protecting South Portland's water and air.
The Waterfront Protection Ordinance is part of a bigger story communities and states doing what they can prevent the dangerous risks of tar sands, including many communities in the Sebago Lake watershed. All of Maine should be protected from toxic tar sands oil. We are confident that a business-friendly city like South Portland will implement these narrow zoning changes to protect all businesses, small and large. We urge small business owners and all South Portland voters to vote FOR the Waterfront Protection Ordinance on November 5.