FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28, 2025
Third Act Maine, a group of Maine elders committed to stopping all new fossil fuel investment and development, is ramping up the pressure on L.L. Bean, Maine’s iconic outdoor retailer, to clean up its financing. Their homegrown campaign has now gone national.
The campaign began in 2023 with one man standing outside L.L. Bean’s flagship store in Freeport Maine. In the spring of 2025, it has grown to include 48 organizations across the United States, representing over 2 million people, all calling on Bean to reevaluate its credit card partnership with Citibank, the biggest funder of fossil fuel expansion in the world since 2016.
In September of 2023, retired physics teacher Bill Rixon began standing in front of Bean’s Freeport campus and its corporate headquarters, holding his homemade “Protect Mother Earth” banner. Soon he was joined by a small group of fellow Third Act Mainers, all people over sixty, who care deeply about addressing climate change. The standouts have continued and grown. In addition, Third Act Mainers have written letters to L.L. Bean CEO Stephen Smith, asking to meet with him. All of this has fallen on deaf ears.
To increase the pressure, Third Act Maine, joined by 48 national and Maine-based environmental and social justice organizations, wrote to Smith and other top executives. The letter asks Bean to take four actions:
- Meet with key Citibank leaders to discuss the effect of Citi’s fossil fuel investments on Bean’s reputation, as well as the financial risks to Bean caused by growing climate extremes
- Assess Bean’s banking carbon footprint
- Pledge to seek a new banking finance partner if Citi does not strengthen its climate policies
- Meet with representatives of Third Act Maine to discuss these requests.
As of this date there has been no response from L.L. Bean. Third Act Maine will be standing out at Bean’s corporate headquarters at 8:00 am on June 6. Over the next two weeks the national campaign will be amplified by climate activists in other states with L.L. Bean stores.
About Third Act Maine
Third Act Maine, a state-wide subsidiary of Third Act, is a group of Maine elders committed to stopping all new fossil fuel investment and development. Our mission will be accomplished through the joyful practice of nonviolence, uplifting youth, and developing community.
