University of Maine at Presque Isle Graduation

President Zillman, honored guests, graduates and families, thank you for sharing this special day with me.

I would like to recognize Stephen Richard and Joan Benoit Samuelson, who are receiving honorary degrees today.

Stephen sets an amazing example with his commitment to Presque Isle and Aroostook County. For more than three decades, he has helped the people of this community improve their lives.

Joan is a native Mainer who has made her mark as a world-class marathoner. She won the Gold Medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She did it just days after having knee surgery. Joan is an inspirational ambassador for her sport, for physical fitness and for Maine.

It is an honor to be here with all of you to celebrate the Class of 2007.

In a commencement address not unlike this one today, the famous cartoonist and Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau said: "Commencement speeches were invented largely in the belief that outgoing college students should never be released into the world until they have been properly sedated."

Given that task, I'm confident that over the next two hours of my speech I can get the job done.

For many of you, the road toward today began four years ago when you entered the University of Maine at Presque Isle as freshmen.

For others -- those on what I call the John Baldacci track -- it might have taken a little longer.

Today, we pay tribute to the work you have completed.

But we also recognize and celebrate the endless opportunities that stretch out before you.

As you sit out there listening - wondering just how long I will actually talk before you receive the degree you have worked so hard for - I want you to know that for you the world is boundless.

No doors are closed. No dreams are out of reach. Everything is possible.

Graduation is as much about what CAN BE and what WILL BE as it is about what has been.

After today, many of you will reach beyond Presque Isle and the places you call home. You will strike out on your own, leaving behind the safe and the comfortable.

Life stretches before you like chapters in a great novel, and it is both scary and exciting to know that all you've read so far is the introduction. The best parts are waiting to be discovered.

I know without any doubt that the Class of 2007 will accomplish great things.

You will leave your mark on Maine and on the world. You are destined for great things.

Now I'd like to say a few words to mom and dad, grandma and grandpa and to all the uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces, husbands and wives that are here today.

These graduates have made you proud. But they did not get here by themselves.

Your support has made today possible. When you first read "Go, Dog Go" or "Blueberries for Sal" to your little baby, you were laying the foundation for today.

When you taught your toddler to play by the rules and to be considerate of other people's feelings, you were laying the foundation for today.

When you convinced them to stick with those music lessons or to study a little harder or try a little more, you were laying the foundation for today.

And when you opened your hearts - and your wallets - to help your kids go off to college, you were laying the foundation for today.

As the humorist Erma Bombeck once said, "Graduation day is tough for adults. They go to the ceremony as parents. They come out as contemporaries. After 22 years of child-raising, they are unemployed."

The child-raising may be over, but the work of being a parent never ends. You have done a great job. And the proof is sitting right here in cap and gown.

You deserve a round of applause.

As a family, I believe we have two primary responsibilities: To prepare our children for a bright future and to preserve and protect our natural resources for future generations.

Because you have chosen to attend the University of Maine at Presque Isle, I know that you understand the second.

Aroostook County is like few places in the world. Its wilderness and wildness have captured the imagination of poets, and are held dear even by people who have never had the opportunity to visit.

You have gone to school in a unique place, surrounded by natural beauty and by people who understand the importance of community.

It takes a certain hardiness of spirit to live and work in Northern Maine. Nobody makes it on his or her own. Neighbors look out for neighbors, and there's a real sense that everyone is in it together.

That special sense of place exists all over Maine.

But there's no guarantee that it will survive the quick pace of change the state is facing. In parts of the state, particularly around our lakes and rivers, along the coast and in Southern Maine, there is tremendous pressure being placed on communities.

The characteristics that set the state apart - that have drawn people from around the world - are in jeopardy.

But it's not too late to make sure that Maine's natural beauty and resources are protected.

That's were you come in. Like no generation before you, you understand the impact that people have on the world.

You recognize the need for conservation and for protecting the environment.

