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Activists call on L.L. Bean to divest from fossil fuels

The activist organization Third Act Maine have been protesting outside of L.L. Bean's Freeport headquarters for nearly two years. What began as one person holding a sign has ballooned to a group of over two dozen — and now, they've taken their campaign national, enlisting the support of nearly 50 organizations in an open letter to L.L. Bean's leadership.

Tom Mikulka of Cape Elizabeth said the groups are asking L.L. Bean to either ask its banking partner, Citibank, to stop financing fossil fuel projects, or to find a new bank

"We've learned that banking is not carbon neutral. Now they have some nice goals about meeting reducing their carbon footprint, but until they change banks, their carbon footprint is probably doubled more than all their trucking and everything else," he said.

Mikulka said that L.L. Bean's motto, "the outside is inside everything we do", means addressing climate change and environmental degradation should be a moral imperative for the company, comparing it to competitor Patagonia, which has committed to phasing out fossil fuels and reaching net zero emissions by 2024.

L.L. Bean has not yet responded to requests to comment.

Molly got her start in journalism covering national news at PBS NewsHour Weekend, and climate and environmental news at Grist. She received her MA from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism with a concentration in science reporting.