Missouri Coalition for the Environment
| Established | 1969 |
|---|---|
| President | David Lobbig |
| Staff |
Heather Brouillet Navarro, Executive Director |
| Location | Headquarters in St. Louis |
| Address |
3115 S Grand Blvd Ste. 650 St. Louis, MO 63118 |
| Website | http://moenvironment.org/ |
Missouri Coalition for the Environment, a non-profit, non-partisan, 501(c)(3) state-level conservation organization, campaigns for clean air, clean water and clean energy in Missouri. The organization is member and grant supported.
Heather Brouillet Navarro, Executive Director
Ed Smith, Safe Energy Director
Alicia Claire Lloyd, Clean Water Policy Coordinator
Brad Walker, Big Rivers Director
Laura Illy, Director of Finance
Melissa Vatterott, Food and Farm Coordinator
3115 S Grand Blvd Ste. 650
Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE) was founded in 1969 out of a convention at the Missouri Botanical Garden. The group served as Missouri's first citizen-based action group. By 1971 MCE had become a more solid organization, with a permanent group of board members. The founders came from diverse backgrounds. Notable figures such as Lewis Green and Leo Drey had strong background knowledge of environmental issues and implemented practical resolutions.
“. . . since its founding by such distinguished luminaries as Leo A. Drey, R. Walston Chubb, Dr. Barry Commoner, Lewis C. Green and Emily Ullman, . . .the Coalition has been an ever present champion for the development of rational and effective environmental programs.”
Buzz Westfall, St. Louis County Executive, October 1994
Shortly after the organization began, they took on Union Electric and their plans to build a nuclear power plant in Callaway County, MO. The Callaway Nuclear Generating Station was to become Missouri's first nuclear plant. MCE opposed the idea of nuclear power but construction of the plant could not be stopped. In 1976, MCE launched a campaign to prohibit a Union Electric rate increases that would force customers to pay for construction work in progress (CWIP). Due to MCE’s efforts, an anti-CWIP law was passed with a 2 to 1 vote, but MCE’s fight against the plant was not over. In 1980, MCE testified during Public Service Commission hearings on a plan to build a second reactor. Two weeks following the trial the plans were canceled.
In 1978 MCE began to get involved with Forest Park. Plans were announced to relocate the St. Louis Science Center to park's south side. MCE opposed. Although the Science Center was eventually built, MCE was influential in the planning process. During this same period plans were made to expand parking for the old Arena into the park during the 1970s, MCE opposed them. The campaign was a success and no green space was lost to the Arena, which was demolished about 20 years later.
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