The Legislature did great work this year on energy and environmental legislation. NRCM kept track of more than 160 pieces of legislation (out of more than 1500 introduced), and lawmakers did the right thing on nearly all of our priority bills. We have just mailed NRCM’s annual Environmental Report Card to members and supporters, and it shows that lawmakers received strong grades—nearly all A’s—for their work on environmental bills.
“We are particularly pleased with the passage of important bills dealing with energy efficiency, renewable energy, river protection, and toxic pollution,” says NRCM Advocacy Director Pete Didisheim. “We also were encouraged by the strong bipartisan support for many of the top energy and environmental issues addressed this session.”
“When the Legislature is in session, our days are a complete blur of drafting and delivering testimony, making activist phone calls, meeting with legislators, drafting amendments, and holding strategy sessions with coalition partners,” added Didisheim. “But now that the session is over, we have been able to sit back and assess the results — and this year the results were great. The environment won big at the State House in 2009, due to the hard work of our staff, legislative leaders, concerned citizens, and other organizations who care about the protection of Maine’s environment.”
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