About the Coalition
What is the EPC?
Maine Conservation Alliance convenes and facilitates Maine’s Environmental Priorities Coalition (EPC), an inclusive statewide alliance of 34 conservation, climate action, and public health organizations. Each year we collectively identify a slate of policy priorities to act on the climate crisis; further environmental justice; protect land, water, and wildlife; and cultivate healthy Maine communities.
Our Story
Pollution from wastewater dumped by pulp and paper mills along Maine’s Androscoggin River was once so severe that fish died off at alarming rates and nearby homeowners could smell the stench from the river.
Even after the Clean Water Act passed in 1972, the Androscoggin River remained one of the most polluted rivers in the country decades later. Lawmakers were failing to pass the policies needed to clean up Maine’s rivers-including the Androscoggin.
The state’s environmental organizations were deeply frustrated and in need of a new strategy. This led to a watershed moment.
Organizations and advocates from across Maine came together, led by Maine Conservation Alliance, to address the lack of coordination within the environmental community and explore new ways of working together. As a direct result, Maine’s Environmental Priorities Coalition (EPC) was born in 2004.
How We Work Together
As a consensus-driven group, Maine’s Environmental Priorities Coalition relies on a bedrock of collaboration, communication, trust, and mutual respect. These shared values are as central to the coalition as our environmental priorities: a just, sustainable future and thriving communities.
Members balance individual concerns and perspectives with a commitment to achieving common goals; we believe that we are more effective when we work together and mobilize our collective resources in a united effort to protect the environment and cultivate healthy communities. Shared work and deep partnerships are essential to our success in crafting policy, making decisions, and growing a base of support.
Our Shared Mission
- Protect ecosystems and natural resources;
- Safeguard access to public lands;
- Reduce toxic pollution in our air, waters, natural areas and built environment;
- Act on the climate crisis;
- Accelerate Maine’s clean energy economy;
- Advance social and environmental justice;
- Promote civic engagement and a healthy democracy; and
- Cultivate healthy, vibrant inclusive communities.