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Non-profit

Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE)

Location:

St. Louis, MO
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Formation:

1971
Executive Director:

Heather Navarro
Executive Director's Salary:

Gross Salary: $58,451

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Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE) was established in 1969 to address a range of left-of-center environmental policy issues. Initially focused on policies like clean water and clean air, the group has broadened its scope to enforce laws that limit the use of fossil fuels, advocate for governmental policy change to limit development, and create new regulations. 1

MCE receives its funding from individual donors, foundation grants, and memberships. 2 Notable organizations contributing to MCE include the McKnight Foundation, the Energy Foundation, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. 3 

Advocacy

From its beginning, Missouri Coalition for the Environment has advocated for regulations concerning clean water, protecting rivers, and reducing pollution. 4 MCE helped draft environmentalist legislation that would be adopted as the Missouri Clean Water Act in 1972,5 bringing Missouri up to the federal requirements of the Clean Water Act of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 6

MCE went on to bring multiple legal actions against the federal EPA in order to create even more regulations of Missouri’s waterways. In 2004, a legal action was settled requiring the EPA to apply “recreational use” and other protections to streams and rivers in Missouri. In 2010, MCE sued the EPA for not requiring Missouri to designate uses for its waterways. Most recently, in 2017, MCE brought a lawsuit against the EPA, resulting in the EPA’s mandating of numerical nutrient standards for lakes and reservoirs in Missouri. 7

In 1983, MCE started focusing their efforts on clean air, and began “educating” the public and officials about air pollution. In 1998, along with the Sierra Club, MCE sued the EPA for not enforcing clean air regulations in the St. Louis area. MCE brought suit against the EPA again in 2005, for not reevaluating air standards for lead. 8

Land Protection and Development

MCE uses its large membership base to help further its land protections agenda, especially in preventing land development. MCE published a People’s Pocket Guide to Environmental Action on its website in 2017, 9 and encourages the general public, as well as its members, to sign petitions, write to governmental officials, and organize public actions. 10

MCE has been a part of preventing the following projects from being completed:

  • MCE blocked the proposed extension of I-170 in 1979. 11
  • MCE opposed the construction of a new Science Museum in Forest Park in 1982. 12
  • In 1992, MCE encouraged voters to reject the expansion of the St. Louis Art Museum in Forest Park. 13
  • MCE lead the citizen opposition to the establishment of an ATV trail system through Mark Twain National Forest in 1994. MCE went on to form the Friends of the Ozarks Riverways in 2003, to again prevent the ATV trail system. 14
  • In 2002, MCE appealed the water quality permit needed for Holnam/Holcim (now LafargeHolcim) to open a cement plant in Jefferson County. 15

MCE has also been able to prevent development, in the name of land protection, by affecting local government policy. Along with the Missouri Wilderness Coalition, in 1978, MCE helped passed legislation establishing wilderness areas, 16 which restrict land use, motorized access, and potential economic development. 17

In 2007, MCE supported Proposition P, preventing the sale of any parkland without voter approval. 18

Renewable Energies

Missouri Coalition for the Environment supports an anti-conventional energy and anti-nuclear energy agenda. MCE blocked the building of Union Electric’s second nuclear reactor in 1980, and in 1989, along with the Sierra Club, appealed the Forest Service’s permit that would allow for mining natural resources. 19

In 2008, MCE led an initiative petition to pass Proposition C, enacting Renewable Electricity Standards (RES) regulations in Missouri. MCE pressured the Missouri Supreme Court to require Empire Electric to offer solar installation rebates to customers in 2015. That same year, MCE helped launch the Missouri Clean Energy Coalition in an effort to reduce Missouri’s use of conventional fuels. 20

People

Heather Navarro is the executive director of Missouri Coalition for the Environment. She is a former inaugural fellow of the St. Louis New Leaders Council, and has served on the boards of the Green Center, Pax Christi USA, and the Central West End Association. A Democratic Party politician, Navarro has served as Alderwoman for St. Louis’ 28th Ward since 2017. 21

Kaleen Coleman is president of the board and the co-founder of the Friends of Ozarks Riverways. Coleman serves on the board of the Missouri Parks Association, and formerly served on the board of the Green Center. 22

Bernard Waxman is the treasurer of the board. He is a long-time volunteer with MCE and worked with its coalition to stop the building of Union Electric’s second nuclear power plant. 23

