February 2022

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Thank you to all of our members who voted this fall for new Executive Committee members to represent them for the next two years! Please join us in welcoming our four new members: Julia St. Clair, Patricia Rubert-Nason, John Fitzgerald, and Corrine Kucirka Adamowicz! Click here to read more about them and all of our Executive Committee members.

Julia St. Clair - Julia (she/her) is an environmental activist, gardener, and photographer with a passion for food justice, protecting rivers, advocating for Indigenous rights, and stopping fossil fuel pipelines. As a young person originally from Maine, she is deeply passionate about protecting Maine’s environment and ensuring a just, equitable, and sustainable future for all Mainers. She is excited to join the ExCom and support the committee’s work to tackle the mounting environmental injustices and the impending climate crisis, bringing her youth-focused and justice-oriented voice to the table. 

Patricia Rubert-Nason - Tricia is a mother, an engineer, a researcher, a consultant and a climate activist. She is an active member of the legislative and energy teams and looks forward to bringing a scientific perspective on climate solutions and a consultant's systematic approach to problem-solving to the Executive Committee. She hopes you will join her in fighting the climate crisis and the degradation of ecosystems and natural lands. 

John Fitzgerald - John is a lawyer who moved back to Maine after a career in Washington, D.C. working to improve and implement environmental, wildlife and energy conservation law and government responsiveness at the Federal and international levels. He is counsel to Methane Action and a member of the boards of the Environmental Investigation Agency and the Climate Protection and Restoration Initiative. He is eager to help the Maine chapter enhance its leverage at the state and Federal levels on climate change in particular.

Corrine Kucirka Adamowicz - Corrine began volunteering for Sierra Club Maine in 2013 when she moved to Falmouth from Pennsylvania. She serves as Treasurer and as a member of the Fundraising and Events teams. Corrine is also the MaineShare coordinator for Sierra Club Maine. Corrine's professional career included working as a corporate training manager, project manager, account executive and sales manager. She has been politically active volunteering for every presidential campaign for the past thirty years. She is an avid environmentalist from a young age. Corrine is very much looking forward to contributing to the mission of SCM as a board member.

Last year, Sierra Club Maine tirelessly organized and lobbied for consumer owned utility legislation alongside our partners, and it made a difference. There was a robust grassroots legislative campaign resulting in unprecedented, bipartisan majority votes in the committee, House, and Senate. After Governor Mills vetoed the bill, Our Power organized its supporters from York to Fort Kent and launched its signature gathering effort this fall which, despite the pandemic and recent cold temperatures, got almost three-quarters of the required signatures in less than 3 months. Now, the campaign enters the new year with tremendous momentum, a solid base of support, and a clear vision for the future. 

We thank you all for your support of our efforts and Our Power’s, and we look forward to gathering the rest of the signatures in the months to come! See Our Power’s press release here.

With the Second Regular Session of the 130th Maine Legislature in full swing, Sierra Club Maine is focused on specific priority bills to direct our lobbying efforts. Together with our partners in Maine’s Environmental Priorities Coalition, we’ve identified a slate of priority bills that will have the greatest impact in protecting Maine’s environment, public health, and climate future. They include: LD 1626 : Tribal Sovereignty; LD 1639: Out of State Waste; Water Reclassification Package (No LD yet); and the Kennebec Dams defensive priority (No LD yet); LD 1902: Climate Change Education; LD 736: Ecological Reserves; and LD 489: Pine Tree Amendment.
 
You can see fact sheets and learn more here.
 
Our other Chapter priorities are LD 1634: Maine Generation Authority, LD 1875 & LD 1911: two critical PFAS bills, and many others which you can view on our website’s Legislative Team page. This list gets updated regularly, especially early in the session.
 
As always, our advocacy efforts depend on citizen activist power; we need you involved in the legislative process! If you have any questions about our priorities or want to get more involved, please contact matthew.cannon@sierraclub.org.

Maine has a strong tradition of the working waterfront. Last summer, I harvested seaweed out of South Gouldsboro, a small Downeast fishing village. Each morning, we woke for low tide, sometimes as early as 3:15 AM, donned our wetsuits, and motored towards the sunrise to small islands and ledges in Frenchman Bay, near Acadia National Park. Once it was light enough, we slid into the frigid 55° water to cut the golden strands of kelp. In the joy of bouncing in the waves, seeing seals and porpoises, and the satisfaction of pulling in our haul for the day, I felt connected to the environment around me, and knew we, like most of the fishermen working around us, were working to create a sustainable fishery and community. 

From a local shellfish farmer, I heard about a proposal to bring salmon pens into Frenchman Bay, the same bay I harvested seaweed in, near where I go to school at College of the Atlantic. This was the water where I learned how to run boats and studied marine biology, and these were the shores I walked along almost every day. Though I was supportive of shellfish and seaweed aquaculture and had worked on the school’s aquaculture site, the salmon farms seemed like they would do more harm than good. Continue reading Hallie’s article here.

Do you enjoy connecting with people, writing cards, or talking about the importance of protecting our planet? If so, our Advancement Team is the team for you! We are looking for volunteers who will help our Advancement Team connect individuals, companies, and foundations to our work, inspiring them to make a donation to help in our mission to explore, enjoy, and protect the planet. Activities include:

If you are interested in volunteering with our Advancement Team, please fill out our volunteer interest form here. Our next volunteer orientation is February 23rd at 12pm, you can register here.

As you order your seeds for this year’s garden, you may want to order a packet or two of cabbage seed. In his article in the winter issue of The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener, “Cabbage: A Trusty Old Staple,” Will Bonsall sings the praises of growing cabbage in the garden. “While cabbage may lack the glamour of its chic relatives—broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts,” Bonsall writes, “...it stores well to feed hungry bellies.” Bonsall offers tips for seed starting, cultivation, pest management, and storage. “For my purposes there are three types of cabbage: green, red and savoy. The first two are ideal for sauerkraut, whereas savoy cabbage, due to its crinkly leaves, does not kraut well, being better suited for raw salad (as in Waldorf) or steaming or stir-frying.” Read the full article for Bonsall’s cabbage tips, and his sauerkraut recipe.
 
MOFGA will be hosting a virtual Gardening Q&A Thursday, February 3, at 7pm. Join them to ask any questions you may have as you get set up for a great growing season. “This is a free, informal session and it welcomes those growing a garden for the first time right up through those who have been growing for decades.” Register here.

Do you have a green tip that you would like to have included in a future newsletter? Please share it with us here!

Here are some of the meetings and events we have coming up. We hope to see you soon!