Earth Day 2004

Field Notes: Earth Day in Wells, Maine

Kate Moffat, Kennebunk, volunteer Membership Chair

I felt like it was a test. A test with one question: "What would you do if President Bush came to your backyard for an Earth Day photo op?" 

First, I got mad. How dare he? Earth Day is practically a holiday; a time to assert our commitment to passing a clean and healthy world on to our children. Who did he think he was to celebrate Earth Day at the Wells Reserve? This president's administration has sided with polluters over Maine families at every turn.

Next, I dug in my heels and got to work. Maureen Drouin, Sierra Club staff person in Maine, and I decided that we needed to set the record straight and expose this administration's destructive environmental policies. We needed to hold the president accountable during Earth Week while he was in town.

The biggest effort would be held on Earth Day itself in the same place the president was going to be - Wells. I phoned the police to get more information and to see where we would be permitted to gather. Maureen immediately began talking with other Maine organizations and Sierra Club's national office. We both began calling the media.

That was the answer to the test: plan an event, a show of support for the planet. A "pep rally for Maine's environment" was born. But, we only had five days to pull it together.

The Secret Service and state and local police permitted us to assemble at Wells Town Hall. There was no guarantee the president's motorcade would pass by our location, and people were eager to assemble closer to the entrance to the Wells Reserve. To see if we could gather closer, I phoned Bull and Claw, a restaurant near the entrance to the reserve, and asked permission to hold our rally there at 8:15 AM. The owner graciously said yes.

Little did he know that 300 people would show up, and New England Cable News would broadcast live from the parking lot! Indeed, that is what happened. Families, the young and old arrived with hand-made signs and American flags. All were there to set the record straight: President Bush was no friend of Maine's environment.

An hour after we arrived at the Bull and Claw, an antique shop owner, Corey Daniels, invited us to gather on his front lawn, which turned out to be the closest we could ever hope to get to the motorcade. Riot police and the Secret Service, local and national press were there.

When Bush's motorcade sped past us just before noon, hundreds of people were lined up along Route 1 holding Bush accountable chanting 'Earth Day! Every Day!' I lost my voice but gained so much more from this exercise in democracy.