Nadim Kanafani serves on the board and is the most recent former president of the board. As a pediatrician, his research supports MCE’s agenda of linking health with environmental advocacy. 24

Steve Brewer has served on the board since 2017. Brewer has 30 years of experience in park management, working with state and city parks as well as the US Forest Service. He formerly worked as a budget analyst and national records officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs. 25

David Garin has served on the board for over 20 years. Garin formerly worked at the EPA, and was the first chairperson of Missouri’s Hazardous Waste Management Commission. He was a Congressional Science Fellow and worked on environmental issues in the office of then-U.S. Representative Al Gore (D-TN). 26

David Lobbig has served on the board since 2002 and is a former board president. Lobbig has served on the Policy, Board Development, and Fundraising and Development Committees, as well as the Smart Growth Action Team. 27

Board member Steve Mahfood served for 8 years as Cabinet Secretary to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Mahfood is the former chair of the NAFTA-US Governmental Environmental Advisory Commission (GAC) and served for 13 years on the EPA‘s Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB). He continues to act as advisor to the Nature Conservancy and other organizations on environmental issues. 28

Coalition Partners

  • Friends of Ozark Riverways (non-profit)
  • Lower Missouri River Coalition (non-profit)
  • Mississippi River Collaborative (non-profit)
  • Mississippi River Network (Non-profit)
  • Mississippi Valley Traveler (non-profit)
  • Missouri Clean Energy Coalition (non-profit)
  • Missouri Environmental Fund (non-profit)
  • Missouri Votes Conservation (Non-profit)
  • Missouri Wilderness Coalition (non-profit)
  • National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (non-profit)
  • Nicollet Island Coalition (non-profit)
  • St. Louis Food Policy Coalition (non-profit)
  • Stop the New Madrid Levee (non-profit)
  • Water Protection Network (non-profit)
  • West Lake Landfill Community Group (non-profit)

Donor Organizations

  • Fischer-Bauer-Knirps Foundation (non-profit)
  • Franciscan Sisters of Mary (FSM) (non-profit)
  • Incarnate Word Foundation (non-profit)
  • L-A-D Foundation (non-profit)
  • McKnight Foundation (non-profit)
  • Mississippi River Network (Non-profit)
  • Missouri American Water (for-profit)
  • Missouri Foundation for Health (non-profit)
  • Missouri Votes Conservation Education Foundation (non-profit)
  • National Wildlife Federation (non-profit)
  • New Belgium Brewing (for-profit)
  • Wayne and Jane B. Goode Foundation (non-profit)
  • Philpott Family Foundation (non-profit)
  • Piper Action Fund (non-profit)
  • Piper Fund (non-profit)
  • Rio Vista Fund (non-profit)
  • St. Louis Earth Day
  • USDA Local Food Promotion Program (government agency)
  • Victor and Selene deLiniere Foundation (Non-profit)
  • William A. Kerr Foundation (non-profit)

References

  1. “About Us.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/about-us/.
  2. “Become A Member.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.   https://moenvironment.org/become-a-member/.
  3. Data compiled by FoundationSearch.com subscription service, a project of Metasoft Systems, Inc., from forms filed with the IRS. Queries conducted November 25, 2019.
  4. “About the Water Program.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/water-program/.
  5. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  6. Peter N. Davis. “Federal and State Water Quality Regulation and Law in Missouri.” Missouri Law Review. Volume 55, Issue 2, Spring 1990. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2994&context=mlr.
  7. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  8. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  9. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  10. “People’s Pocket Guide.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/peoples-pocket-guide/.
  11. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  12. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  13. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  14. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  15. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  16. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  17. “Wilderness: Issues and Legislation.” EveryCRSReport, January 17, 2018. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R41610.html.
  18. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  19. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  20. “MCE Timeline – 50 Years of Environmental Advocacy.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/mce-timeline-50-years-of-environmental-advocacy/.
  21. “Heather Brouillet Navarro.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019. https://moenvironment.org/team/heather-brouillet-navarro/.
  22. “Our People.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/our-people/.
  23. “Our People.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/our-people/.
  24. “Our People.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/our-people/.
  25. “Our People.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/our-people/.
  26. “Our People.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/our-people/.
  27. “Our People.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/our-people/.
  28. “Our People.” Missouri Coalition for the Environment, 2019. Accessed November 14, 2019.  https://moenvironment.org/our-people/.
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Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE)

3115 S Grand Blvd Ste 650
St. Louis, MO