In Maine, we're doing the difficult work to protect our most valuable assets. We've protected the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and fulfilled Governor Baxter's dream by adding Katahdin Lake to Baxter State Park.

During a time of great upheaval and when great tracts of land have changed hands, Maine has been able to protect hundreds of thousands of acres of land.

We've made sure that it's not only going to be there for you, but also for your kids and grandkids.

And we're taking steps to combat the single biggest environmental threat facing the planet, climate change.

Maine is part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a partnership between states in the Northeast that will reduce the emissions of the pollution that causes climate change.

We're also working to promote clean, renewable sources of energy such as wind power. This year Maine reached an important milestone. 100 percent of the power used to run State buildings comes from renewable sources.

It's all part of our State's efforts to become energy independent, which is vital for our economic, environmental and physical security.

Maine has been, and continues to be, an environmental leader.

Just this week I signed an executive order that will help our state capitalize on its potential for wind power.

And I support the idea of a wind turbine project right here on the campus of the University of Maine at Presque Isle that would help meet the power needs for the campus.

Maine must be aggressive in pursuing alternative sources of energy.

While the environmental implications are clear, it's also crucial for our economic health.

In the past, we have been presented with a false choice between having jobs and a clean environment. In this case, you really can have it all.

Don't take my word for it. Look around the world and you can see it.

In the United Kingdom, the economy has grown by 50 percent, but their emissions of greenhouse gases have gone down. They have committed to wind power and it's paying dividends - cleaner air and water and new jobs.

The story is similar in Denmark. The economy is growing, but the environment isn't paying the price.

The same natural resources that paved the way for Maine's economy in the past can be put to work again today - only this time it will be in pursuit of clean, renewable energy.

We have great potential for more hydro, tidal and wind power, and the resources to become a major center for the production of biofuels.

As we grow this technology, new jobs, good jobs will come with it.

You and your generation will lead the way into this transition and into the new industries that are created.

In recent years, Maine has faced increased pressure from around the world. The world is a much smaller place than it was just a short while ago.

People, money, ideas and goods can move around the world at lightening speed. In today's information oriented world, old distances and borders fade away.

Rapid globalization has left many communities struggling to adapt. We've seen cheep imports take a toll on Maine companies and products.

But for all the challenges of globalization, the interdependence it spawns also creates incredible opportunities. As for our other priority: Making sure that Maine's kids have a bright future, today's graduating class proves that we are doing a lot of things right.

You are sitting here today on the verge of a great adventure. You are ready. I expect great things from you.

But, Maine cannot rest on your success. We must continue to push the boundaries.

A good education doesn't happen by accident. Maine has some of the very best teachers, professors and colleges in the country, but we haven't always treated them like we should.

If we want the Class of 2012 to be as prepared as the Class of 2007, we have to support our universities and community colleges.

We have to make sure their doors are open to every Maine student, and that they can continue to prepare them for a rapidly changing and exciting world.

That means Maine must do a better job of supporting its institutions of higher learning. We haven't always done a good job providing our universities and colleges with the financial support they deserve.

We can do better, and I promise that education will remain one of my top priorities for the rest of my time in office.

There's a quote attributed to Mark Twain that fits perfectly with today's event: "Twenty years from now," Twain said, "you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails."

At times in your life, you will feel the powerful pull of inertia, begging you to stay still, to remain where you are and what you are.

Don't be satisfied and don't be afraid.

Great accomplishments sometimes require us to leave the safe and well-worn path. At times, we have to risk failure, embarrassment or rejection.

I will tell you -- as someone who has lived his life in the public eye -- not one of those is a fatal ailment. They only feel like it.

The best ideas often live right outside of our comfort zones. We have to stretch out to reach them.

We have to challenge the status quo and the conventional wisdom. We have to look beyond the moment, and sometimes we have to take a chance.

I'll leave you with one last thought, from poet Henry David Thoreau, who came to Maine and made the North Woods famous: "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."

Congratulations Class of 2007. Godspeed as you chase your dreams.

Source