Sierra Club Maine Seeks
New Chapter Director
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The Chapter’s Director, Sarah Leighton, has recently accepted a new position at our national office. Over the last three years, Sarah has worked tirelessly to grow our Chapter and deepen our impact in Maine. We thank her for her leadership and wish her best of luck in her newest adventure!
We are now accepting applications for a new Maine Chapter Director. The person in this role will work side by side with the Chapter’s Executive Committee to set and carry out state level priorities all while centering equity, inclusion, and justice. We are in search of a strategic leader with a high level of experience in organizational management, fundraising, and public relations, who will continue to work with our staff team and volunteer leaders and take our Chapter to the next level. Learn more about the position here and please help us spread the word!
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Sierra Club Maine Seeks
Executive Committee Nominations
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Do you want to make a meaningful difference by helping Sierra Club Maine ensure a clean and just economy, elect pro-environment candidates, and protect Maine’s woods and waters for generations to come? Consider serving as a member of Sierra Club Maine’s Executive Committee. The committee sets the Chapter’s priorities, goals, and strategies which directly impact our state.
Committee positions are open to all Sierra Club members. Committee members are elected on two year terms. If you’re a member (or know a member) with an interest in supporting Sierra Club’s work in Maine, please complete this form by August 1st. The Sierra Club is committed to seeking a diverse pool of candidates and encourages members from any geographical region in Maine, background, race, gender, age, or identity to apply.
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Chapter Selects 2023 Priorities
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Every year the Maine Chapter sets both programmatic goals (e.g. advocacy around issues) and capacity-building goals (e.g. growing our chapter). During February and March 2023, Sierra Club Maine eagerly convened with volunteers and staff to review past priorities and solicit proposals for future priorities—ones that will have the greatest impact in curbing the climate crisis. Thank you to all those who joined us! We were especially pleased to have over twenty volunteer leaders participate in the selection process this year in addition to the many members who provided their feedback in our survey.
Based on feedback from volunteers and staff, the Sierra Club Maine Executive Committee voted to select the following priorities for 2023:
Program Priorities
Capacity-Building Priorities
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Strengthening our Commitment to Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (EIJ)
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Fundraising to Grow our Chapter
Sierra Club Maine is a grassroots organization that relies on the passion of volunteers to make real change. We need your help to make these goals a reality! Interested in getting involved? Learn more here, or reach out to us at maine.chapter@sierraclub.org.
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Welcome New
Executive Committee Member!
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Please join us in welcoming Anna Siegel to Sierra Club Maine’s Executive Committee!
Anna (she/her) is the Advocacy Director of Maine Youth Action and a founding member of Maine Youth for Climate Justice (MYCJ). Anna is a volunteer with the Sierra Club Maine’s Political Team. She is also a member of the Yarmouth Committee for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability and the Yarmouth Climate Action Taskforce. In 2019 and 2020 she served as the Maine state lead for the global climate strike efforts and worked with MYCJ to organize actions that spurred over half a dozen climate emergency declarations. During this time she was also a member of a working group of the Maine Climate Council. Anna’s work since then has included legislative initiatives, more municipal policy, electoral advocacy, and other grassroots campaigns. She is particularly passionate about climate
finance, conservation-oriented forestry, and building power through successful action models. In 2022 she was named a Brookie Awardee by the Natural Resources Council of Maine and a Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awardee. She was also named Sierra Club Maine’s Volunteer of the Year in 2022. Anna also worked in 2022 and 2023 as a Coach for The Climate Mobilization, advising local groups on movement-building.
Anna first became interested in climate advocacy because of her love for birds. She is a proud member of the Maine Young Birders Club and worked as the Outreach Lead for the 30-Year Bird Project. She hopes to engage more in bird-related research. She enjoys birding, hiking, and writing poetry.
Learn about all of our Executive Committee members here.
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Photo by Dennis Schroede, National Renewable Energy Laboratory 40481
Our Support for
Offshore Wind Development
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The climate crisis continues to barrel towards us, threatening Maine’s pristine environment and our communities. This crisis requires big, bold action. We must quickly and equitably transition our fossil fuel based economy into a new, renewable energy economy, and offshore wind projects will be essential. As we transition to a 100% clean energy grid, we must also avoid impacts to wildlife and ecosystems to the greatest extent possible to avoid accelerating the ongoing biodiversity crisis. Environmentally responsible offshore wind energy projects can spur economic development, create jobs in coastal communities, improve energy security, and cut climate-destabilizing pollution.
