Category: Blog

by Kim Williams
On July 16, with a group of friends I took an early morning stroll into a wetlands area in the city of Chesapeake, Virginia. We arrived before sunrise, but though the area was beautiful, we were not there for the views. The wetlands were overrun by heavy equipment and stacks of 24-inch diameter pipeline.
My friends and I were on a mission: to occupy the construction equipment.
Why would we want to do such a thing? We were there to protect children.
The construction equipment was being used to build the Southside Connector, a 9-mile-long Virginia Natural Gas utility pipeline. And there the giant diggers and pounders and pipe sat, perilously close to a cheerful building named for the late civil rights attorney and first African-American Supreme Court Justice, the “Thurgood Marshall Elementary School.” Shockingly close. A stone’s throw.
My friends and I made public the external costs of this pipeline, which is slated to end along the Elizabeth River in Chesapeake right, next to the planned end of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in Hampton Roads. We hung banners reading “Methane Gas Pipeline = Blast Zone Danger + Climate Disaster” and “Our Children Deserve Better.”
We occupied the tops of two large construction vehicles, and settled in to watch the sunrise. I had time to calm myself, meditate. The sunrise was so beautiful, birdsong joyful. What a wonderful learning lab this strip of wetlands could be for this school! If only we didn’t have to contemplate apocalypse!

And that is why I was there. Sitting for two hours atop the pipe-pounder,  I flashed back to happy days as parent-volunteer at my own sons’ schools, my era as reading-tutor, and my time supporting elementary school Spring Carnivals. The memories helped me see beautiful faces, smiles with baby-teeth, lost teeth, teeth growing-in; I could see hair combed in braids and beads, innocence.
But then I could see flames. I could hear glass breaking, bookbags and limbs, flying. And at this school, the faces my mind saw were mostly African-American kindergarteners through fifth graders, innocents. Mostly African-American, because that is where this pipeline is going. In Norfolk, it travels through mostly poor African-American enclaves. In Chesapeake, it cuts though mostly middle-class African-American enclaves. Enclaves because Jim Crow history made it that way.
Workers showed up about 7am. Soon after, the police.
The police were informed by a volunteer liaison that a “stop-work occupy” was underway. Some of us climbed down at that point. I stayed. My kids are self-sufficient. My worklife flexible. My partner supportive. I refused to leave, intending no pipeline construction to happen that day. I now have a court date for a trespass charge. I hope I can make it clear to the judge that Virginia Natural Gas (and it’s Boss Company, Dominion) are the real trespassers in that wetlands next to a school.
Kim Williams is a full-time member of the Norfolk Catholic Worker community.
 

It’s been raining heavily lately where I live in Hyattsville, Maryland. In the week of June 23rd, it rained almost all week. Couple weeks ago, while on the metro, I received a warning on my phone that there would be a flash flood in my area. So I called my mom and told her to stay alert.
While I knew it would rain a lot, I hoped it would not be as much as in Ellicott City. Just a couple months ago, this city faced life-changing floods in a devastating climate change event. It started raining in the old historic city on May 27 around at 3:15 pm. It continued on raining and raining for days, until the streets of Ellicott City were flooded with strong rushing waters. Cars were pulled away by the waters. The floods destroyed and damaged countless stores, homes, restaurants, and even one person’s life.
During the floods, a woman named Kate Bowman was in need of safety from her flooded store — along with her cat. She was on a window, screaming and ready to jump out. At that moment, National Guardsman, Eddison Hermond, noticed her and without thinking twice he started to try and help. He told Kate to calm down, just as he said that, according to Kate, he slipped and the rushing waters took him. His body was found two days later.
This isn’t Ellicott City’s first time experiencing a devastating flood. Just two years ago, the city was deluged with 6.6 inches of rain, again damaging stores, restaurants, and homes. The 2016 flood killed two individuals. They were found in their cars on the Baltimore Side of the river.
Both the floods in 2016 and in 2018 were ”one-in-a-thousand year” rain events — meaning the rain was so intense that the chances of this happening should only happen once in a thousand years. At least in a normal world.
But we’re not in a normal world. We are now living in a world that has been changed by global warming. And the main factor of the problem is us. We burn fossil fuels like oil and gas, which stay in the atmosphere and make it so heat can’t escape from the Earth — much like a greenhouse, which is why they are called greenhouse gases. Because of that, we make the Earth warmer each year. The warmer the Earth is, the more water gets evaporated. And the warmer the air is, the more water it can hold in its clouds. The more evaporation and clouds, the more rain and floods. Basic science!
While I have never experienced something just as damaging as Ellicott City, I have lived through floods. In 2015, my family moved to our first house in Hyattsville from our apartment. One night at 11:00pm it started raining really hard. We had been told by our new neighbors that water would flood their basement when it rains really hard, so my sister and I woke my parents up and we went to our basement to check. We checked out the door that goes to the backyard to see if water was coming in. There was nothing. But just as we turned around to go back to sleep I see water flowing in under the door. We were completely unprepared.
Climate change affects us even if we don’t see it. We are the cause of climate change. We have damaged the ocean waters, forests, even the air. This cannot continue on. If we don’t act now then the future generations of 100 years from now probably won’t even know what a polar bear is!
Luckily, we are not helpless in this fight against climate change. You can take action today by signing CCAN’s petition in Maryland to move away from fossil fuels by doubling wind and solar power. This will put us on track to achieve a future powered by 100 clean, renewable energy, and livable streets. And, hopefully, no more flooded basements!
 
