Included in this edition:
- Federal Climate Programs Spur $2.2 Billion in Investment in Maine
- Environmental Priorities Coalition 2025 Policy Agenda Launched
- Join the Alliance of Maine Health Professionals for Climate Action
- 2025 Doomsday Clock Moves Closer to Midnight
- National Academy of Medicine's Winter Webinar: Incorporating Sustainable Food Practices
- Accelerating Environmental Sustainability in Your Practice with MGD
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New Report: Federal Climate Programs Spur $2.2B in Investment in Maine
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The past few years have seen Maine families, local businesses, and Wabanaki Nations benefit from at least $2.2 billion in direct and induced investments in clean technology thanks to federal funding provided by Congress, according to a new analysis issued this week. For the first time, the report quantifies the total investment in Maine made possible from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and comes at a time when the Trump Administration is considering cutting this lifeline for local communities.
The report highlighted just a few of the local projects being supported in Maine that are benefiting Wabanaki Nations, low-income families, and local businesses:
- $206 million in energy grants and loans to rural small businesses and farms to help them reduce energy costs.
- $134 million for energy efficiency upgrades and increased access to solar energy for low-income families, and $10 million for heat pumps in rural manufactured and mobile homes.
- $6.6 million to improve reliability of the electric grid for Wabanaki Nations and local Maine communities, and $7.4 million to the Passamaquoddy Tribe for installation of solar and battery storage on homes and offices.
- $23.5 million for Acadia National Park to transition to all-electric buses.
- $45 million in tax credits for energy efficiency upgrades that will benefit more than 21,000 Maine households.
- $65 million to improve the reliability of the electric grid in rural areas.
Read more here.
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Environmental Priorities Coalition
2025 Policy Agenda Launch
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Maine’s Environmental Priorities Coalition announced their priorities for the 2025 legislative session! PSR Maine is a proud member of the Coalition and looks forward to ensuring these bills are signed into law. These priorities will advance climate action, further environmental justice, protect biodiversity and the environment, and cultivate healthy Maine communities.
The coalition’s nine priorities for 2024 include:
- Make polluters pay for climate damages;
- Prevent future toxic spills of PFAS foam;
- Protect Mainers from skyrocketing utility costs;
- Reach 100% clean electricity by 2040;
- Fund the Land for Maine's Future program;
- Address stormwater pollution;
- Improve transportation planning;
- Modernize the community land-use planning process & policies; and
- Recognize Wabanaki self-determination.
Read more about the priorities here.
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Join the Alliance of Maine Health Professionals
for Climate Action!
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PSR Maine is excited to host this new group, designed to help health professionals take meaningful action on climate change. By joining, you'll stay informed and engaged with opportunities to advocate for a healthier, more sustainable future. Members will continue receiving PSR Maine’s monthly e-newsletter, plus just 2-4 additional emails per month with updates and action alerts from the Alliance. Ready to get involved? Email director@psrmaine.org to join the list!
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2025 Doomsday Clock Moves Closer to Midnight
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The Doomsday Clock was set 89 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been in its 75-year history. This reflects on the escalating nuclear threats and a worsening climate crisis as primary factors. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, stewards of the Doomsday Clock, emphasized in their announcement that the Clock could be turned back, but blindly continuing on the current path is a form of madness.
PSR Maine advocates for a world free of nuclear weapons not from a position of fear or despair but rather from one of hope and possibility. The Back from the Brink Campaign, which we are part of, gives every one of us a voice and a way to get involved in our own communities and make a difference. Together, we continue to build local power across this state by passing Back from the Brink resolutions in our communities.
Let's use this time to renew our commitment to this work.
Email director@psrmaine.org if you have any interest in working to pass a Back from the Brink resolution in your community!
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National Academy of Medicine: Upcoming in the Climate Collaborative's Winter Webinar Series
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Incorporating Sustainable Food Practices
Interested in reducing emissions from food services? Join this Climate Collaborative webinar which will discuss best practices on reducing emissions reductions from food services, including promoting locally sourced, plant-based menu items, implementing food waste reduction strategies, reducing single-use packaging, and more. Register to attend on February 19 from 11:15-12 pm Register here.
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Accelerating Environmental Sustainability
in Your Practice in 2025 with MGD
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2025 is the perfect time to save money, strengthen your practice’s commitment to a greener future, and share vital resilience knowledge with your patients. Using environmental sustainability to save money and improve community health just makes sense. My Green Doctor’s latest newsletter explains how easy it is for your practice to go green: Accelerating Your Sustainable Practice in 2025 with MGD.
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My Green Doctor is a free money-saving membership benefit provided through the Physicians for Social Responsibility Chapters. Practice managers, doctors, and nurses use the “Meeting-by-Meeting Guide” to learn how to adopt environmental sustainability, save resources, address the health threats of climate change, and help create healthier communities. This requires adding just five minutes to each regular clinic or practice staff meeting, making small changes at each meeting that really add up. We welcome everyone in your practice to register as Partner Society members at https://www.MyGreenDoctor.org or at www.MyGreenDoctor.es (sí, en español). Use the discount code MGDPSR when you register to get free access to My Green Doctor and save money!
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Thank you for your generous support of PSR Maine!
To mail your contribution to us, please send a check to our mailing address:
PSR Maine, 126 Western Ave #1012
Augusta ME 04330
Or point your camera at this QR code and you’ll be taken directly to our secure donor page:
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