Research and Analysis.
Today’s complicated problems - from climate change to the environmental and social justice consequences of industrial agriculture, to chemical policy including the ubiquitous hazards of PFAS in consumer goods, food and water – are interrelated and challenging to address. Sharon Treat uses her legal and policy experience to understand and explain these policy challenges and propose solutions. Past work includes papers on the relationship between trade policy and factory farms and preemption of state-level environmental laws, legal issues associated with fossil fuel subsidies and climate, and a case study of Maine’s experience with PFAS “forever chemicals” and agriculture.
Communications.
Getting your message out is key to making change. Sharon Treat has extensive experience giving presentations, communicating with journalists, writing opinion pieces and fact sheets and connecting with the public on social media. Over the past decade, she has participated in a wide variety of speaking engagements across the U.S. and Europe to present work on complex issues including international trade and agriculture; prescription drug, tobacco and environmental policy; and access to health care. She has presented in numerous webinars, at meetings of the American Public Health Association and National Association of Attorneys General, and at legal conferences including through the Environmental Law Institute, American University’s Washington College of Law, and the University of Maine School of Law.
Legislative and Administrative Advocacy.
Sharon Treat brings significant expertise to legislative and administrative advocacy. Between 1990-2014, she served two decades in the Maine Legislature including a term as Senate Majority Leader and chair of multiple committees, including the Citizen Trade Policy Commission and committees on the Environment and Natural Resources and Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services. From 2011-2022, she served as an advisor to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee. In that role she analyzed proposed trade agreements and participated in stakeholder meetings and hearings.
Outside of her legislative career, Sharon Treat has advocated on behalf of public health, environmental and sustainable farming nonprofits and grassroots coalitions. She has testified before state legislatures across the country about reducing the cost of medicines, before the U.S. Congress Senate Special Committee on Aging on prescription drug policy, and to a subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on regulating interstate air pollution. In Maine, she has been a leading voice urging protecting public health from PFAS pollution.