Featured Imaged from: Flicker User Todd.

Written by Pam Dehmer from Harford County Climate Action
Our group aims to lessen Harford County’s carbon footprint and adapt to the effects of climate change. We started in October 2014 right after the People’s Climate March in NY. Seeing passionate activists from around the world gave us hope that change was possible. That’s why, over the past four years, we have been working to educate the local community about the causes and impacts of climate change.
However, there is a dangerous strand of climate change denial running through our community. On February 13, the retiring County Council President Mr. Slutsky ended a public meeting by spouting a number of misinformed opinions about global warming, including calling climate change a hoax.
We could not let this go without responding. So 16 of us spoke out at the next County Council public meeting. Each person took a point made by Mr. Slutsky and explained why his statements were false. At the end of the session, two HCCA members and a scientist spoke privately with Mr. Slutsky and arranged a meeting with him the following week. During that meeting, two citizens discussed the climate change subject again trying to inform our council president. Even though Mr. Slutsky was not convinced, he offered HCCA the opportunity to speak at a public meeting to educate the public.
So this was our chance to educate the rest of our local officials! Under the guidance of our leader, Tracey Waite, six of us worked hard to create a presentation. It took hours and hours of research, discussion and fine-tuning as we were given a time limit of just twenty minutes. We met and rehearsed four times in order to make sure the presentation was concise, accurate and informative.
On April 17, we made the presentation at the public, televised, County Council meeting. At the end, all six council members affirmed their support for HCCA and our mission to educate!
While we were pleased that we turned a negative into a positive, this is not the end of the story. Verbal support for our group does nothing in reducing Harford County’s carbon footprint. We are now asking the County Council to form a panel with stakeholders from the local community to find ways to drastically expand clean energy in our state and eventually achieve a 100% renewable energy future.
There are many towns and cities that are committed to this goal and we must do this now. As Bill McKibben said, “Winning slowly is the same as losing.”

Coming together in the face of disaster
By Liz Lee, former CCAN Director of Maryland Volunteer Outreach
With streams converging into the Patapsco River, Ellicott City, a town built on the river has been no stranger to flooding. After the historic July 2016 flooding, the community came together to rebuild the downtown — to rebuild their businesses, their homes, their lives. On May 27th, residents and business owners of Ellicott City were hit once again by another historic devastating flash flood. They’ve only just re-opened their doors.
At CCAN, we wondered what can we could do to help this community during this disaster. More importantly, what could we do to push for stronger climate change policy in Maryland so this would not happen again to Ellicott City and other vulnerable communities. I was touched by my experience at Ellicott City following the May flooding — I saw a community come together once again.
Last August, my intern, Gaby, and I business canvassed the downtown area of Ellicott City to gather endorsements in support of the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Initiative. We heard heartbreaking stories one after the next as owners showed us the height of the watermarks on their walls from the 2016 flood. I met the local hero of a toy shop on Main Street — as the last link of a human chain, he pulled a woman out of her car which was immediately swept away in the flood waters on the doorstep of his store. In the end, 20 local businesses signed our resolution for a total of over 660 businesses, labor and faith groups supporting the initiative, which will double solar and wind energy in Maryland and move us away from our reliance on fossil fuels.
I was in disbelief when I saw the shocking footage of the May 27th flooding on social media and checked to make sure I did not mistakenly look at footage from the last 2016 flood. On June 7th, just days after the flood, I went back to Ellicott City to find out how CCAN and I could help. We were in contact with an owner from an oriental rug store on Main Street and I planned to meet him at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, the command center for business owners, residents and volunteers. I saw many of those business owners from canvassing last August, including the toy store owner.
Due to safety reasons, access to owners and residents to clean and recover property from their stores and homes was limited from 5PM to 7PM. In order to get a wristband to go to downtown Ellicott City, businesses and residents with photo id badges had to vouch for volunteers as you needed a specific reason to be there. Only credentialed people could get rides to the downtown area on golf carts. The atmosphere was somber as owners hustled to get volunteers credentialed and anxiously waited in a line to get on one of the few golf carts which circulated from the church to the downtown.

