Happy New Year! Welcome to 2026 and our continuing fight to bring compassion, fairness, and peace into the hearts and minds of all Americans (citizens or not).
Action Items to choose from (or do all of them: your choice!) Scroll down to the matching number of your option:
1) Help save the Kennedy Center’s independence and reputation
2) Stop Trump’s illegal attacks on Venezuela
3) Demand that the ultra-rich polluters pay their fair share
4) Resist Trump’s attempts to destroy alternative energy growth and to bolster coal
5) Keep fighting ICE by boycotting companies that are enabling it
6) Watch the CBS CECOT prison story that was pulled off the air
7) Learn what we might do to fight in 2026
8) Maine-Specific Actions
Reminder: When you call vs when you email via our reps’ websites (best way to contact them in writing), don’t forget to begin with: “Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent calling from [zip code]. That is important, because if they don’t know you’re actually a constituent, your opinion will be ignored.
Contact info:
Angus King
DC: (202) 224-5344
Augusta: (207) 622-8292
Susan Collins
DC: (202) 224-2523
Augusta: (207) 622-8414
Bangor: (207) 945-0417
Chellie Pingree
DC: (202) 225-6116
Portland: (207) 774-5019
Waterville: (207) 873-5713
Jared Golden
DC: (202) 225-6306
Bangor: (207) 249-7400
Caribou: (207) 492-6009
Lewiston: (207) 241-6767
Find your State Representative:
By name: Here
By district: Here
(Please note that for those of you receiving this email who are not represented by Senators or House members in our district, I have to leave it up to you to find the contact info for your own representatives.)
Actions
1) Help save the Kennedy Center’s independence and reputation:
On Tuesday, Dec. 23rd, Congresswoman April McClain Delaney (MD-06) introduced two pieces of new legislation:
- H.R.6925, the Kennedy Center Protection Act – “To require the removal of any signage or other identification from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that differs from the designation ‘John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’, as designated under section 3 of the John F. Kennedy Center Act (20 U.S.C. 76i)”
In plain English: basically to undo the recent addition of Trump’s name on the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; - H.R.6926, the Federal Property Integrity Act – “To prohibit the naming, renaming, designating, or redesignating of any Federal building, land, or other asset in the name of a sitting President”
In plain English:to ban Trump from doing this to any other federal asset during
his tenure (which, given his love of spreading his “brand” all over the world, he is
sure to do), and to prevent future presidents from trying the same thing.
So far, there are 3 co-sponsors, John Larson (CT-1), Jahana Hayes (CT-5), and Adelita Grijalva (AZ-7)—all Democrats. Contact Rep. Jared Golden to urge him to co-sponsor these bills. This is the United States of America, not the United States of Trump.
2) Stop Trump’s illegal attacks on Venezuela:
So far, no proposed legislation to take back Congress’s power to declare war has passed either the House or the Senate. The Republican legislators are still too afraid of Trump to attempt to clip his wings at all, and the Democrats have not succeeded in making more than a couple of them see sense and act. But this has to stop, especially when we have a kill-happy play-soldier at the head of the Pentagon and a sociopathic, power-hungry lunatic with the keys to the nuclear codes as his boss. Unless war has been declared, the extrajudicial murders of civilian boats and the (only known…so far) attack on a dock in Venezuela are all illegal. And it’s Congress’ job, not the president’s, to declare war. Plus, the evidence that has been presented in support of these attacks is very, very thin.
Contact Senators King and Collins and Rep. Golden to ask that they introduce new legislation to block war with and unprovoked/unjustified military actions against Venezuela, including those aimed at bringing about regime change in that country.
3) Demand that the ultra-rich polluters pay their fair share:
As climate disasters intensify, the ultra-rich and fossil fuel corporations continue to dodge accountability for their role in worsening the crisis. Oxfam America’s latest research shows that a person from the richest 0.1% produces more carbon in a single day than a person in the bottom 50% produces all year. Yet while the super-rich profit from environmental destruction, everyday people pay the price. The ultra-rich are not just overconsuming carbon, but also actively investing in and profiting from the most polluting corporations. Oxfam’s research finds that the average billionaire produces 1.9 million tons of CO2 a year through their investments, while the rest of us are left to shoulder the burden of the growing climate crisis.
Contact Senators King and Collins and Rep. Golden to demand that they push for legislation to tax the very richest of the rich so that the federal government will have the money to help communities most harmed by the floods and wildfires, droughts and heat waves caused by the climate crisis.
