John,

With the holiday season in full swing, we're looking forward to the New Year and the incredible opportunities coming up to fight for Maine’s environment and climate future.

I wanted to take a couple of minutes to share some of our recent accomplishments and what we're gearing up for in 2020. Here's a peek at our recent work and what we have in store for the New Year. 

Season’s Greetings and warmest wishes for a happy 2020 - 

Maureen

Executive Director

Maine set a high bar on climate

As you know, Maine hit a grand slam on climate and clean energy policies this year. We were fortunate to have a forward-looking Governor and many legislative climate champions in Augusta — who were elected because so many pro-environment voters like you worked hard on key races and went to the polls on Election Day.

The 2019 legislative session saw historic progress on policies that confirm Maine's important role in tackling climate change. Lawmakers set critical goals to reduce carbon pollution by 80% by 2050 and transition Maine to 100% clean renewable energy by 2050. In 2020, lawmakers and stakeholders, including MCV and our allies, will be devoting significant time to ensuring that Maine puts plans in place to reach these goals.

MCV and the Governor's Climate Council

One of Maine's landmark laws established the Maine Climate Council, consisting of local and state officials, nonprofit and business leaders, tribal and youth members, as well as scientific experts. The Climate Council is charged with developing a Climate Action Plan, which will be delivered to the legislature in December 2020. The plan will address climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience and outline how Maine will meet our pollution reduction and renewable energy goals.

Three members of the MCV team are putting our backgrounds in climate and environmental policy to use as members of Climate Council working groups:

• Kathleen Meil, Director of Policy & Partnerships, co-chairs the Buildings, Infrastructure, and Housing Working Group and is serving on the council’s Steering Committee.

• Beth Ahearn, Director of Government Affairs, is serving on the Energy Working Group.

• I am a member of the Natural and Working Lands Working Group. 

A full Climate Council meeting — on January 29th at the Augusta Civic Center — is open to the public and will include presentations from the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and working group updates.

You can learn more about the Climate Council by clicking here.

The 2020 Session

We are preparing for the upcoming short legislative session, which runs from January through April. During this "emergency" session, only a limited number of bills are approved for hearing and consideration, including some bills that were carried over from last session. 

One of those bills is the stalled and still-unfunded Land for Maine's Future program. This popular program has protected more than 600,000 acres of some of Maine's most beautiful and important natural and recreational lands in all 16 counties across the state. We will be at the State House every day, working with the legislature to approve a substantial bond that could be sent to voters in either June or November 2020.

Environmental Priorities Coalition Priorities

Maine Conservation Alliance, MCV's partner organization, facilitates the Environmental Priorities Coalition, a partnership of 28 organizations that comes together every year to determine shared legislative priorities. This “common environmental agenda” consists of key bills that the EPC will work on collectively for a bigger impact to protect Maine’s environment, public health, and clean energy future.

This year's priority bills will be made public at the EPC’s Legislative Breakfast on January 16th starting at 8:00 AM in the back of the State House Cafeteria. You can learn more about the EPC here.

We also recently convened allies within Maine’s Environmental Priorities Coalition and beyond to build a long-term coordinated campaign for climate action. The near-term focus will be supporting the Climate Council’s Maine Climate Action Plan.

2020 Opportunities

While we approach the upcoming legislative session, we also have a close eye on the 2020 elections. Our PAC, MCV Action Fund, will be working hard to recruit and elect candidates so that we maintain strong, pro-environment majorities in both chambers of the State House. Because Maine employs term limits on state lawmakers, we will say goodbye to many House and Senate legislators, including eighteen Democrats and three Republicans in the House and two Democrats and one Republican in the Senate.

Many of these lawmakers are MCV allies and conservation champions, so we will need your help to fill these seats with people who share our conservation values!

Thank you!

The winter solstice and the holidays are a chance to reflect on family, community, and what we value most. As winter begins and sunlight returns, I want to share how grateful I am for your partnership in the fight to protect Maine’s air, land, water, and climate future.