MAINE PUBLIC • August 1, 2022
John Rensenbrink, a former professor and author who co-founded the Green Party in Maine and nationally, died last weekend. He was 93. The first Green Party meeting in Augusta drew about 16 people. Today, the Green Independent Party remains a fixture on Maine's political landscape, if still a small one. As of June, there were just over 45,000 registered Green Independents in Maine, representing about 4 percent of all voters in the state. But Rensenbrink would also play a key role in the formation of a national Green Party as well as the Global Greens caucus, which said on social media on Saturday that he played a key role in the international Green Party movement and “is remembered fondly by Greens all over the planet.”