Sierra Club Maine looks a lot different than it did when we started our work 40 years ago. But our mission remains the same. We are a powerful grassroots movement advocating for climate justice. While we have more staff than ever before, we will never be a large organization. But what we have learned over the last few years is that with each new hire, our ability to empower our communities grows exponentially.
We are excited to share some new staffing changes that will increase our capacity to serve even more people. Matt Cannon, our Associate Director of Campaigns and Policy, has been busy working on our conservation, energy, political, and legislative work. Thanks to the support of some generous donors we have been able to turn Matt’s current role into two different positions—one legislative and political and one conservation and energy. Matt will transition his role to focus exclusively on conservation and energy issues including building electrification, land conservation, sustainable aquaculture, and clean transportation. Our Grassroots Organizer, Ania Wright, will be stepping into a new role as Legislative and Political Specialist utilizing her expertise in community organizing to pass more environmental bills and elect more climate justice leaders.
Because of Ania’s new role, we are looking to hire a new Grassroots Organizer! This position will be a core member of our team helping to organize and empower communities across Maine for climate justice.
We are also looking to hire a temporary Philanthropy Officer who can help our Chapter with its long-term sustainability. This team member will coordinate the Chapter’s fundraising efforts, work with major gift donors and foundations, and support volunteers in fundraising activities.
Keep an eye out for more information about these two positions on the Sierra Club careers page here.
Legislative Session in Full Swing
The second half of this 130th legislative session is shorter but no less busy. We’re working hard with our volunteer legislative team to advocate for bills that represent our best interests.
You can see all Maine Chapter priority bills (and their text) here. You can also see here for more information on the Environmental Priorities Coalition (EPC) priority bills. Here is some of the progress we’ve made thus far:
This bill was reported out of committee favorably. Check out NRCM’s ecological reserves webinar to learn more.
LD 1964 - Water Reclassification
LD 1634 - Maine Generation Authority
LD 1656 - Green Affordable Housing
LD 1974 - Climate Corps Funding
LD 1969 - Clean Energy Work Standards
LD 1911 - Prohibit Contaminationof soils with ‘forever chemicals’
LD 1875 - Address PFAS in solid waste
Sierra Club Maine is only actively opposing one bill: LD 1979 - Dam Removal Bill. We oppose this bill because LD 1979 would disrupt the state’s ability to support science-based solutions for improving the health of Maine’s rivers. Maine's natural resource agencies must retain authority to improve the health of Maine’s rivers, including through recommending dam removal, despite the efforts of dam owners to protect their profits.
Federal Lobby Visits on PFAS
The recent news on PFAS (forever chemicals) being discovered throughout the state is devastating. Farms are having to close and our health continues to be threatened. In coordination with our friends at Defend Our Health, we organized constituent meetings with Senator Collins' and Rep. Golden’s offices. These meetings gave farmers impacted by PFAS contamination the opportunity to share their incredibly powerful and heartbreaking stories. Unfortunately, these stories are just the tip of the iceberg and we expect the list of farmers affected to grow.
We need comprehensive action right now and are asking our federal delegation to create legislation to help impacted farmers. These forever chemicals threaten to ruin farmers’ livelihoods, contaminate our lands and soils, and destroy everyone’s physical health.
Stay tuned for more action alerts on PFAS.
2022 Elections: Let's Get Started!
The 2022 electoral season is here and we must have candidates and incumbents who will represent the best interests of Mainers and the environment. You can help make this a reality by joining our Political Team! Our all-volunteer Political Team reviews and endorses electoral candidates (federal and state) so our members can be better informed at the polls. If you have an interest in joining the Political Team, contact us at maine.chapter@sierraclub.org. All are welcome!
National Sierra Club Elections are Underway - VOTE!
The annual election for Sierra Club’s Board of Directors is now underway. Those eligible to vote in the national Sierra Club election will receive their ballot and additional information in early March either by mail or by internet if they chose electronic delivery.
Your participation is critical for a Strong Sierra Club. The Sierra Club is a democratically structured organization at all levels. It requires the regular flow of views on policy and priorities from its grassroots membership in order to function well. Yearly participation in elections at all levels is a major membership obligation.
How can you learn about the candidates? Each candidate provides a statement about themselves and their views on the issues on the official election ballot. You can learn more by asking questions of your chapter leadership and other experienced members. You can also visit our election website: www.sierraclub.org/board/election.
Voting Online is Quick and Easy! Even if you receive your election materials in the mail, we encourage you to use our user-friendly voting website to save time and postage. Your ballots must be received by no later than 12pm on April 27, 2022.
Photo by iStock.com/SDI Productions
50 Days Until Earth Day!
Earth Day is right around the corner and we’re looking forward to celebrating with you! This year we’re getting folks outside—enjoying our planet and giving back. On April 22nd and 23rd we’ll be hosting hikes and encouraging folks to help clean up their community. If you’re interested in cleaning up your neighborhood, local beach, park, or other area, let us know by completing this interest form. In the meantime, keep an eye out for more information on our Earth Day events by following us on social media ( Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and checking in on our Earth Day webpage. #SCMaineEarthDay
Volunteer Opportunity of the Month: Organize a Community or Climate Action Team in Your Community!
Through Sierra Club Maine’s Climate and Community Action Team program, Mainers are taking charge of their future; by spearheading community solar projects, installing solar panels on school or town buildings, developing town energy efficiency plans, advocating for public transportation, launching recycling/compost programs, opposing dirty energy projects, and much more!
To help new teams get started, we’ve developed a Community Organizing Toolkit, with resources we have gathered from our current teams, and from our national organizers. We’re also excited to be partnering with A Climate to Thrive on a new project called “Local Leads the Way.” The project aims to connect locally led groups across the state working in their communities on climate solutions. The March meeting of the group is still being scheduled, but check our events calendar for updates!
Photo by Daniel Thomas
Green Tip of the Month
by Kyle Bonus
Most companies harp on the importance of opting into e-billing as a way to save paper and in turn save trees. While saving trees should be an important driver to encourage folks to opt into e-billing, there are many other important factors to consider:
Less energy is required to print
Reduces the amount of energy used to send the mail
Most ink is toxic and can be harmful to the environment as paper biodegrades
Some companies may make it difficult to navigate to e-billing or we may even find ourselves forgetting to log in to accounts to opt in after receiving the first paper bill. Keep these benefits in mind and consider making the extra effort to transition all of your accounts to e-billing.
Do you have a green tip that you would like to have included in a future newsletter? Please share it with us here!
L: Photo by iStock.com/Drbouz, R: Photo by Ryan Jacobson
The Month Ahead
Here are some of the meetings and events we have coming up. We hope to see you soon!
Learn about the types of hydrogen, how they are produced, and what to watch for from guest speaker Cara Bottorff, Sierra Club Senior Electric Sector Analyst, and author of this article.
The transition to clean energy is happening faster than most people realize. Join guest speaker Phil Coupe, Co-Founder of ReVision Energy, as he shares how solar electricity is positioning humanity to rapidly accelerate the transition to the better future we know is possible for ourselves and generations to come.
Join Sierra Club Maine and Kittery Land Trust for a look at the stars and constellation Leo in the east. We’ll have a brief talk about the Globe at Night citizen science campaign which is raising public awareness of the impact of light pollution.