I was lucky that the rug store owner helped me receive my red wristband. He was called away with an emergency and could not accompany to the site. On my own, I jumped into the trunk of a golf cart and joined an off-duty Fort Meade Air Force team who came to volunteer for the first time. They were assigned to help two of the businesses very close to the Patapsco River at the bottom of the Main Street hill — so that’s where I would be going to volunteer, too.

We were stopped before entering the downtown area as the police checked our wristbands and reminded us that we could not wander from the volunteer site. Previously over the phone, the rug store owner painted a picture of the distressing conditions of the town and a story of how he watched a displaced beaver walking down the street! Memories of the last flood less than 2 years ago was still fresh in their minds, but this time the damage was much worse due to the sewage main break and tons of mud which many blamed on overdevelopment of surrounding neighborhoods. I would now see this for my own eyes.

I gasped as we drove down the deserted street that resembled an empty movie set, like a set from a natural disaster blockbuster summer movie. But this was real. Huge X’s spray-painted on doors and windows noted the buildings which were damaged and commercial dumpsters sat on each block. My heart sank as we passed by a store front with a banner proudly announcing it’s grand re-opening. This store finally reopened in April after the July 2016 flooding and a month later, it was closed again.
Basements and patios were eroded. An entire 2-story historic establishment collapsed to skelton steel frames, dangling wood planks jutting from walls and piles of brick and rubbish.
After being dropped off by the golf cart at a glass pane store and antique store, the boards securing the doors and windows were removed and we got right to work. The owner of the antique store had been there for years and recently rebuilt her store after the July 2016 flood. The heavy, wet mud, which was a foot and a half deep carpeting the floor, was shoveled into wheelbarrows and dumped on the street for pick-up by street cleaners. Trucks sprinkling the streets with water to keep the dirt level down took turns with police vehicles and golf carts, driving up and down the street. Mountains of piles of insulation and drywall ripped up by volunteers sat in the alley ways. Tons of broken glass from windows, shelving units and precious antique glass items were coated in the deep layers of mud.
I worked with the store owner and volunteers to salvage whatever I could form the mud. We wore 2 layers of rubber gloves to protect us from the glass shards and sewage as we sifted through the thick mud. After the owner spent years collecting rare items, antique vases, and chandeliers, her prized possessions were now all caked in mud.
I was amazed that she knew each piece of jewelry, vase, and drinking glass set by heart and had a story for every piece. Many items were broken and too damaged to be saved and I threw them out into the piles of mud and trash on the street.

But we did recover many items! When she told me that the ring I found in a handful of mud was a diamond ring worth $400, it motivated me to search even harder to salvage more items she could resell. I used a colander and dazzling pairs of earrings and shiny necklaces appeared as the water washed away the mud. When I asked her where to place a fragile porcelain cat, she excitedly told me that it came as a pair. I was disappointed not to find the cat’s twin that evening.
Later, other volunteers who finished helping out another store owner, graciously joined us at the antique store where there was still much to do with the 2 hours of allocated time per day rapidly coming to an end. At one point, the store owner told us to look at a muddy sign she found – it thanked volunteers for helping her rebuild and re-open her store after the July 2016 flood. It was a sad reminder that business owners like her were suffering and having to face this unimaginable challenge once more.
As I finished my shift, I saw business owners in tears, hugging and comforting each other, and each questioning how they would cope and what they were going to do next. Some were simply mourning the loss, while others accepted the painful truth that they could not stay and rebuild there. Given the unpredictable weather patterns, the friend of the store owner said affirmatively that this will not be the last flood in Ellicott City. After I volunteered, I pondered and worried about what would happen to all of the business owners? Will they rebuild again with the looming fear of losing their businesses and livelihood again to yet another inevitable flood? And if they don’t rebuild in Ellicott City, where will they go to start over?
After this recent flood, two downtown Ellicott City business owners signed a Letter to Governor Hogan asking him to stop expanding fossil fuel infrastructure and to support stronger climate policy in Maryland, like the Clean Energy Jobs Act to curb the destructive effects of climate change and flooding. Let’s work together to tell our Maryland legislators and new incoming legislators to pass this bill in 2019 to combat climate change for the sake of our fellow neighbors in Maryland.

