MCV Blog

Building Maine's Clean Energy Future at the University of Maine

by Meghan Hurley • March 16, 2023

When I think of clean energy and the technology that generates it – like offshore wind turbines, solar panels, even 3-D printers that churn out bio-based building materials – I picture blue skies and clean air. I imagine clear flowing waterways and skylines free of smoke stacks. And while I’m... Read More >>

Hope in Collective Support for Floating Offshore Wind in Maine

by Terra Gallo • August 30, 2022

A few weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to attend a trip to the Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island with other environmental advocates, policymakers, and business leaders from Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. This wind farm was the first offshore wind project in the United States, and... Read More >>

Acting on the Climate Crisis through Community Service

by Stacie Haines • February 18, 2022

From 1997 to 2000, I served in the Peace Corps in Sub-Saharan Africa. I lived deep in a village along the Niger River where my only way out was a half day’s journey by bush boat on Wednesdays to the closest open air market. In the village, Tondeye, there was... Read More >>

To Protect Critical Ecosystems, We Must Expand Our Ecological Reserve System

by Stacie Haines • February 11, 2022

In Maine’s Moosehead Lake region, it is easy to spot Big Spencer. Formed by volcanic rocks, it juts out of the landscape with its sibling, Little Spencer, close by. Both Big and Little Spencer beckoned to me – and my hiking buddies – for a few years before we decided... Read More >>

Maine's Youth Deserve Climate Education

by Abigail Bradford • February 9, 2022

I didn’t learn the full science of climate change until I majored in that subject at UMaine Orono. We are in a climate emergency, and yet the science behind our rapidly changing climate and what we must do to curb the crisis was largely glossed over in my public K-1... Read More >>

Supporting our Wabanaki Neighbors this Thanksgiving

by Maureen Drouin • November 24, 2021

This Thanksgiving, all of us at Maine Conservation Voters give thanks for your support of the work we do to create a safe, equitable, and healthy environment, democracy, and society for all Maine people. It has been nearly two years since our nation went into lockdown as the pandemic first... Read More >>

Hiking Maine's Woods, Coastline, Farmlands, and Working Waterfronts

by Stacie Haines • April 26, 2021

For more than 30 years, the Land for Maine's Future (LMF) program has protected some of Maine's most beautiful and important natural and recreational areas. It has protected more than 600,000 acres of forests, farms, and land for recreation in all 16 counties across the state. After years of inaction... Read More >>

Vermont won their fight against aerial herbicides. It’s past time for Maine to win ours.

by Stacie Haines • March 1, 2021

At the end of August 1995, Lloyd Gierke, resident of Brunswick, VT received a notice that 180-acres of land owned by Boise Cascade Paper Company, bordering his land, would be sprayed with an herbicide within the next few days. Lloyd contacted his local paper, The Times Argus, that ran a... Read More >>

The Inaccessibility of the Outdoors for BIPOC

by Maddie Brodrick • August 7, 2020

Living in Maine is synonymous with adventuring outside. As a Maine resident, you have most likely done, or at least know of someone who has done, one of the following: hiked from a local trailhead, canoed along the Kennebec River, climbed Katahdin, or day-tripped to Acadia National Park. All of... Read More >>

Climate Anxiety

by Lindley Saffeir • July 21, 2020

Tragic news about the environment seems to come at us daily. Whether that news is local, like Maine’s sea level rise, or international, such as disappearing small island nations in the Pacific, the deluge of somber reporting on the environment feels endless. As the climate crisis worsens, some experts are... Read More >>

Rebuilding Stronger from COVID-19 with Clean, Green Recovery for Rural Communities and All Mainers

by Abigail Bradford • June 29, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare inequalities and weaknesses in our economy, communities, and healthcare. It has also reinforced the need to make decisions about our future based on science and truth, not misinformation or fear. Slowing the spread of the virus; ramping up the availability of testing and necessary... Read More >>

Stern, Yet Gentle, Wildness: Henry David Thoreau’s Journey to Katahdin

by Andrew Meredith • June 22, 2020

“What a place to live, what a place to die and be buried in! There certainly men would live forever, and laugh at death and the grave.” -Thoreau reflecting on the image of the untapped Maine wilderness from the ridge of Katahdin At the end of August, 1846, Henry David... Read More >>

Black Lives Matter

by mierla • May 29, 2020

We condemn the recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black lives lost to racial violence. We call for accountability for the police officers who have taken these lives, for those that have allowed these lives to be taken, and for a reform of a... Read More >>

Webinar Recordings - The Maine Climate Council: Everything You Need to Know

by Abigail Bradford • May 28, 2020

On Wednesday, May 27, organizations from across the state hosted a webinar on the Maine Climate Council, which is drafting a new Climate Action Plan for Maine this year. That plan will include recommendations to reduce Maine's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 45% by 2030 and at least 80%... Read More >>

Communities, Climate, and the US Census

by Will Sedlack • April 17, 2020

The coronavirus has done something to time. We are suddenly and acutely aware of how long it really takes to wash our hands and how slowly housebound days pass. We know the projected impact of social distancing for 14-days compared to two months and we’re learning the long-term consequences of... Read More >>

Rebuilding from this Crisis Gives Us the Opportunity to Rebuild Stronger

by Abigail Bradford • April 17, 2020

The coronavirus crisis has revealed our resilience and our compassion, both as individuals and as communities. From my mother, aunt, and many others who are sewing masks; to people delivering groceries to their elderly neighbors; to school districts continuing to provide free pick-up meals for kids—even those that aren’t old... Read More >>

Creative Working from Home

by Gina Sawin • April 13, 2020

As MCV’s part time Administrative Coordinator, I have had much less to do these past few weeks – no office to look after and the staff are all self-supporting from home. But I do have another career, as a painter, and because of some opportunities to exhibit this summer, I’m... Read More >>

Toddler Mom Works From Home

by Greta Warren • April 5, 2020

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Keep our Elections (and Your Loved Ones) Safe

by Will Sedlack • April 1, 2020

This is a challenging time. It’s probably safe to assume you’ve shifted your priorities in every aspect of your life. We understand, and we’re with you. Bills, schedules, kids, social distancing – with so much uncertainty, it’s easy to feel powerless. As we navigate our daily lives, the July Primary... Read More >>

Stepping Up in the Face of Crisis

by Abigail Bradford • March 24, 2020

In the course of 5 minutes on Friday afternoon: My sister asked me if I could watch her kids next Thursday - she’s a nurse so is still working full-time, but now her 7 year-old daughter and 4 year-old son are also home full-time. Normally (having started my new job... Read More >>