The Strategy Center Blog

What's quintessential about fall in Maine? For us, the season brings to mind crisp mornings, gorgeous foliage, and... the Common Ground Country Fair! Will we see you this weekend at the fair? Please join us! September 22, 23, 24 Gates open at 9am Unity, Maine Stop by our booth in the Social & Political Action tent ( map ) to learn more about our work to protect kids and families from toxic chemicals—and also about the work of our business-led partner, Biobased Maine, and our collective...+ Read more

The devastating tragedies of Flint, Michigan , and East Chicago, Indiana , demonstrate that lead exposure remains an urgent public health crisis in this country. Effective and affordable solutions exist, however—if we choose to implement them. Those are the central messages of an authoritative report , “10 Policies to Prevent and Respond to Childhood Lead Exposure,” released this morning by the Health Impact Project , a joint effort of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable...+ Read more

At the Strategy Center, our work highlights the urgent need to end our reliance on petroleum-based plastics. Not only can these materials pose a threat to human health and our climate, they’re also unsustainably sourced from fossil fuels (particularly from fracked natural gas) and create overwhelming pollution . This is a problem with a solution. It’s time to usher in a new sustainable economy: one based on renewable biobased materials sourced from forest, farm, and sea. Our Sustainable Economy...+ Read more

We're suing the Trump EPA. It's time to hold the agency to the letter of the law and ensure it fulfills its mandate to protect the public. Will you help us pay for our added staff time and research? You helped win the desperately needed landmark legislation that Congress approved last year. It strengthens federal regulation of toxic chemicals, to make Americans safer. President Obama signed the historic law. But it was left to the Trump Administration to finalize the rules for how the EPA would...+ Read more

A guest post by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Association. It’s back-to-school season again, and like most parents you’re probably elbow-deep in shopping lists and prep checklists. We spend these last golden days of summer scouring store shelves for the perfect lunchbox and meticulously styling cool first-day outfits, hoping to set our kids up for success. The whirlwind of setting up for another school year is enough to have you breathing a sigh of relief when you finally load your little ones...+ Read more

It was just over a year ago that a landmark step in chemical-safety regulation came, when Congress approved legislation to strengthen federal regulation of toxic chemicals. But although proposed rules for implementing the new requirements were issued for comment, they weren’t finalized before President Obama left office. Then came the Trump Administration. Trump’s “new” Environmental Protection Agency has now issued final rules that are dramatically weaker. These rules determine how the agency...+ Read more

Incredible things happened this week. By decisive bipartisan votes to override Governor LePage's vetoes, Maine Legislators prioritized the health and safety of Maine children, families, and firefighters--and established a precedent-setting standard for the nation. First in the Nation Firefighters and families worked alongside a powerful coalition of labor and environmental groups, including the Environmental Health Strategy Center and its action arm, Prevent Harm, to pass the first law in the...+ Read more