Originally published on the Baltimore Sun
Over the last decade, power generated by wind and solar has become a growing portion of Maryland’s electricity each year. More people now work in Maryland’s wind and solar industries — over 5,500 — than the state’s crab industry, and in 2017 alone wind energy generation avoided 1.1 million metric tons of CO2 pollution in the state.
As representatives of solar and wind companies that power Maryland’s homes and businesses, we can say unequivocally that Maryland’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) has been the single biggest factor in the growth of these clean energy sources.
Yet, in spite of these facts, a new report by the Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility (CPSR) entitled “Unbundled: How Renewable Energy Credits Undermine Maryland’s Transition to Clean, Renewable Energy,” incorrectly claims that Maryland’s energy policy is causing the state to go backward on building a clean energy economy. These inaccuracies have been echoed by Food and Water Watch, who puzzlingly gives Maryland, a leader in renewable energy policy, an “F” grade when 21 other states lack an RPS policy to begin with. Worse yet, misinformation about the RPS and its expansion threatens the jobs created and environmental progress we have made to date.
It is the consensus view of a broad coalition of renewable energy companies that CPSR’s conclusions are based on misinformed analysis and a failure to account for key aspects of Maryland’s RPS. We are writing on behalf of that coalition, which includes the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition (MAREC), the Maryland-D.C.-Virginia Solar Energy Coalition (MDV-SEIA) and the Maryland Utility Scale Solar Energy Coalition (USSEC).
CPSR’s report diverges from a broad consensus that RPS policies efficiently drive the development of new renewable energy projects. This virtually universal view is confirmed by the renewables industry and studies from U.S. national labs. Maryland’s RPS is achieved with a cost-efficient mix of renewable resources including in-state solar and wind projects along with renewable energy credits called RECs, which represent the environmental attributes of clean energy generation.
In a July report, economists at the well-regarded Brattle Group concluded that regional trading of unbundled RECs is one of the “most promising opportunities to use markets to meet states’ and customers’ environmental goals.” Brattle concludes that “States that work together…to express their goals in a resource-neutral and market-based fashion will be able to achieve more ambitious outcomes at a lower cost to ratepayers.”
Black liquor is a mix of chemicals and wood waste left over from the paper making process and Maryland legislators have declared burning black liquor a “renewable” energy source. But, according to some environmental advocates, burning black liquor isn’t clean.
Maryland’s electricity grid does not stop at state lines. Across the “PJM” power grid, which covers the mid-Atlantic, including Maryland and parts of the Midwest, RECs help new renewables displace power plants that pollute upwind of Maryland, helping clean our air even when renewable electricity is generated out of state. In that way, RECs help achieve the environmental benefits of Maryland’s RPS at the lowest cost to consumers.
RECs help efficiently manage renewable supply and demand across our region in the same way banks enable us to deposit $20 at one branch and withdraw it at another. It’s a different $20 bill, but that’s irrelevant; we still have $20. CPSR’s critique of unbundled RECs is analogous to insisting that the $20 bill we withdrew be identical to the one we deposited across town, a pointless and inefficient system with hugely negative implications for ratepayers.
CPSR’s report also significantly exaggerates both the compliance cost and the non-renewable content of the RPS, particularly as policymakers consider an RPS expansion via the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Act (MCEJA) that specifically addresses those issues.
MCEJA would double Maryland’s commitment to renewable power, increase in-state solar and offshore wind, remove waste incineration from the RPS and introduce much lower compliance cost caps. MCEJA has been endorsed by all of Maryland’s renewable energy industry groups, scores of businesses and nonprofits and hundreds of political candidates. MCEJA was co-sponsored by a majority of Maryland’s legislature in 2018 and will be reintroduced in 2019. By improving on the success of the existing RPS, MCEJA is a practical and cost-effective approach to adding more wind and solar that will grow the state’s economy and help clean the air, compared to policies advocated by CPSR and Food and Water Watch, which call for completely overturning the existing RPS structure.
The renewable energy industry applauds Maryland’s lawmakers for their work to implement the existing RPS and we stand ready to work with them to make this successful policy even better for Marylanders through the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Act.
Bruce Burcat (marec.org@gmail.com) is executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition (MAREC). David Murray, executive director of the Maryland-D.C.-Virginia Solar Energy Coalition; Andrew Gohn, Eastern region director of state affairs for the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA); and Cyrus Tashakkori, chairman of the Maryland Utility Scale Solar Energy Coalition (USSEC), also contributed to this op-ed.