And/or you can sign this petition: https://act.oxfamamerica.org/page/90180/petition/1
4) Resist Trump’s attempts to destroy alternative energy growth and to bolster coal:
On Monday, December 22nd, Trump ordered the suspension of five offshore wind projects that were under construction along the East Coast and poised to deliver power to more than 2.5 million homes and businesses. At least one was already partially working. The next day, his administration ordered two coal-burning power plants in Indiana to continue operating past their scheduled closure dates while it also gave hundreds of coal plants an additional five years before they will need to prevent toxic chemicals from leaching into sources of drinking water.
Contact Senators King and Collins and Rep. Golden to urge them to oppose these moves by Trump to kill the proliferation of greener energy and to bolster his beloved coal industry—an industry that is probably the dirtiest of all fossil fuels. This is more evidence that he 1) is irrational and motivated by whims rather what is best for this country’s land and its people; and 2) cares only about further enriching the hugely wealthy fossil-fuel companies and his billionaire cronies; the health and safety of the American people is of no interest to him. Our legislators must act to reverse both recent orders.
5) Keep fighting ICE by boycotting companies that are enabling it:
Choose at least one of these companies that you already do business with and boycott them (https://icelist.is/boycott/). Contact their CEOs and boards to let them know you are doing this and why. Post about it on social media and ask friends and family to do the same.
If you’re a Spotify or Pandora user, here are some replacement possibilities that aren’t complicit in supporting ICE:
- Tidal (www.tidal.com): Artist-owned, transparent royalty model, and no record of hosting ICE or DHS recruitment campaigns.
- Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/home): Operates under strict ad-placement standards and does not run third-party government recruitment ads.
- SomaFM (www.somafm.com): Over 30 unique channels of listener-supported, commercial-free, underground/alternative radio broadcasting to the world. All music hand-picked by SomaFM’s award-winning DJs and music directors.
- LuxuriaMusic (www.luxuriamusic.com): Unique, eclectic, and diverse Internet radio programming.
6) Watch the CBS CECOT prison story that was pulled off the air: https://archive.org/details/60minutes-cecotsegment
7) Learn what we might do to fight in 2026:
Read this short article (https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/what-you-can-do-in-2026) and do what you can.
8) Maine-specific actions:
If you are so inclined, help get Graham Platner on the ballot:
If you want to help collect signatures to get Graham on the ballot, sign up now: https://www.mobilize.us/grahamformaine/event/871380/
Support making solar energy more affordable for Mainers:
LD 1730: An Act to Make Small, Portable, Plug-in Solar Generation Devices Accessible for All Maine Residents to Address the Energy Affordability Crisis is being carried over to the new legislative session of 2026. This bill, sponsored by Senator Nicole Grohoski, would create a new category for small plug-in solar generation devices less than or equal to 1,200 watts, eliminate interconnection requirements for these devices, and establish basic safety requirements. You can read the latest concept draft of this bill here: https://legislature.maine.gov/backend/App/Services/getDocument.aspx?documentId=121199
A hearing is scheduled for January 6th, this coming Tuesday. You can join the Zoom hearing or submit written testimony here: www.mainelegislature.org/testimony/ Choose “Public Hearing” and then for committee choose “Energy, Utilities, and Technology,” and then the date, Jan. 6, 2026, 1pm. Written testimony can be submitted any time between now and the day of the hearing.
If any of your legislators are on this committee, you should also contact them directly. For local (Hancock County) folks, note that the sponsor of this bill is Hancock County’s state senator.
Members of the Energy, Utilities, and Technology Committee:
Senate:
Mark Lawrence, Chair (D-York)
Nicole Grohoski (D-Hancock)
Matthew A. Harrington (R-York)
House:
Melanie F. Sachs, Chair (D-Freeport)
Christopher J. Kessler (D-South Portland)
Valli D. Geiger (D-Rockland)
Sophia B. Warren (D-Scarborough)
Walter Gerard Runte, Jr. (D-York)
Kilton M. Webb (D-Durham)
Steven D. Foster (R-Dexter)
Nathan J. Wadsworth (R-Hiram)
Reagan L. Paul (R-Winterport)
Mathew David McIntyre (R-Lowell)
p.s. If you haven’t done all the actions in these emails and have the energy and/or the time, don’t forget to go back to previous Action Items emails to redo actions you feel strongly about or to do some you haven’t done yet. If, on the other hand, you want more Action Items than I’m able to provide these days, check out https://indivisiblebangor.org/call-to-action/. You’ll see my most recent emails there, too, but a lot of other stuff from Indivisible Bangor, Indivisible Mid Maine, Hancock County Democrats, and Washington County Democrat.
Yours in Civic Action,
Bold Coast Civic Alliance