The Sierra Club strongly supports the development of substantial wind resources for electricity generation. Wind power is a reliable, clean, renewable resource that can help reduce our dependence on polluting fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) and nuclear power for electricity. The Gulf of Maine is the best offshore wind resource area in the eastern US, with the ultimate potential of tens of gigawatts of wind generation capacity 1
. Offshore wind will provide a stable and affordable source of electricity, protecting Maine people and businesses from the volatile price spikes we are experiencing because of the region’s heavy reliance on dirty oil and gas. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), offshore wind can be a major clean energy source for the New England electric grid — and the winds in the Gulf of Maine peak in the winter months when Maine’s energy use is the highest.
Continue reading here.
1Computing America’s Offshore Wind Energy Potential
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The Sierra Club Maine Legislative Team continues to advocate for our priorities in Augusta as we near the end of the session! Here are some of the things our team has been working on in May:
Check out our testimony on other important bills here, and keep up to date with the bills we are following here!
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Photos of Common Buckthorn with flowers and berries from Maine.gov
WANTED: Invasive Plants: Buckthorn
by Mandy Ball for IPA (Invasive Plant Annihilation)
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The Invasive Plant Annihilation is a group interested in learning about invasive plants in Maine. They recently highlighted buckthorn, sharing tips on identification and eradication:
“Buckthorn is a highly invasive and aggressive deciduous tree in Maine. Common Buckthorn and Glossy Buckthorn are prevalent in all of Maine. Common Buckthorn grows in any kind of soil, in sun or shade. Glossy Buckthorn prefers wetter, sunnier areas. They both grow rapidly, reaching seed bearing age quickly. Birds readily spread the berries. Buckthorn is an allelopathic plant: The roots, leaves and berries contain a chemical that inhibits the growth of other species. They leaf out earlier in the spring and retain their leaves later into the fall, competing with and crowding out many of our native plants (including some rare species).”
Continue reading here.
If you’d like to join the Invasive Plant Annihilation, they meet at the Prince Memorial Library in Cumberland on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 6:30pm, April through November. All are welcome! To be added to their email list, email Mandy at mandyballroomdance@gmail.com.
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Photo by Kayla Birdsall
Take This 2 Question Survey
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Do you want to save Maine’s environment while reducing your taxes?
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Are you at least 70½ years or older?
If you answered YES to the questions above, consider an IRA Charitable Rollover! Use your required minimum distribution (RMD) for good. If you are at least 70½ years or older, you can satisfy your RMD and save on taxes by making a gift to support Sierra Club Maine’s charitable programs through the Sierra Club Foundation directly from your IRA.
With an IRA Charitable Rollover, you can see the impact your gift has in protecting Maine’s environment throughout your lifetime. Funds remaining in retirement accounts after your lifetime are heavily taxed if left to someone other than a spouse. Many donors choose to use their IRA resources for charitable giving, while leaving other less tax burden assets to family and friends.
Designating your gift to Sierra Club Maine will protect Maine’s environment for generations to come. Please be sure to make all checks out to “Sierra Club Foundation” and write “Maine Chapter” in the memo. For more information, please contact Sarah at sarah.leighton@sierraclub.org.
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Photo by Djedj
Green Tip of the Month:
Recycle the Unrecyclable
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Overconsumption and a throwaway culture have led to a global waste crisis. While even complex trash is technically recyclable, most materials are not profitable to recycle. As a result, waste piles up in landfills and pollutes our planet while virgin materials are extracted from the earth to create new products.
TerraCycle is working to solve this issue by Eliminating the Idea of Waste ®. They have free programs (sponsored by manufacturers) and paid programs where just about any home item can be recycled. Learn more about how TerraCycle is working to eliminate the idea of waste.
Let’s do our part to keep trash out of landfills and incinerators. You can become a public drop-off point for TerraCycle, or view drop off points near you online here. Nordstrom Rack in South Portland and Home Ec. Market in Presque Isle are a couple of drop off points in Maine!
Thank you Leyza Toste for sharing TerraCycle with us! Do you have a green tip that you would like to have included in a future newsletter? Please share it with us here!
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Photo by Heather Sharkey
The Month Ahead
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Here are some of the meetings and events we have coming up. We hope to see you soon!
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