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Works referenced:
Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility: Unbundled: How Renewable Energy Credits Undermine Maryland’s Transition to Clean, Renewable Energy
Food & Water Watch: “Clean” Energy in Maryland Isn’t so Clean

Written By: Accacia “Casey” Grant, Healthy Communities Fellow
 
This summer, I spent my time petitioning for the offshore wind campaign at CCAN. Maryland is at the forefront of offshore wind development — our Public Service Commission approved the two largest wind farms in the country last year. Now, it’s up to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to give the final approval for the projects, which will create thousands of jobs and enough clean energy to power 500,000 homes.
As important and exciting as offshore wind is, making the case for the petition to BOEM is still critical.  After all, you are persuading random people to sign something for you.
Now, this was my first time ever petitioning, so of course, I was naturally all over the place (in the beginning). I had a quick training on how to petition and I just knew I had it down pack when I was practicing. I had my attention grabber, I practiced my “polite voice”, I had my most important points, and overall I just felt really prepared! My first petitioning event was at a local farmers market here in Baltimore and boy was I nervous. As I was getting out of my car, walking towards the market I had my first targets: 3 college girls wearing Johns Hopkins paraphernalia! In my head, I’m thinking “how hard can this be, I mean I’m in college and so are they, so I can do this”. I approached them very confident, and out came… GIBBERISH. I was a complete mess. As they laughed at me, I laughed too, and honestly, I just had to get my awkwardness out, after all I’m only human so it was bound to happen. They allowed me to restart and pitch to them:
Me: “ Hi! My name is Casey, would you like to sign a petition for clean energy?!”
Them: “Of Course, why wouldn’t we! ”
Me: “ I work for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and right now I’m working on a campaign to get offshore wind in Ocean City. Offshore wind is produced by wind turbines which creates energy, clean energy at that.”
Them: “that sounds super cool.”
Me: “ Yea, offshore wind will be used to power over half a million homes in Maryland, create jobs, and most importantly fight climate change!”
Them: “OMG that is amazing!”
By this time they were done signing the petition and I simply closed with “thank you for signing the petition! I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.” After the 3 JHU girls it was smooth sailing for the rest of the day.
Usually, there are other petitioners at events like a farmers market or festivals so you can do them a favor by signing their petition and they’ll usually sign yours as well! Approaching people can be pretty nerve-wracking, but honestly, when you put yourself out there it becomes easier and easier. I went to other events and of course I would be nervous in the beginning but I just remembered my elevator speech about the campaign and it flowed. Occasionally I would get questions and most of the time,  I knew the answer. But if I didn’t know the answer, I would simply say, “I’m not sure, but when I find out I can email you the answer” and they would say “great!”. Lastly, I would always advertise the volunteer checkbox to people, especially to college students.
So overall, petitioning isn’t hard once you pitch to a couple of people. Practice makes perfect, and after all, the worst a person can say to you asking them to sign the petition is “No”.
I created this guide to help all of the upcoming CCAN petitioners, hopefully it helps!
 
Uses

• Can be for stating grievances, initiating a law, organizing a union.
• Can be used to show public support for a cause or an issue.
• Educates the people.

 
Tips

• Don’t feel intimidated! Most people act like they don’t want to be approached but in reality a lot of people are nicer than they seem.
• Keep a smile on your face, look approachable, be nice and energetic.
• You don’t have to ask every single person that walks by but try to keep a goal of at least 10-15 people an hour.
• While you are explaining your petition go ahead and get the clipboard in their hands so they can be looking the petition over.

 
Communication Points

• First and foremost, always say Hi ! That is just common courtesy and remember you need them to sign something for you so you want to be polite.
• Have a cool attention grabber after you say hi. For instance, when I petitioned for offshore wind I started with “Hi! Would you like to sign a petition for clean energy?!” After that, the person would usually follow up with “hmm tell me more” and boom there is your moment to explain and sell the petition.
• Be sure to introduce yourself, organization, and your cause. People aren’t going to affiliate themselves with organization/cause/issue they know nothing about.
• Always emphasize the problem, but emphasize the solution even more!
• Your explanation does not have to be long, a quick elevator speech is all it takes. You don’t want to take too much of the person’s time.
• Always tell them that your organization loves volunteers and is more than open to anyone that wants to help.

 

• Lastly, always thank them for their time!

 
 

Last week (July 17, 2018), was my TENTH anniversary at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. I was honored that at our annual retreat, which kicked off on that very day, the staff took a moment and recognized me, my contributions, and acknowledged the changes that have taken place over that decade – both at CCAN and in the world. Through 4 governors in Virginia, 2 in Maryland, 3 DC mayors, countless legislator turnover, loss and gain of so many colleagues – more has changed than has stayed the same since 2008. So, I wanted to take a moment and acknowledge for a broader audience why I have stayed…why I continue to stay. Because I’m extremely proud of CCAN and I feel extremely lucky to have found this home and this outlet for my calling to be a part of this movement.
Everybody likes Top 10 lists, right? 10 points for 10 years. Plus, that’s a way to keep me from droning…so here goes, in order of length so you know it gets easier:
Number 10: CCAN’s size limits bureaucracy and maximizes flexibility.
I don’t know if I can communicate adequately how much this means to me. When a coalition partner wants us to sign a letter of support for their efforts, our campaign team and a member of the executive committee confer and we make a decision. It takes about 5 minutes. When I got to CCAN and realized that our health coverage was cumbersome and expensive, my colleague reached out to our broker, got 3 quotes and we changed it before the next fiscal year. What’s more – I stay because we realize this size is an advantage. Although we’d relish a random donor to come in and double our budget – we’d use it to strengthen our existing campaigns, offer more support to the frontline communities we’re fighting alongside, hire 2 more organizers, pay all of our interns instead of offering 3 paid internships a year, hire 1 administrative support staff, 1 full-time fundraiser (bringing that department to a total of TWO dedicated staff), and then give everyone raises and/or additional benefits because we live in one of the most expensive regions of the country and have to fight for every dollar to pay our staff of 15 living wages. Any takers? Accepting donations now. ☺
Number 9: CCAN has no permanent friends and no permanent enemies.
Well, we probably do…but, my point is that we’ll work with almost anyone/group who wants to truly address the climate crisis and we’ll call anyone out who hinders that progress (privately or publicly, depending on the weight of their actions and whether they’re usually friends or usually enemies). That includes politicians of all stripes, other advocacy groups, corporations, and individuals. For example…when VA governor Terry McAuliffe kept paying lip service to the climate while standing alongside Dominion Energy’s CEO to announce his support for its MASSIVE and unnecessary fracked-gas pipeline – we decided we’d given that Democrat enough chances. We pushed back harder than we had on any governor before, even orchestrating arrests outside his home to protest his critically ignorant and harmful move. We knew we were burning that bridge, and we knew someone had to. It’s worth noting that right before he left office, as he saw his “green” reputation in jeopardy, he took an action we’d be asking him to for 4 years – he issued an executive order linking Virginia to a regional carbon cap agreement, his first concrete, significant step for the climate. I stay for moments of impact like that.
Number 8: Our scope of work is like the porridge that is “just right.”
I have a four-year-old and am heavy in storybookland. CCAN is a regional group. Our name results in so much confusion thanks to the popularity of the Chesapeake Bay…but, it’s meant to give a regional title and ‘Chesapeake’ sounds so much better than ‘Mid-Atlantic,’ right? But, after working here, I’m convinced we’d be farther along in the climate movement if there were more regional groups that focused on grassroots organizing. We have a central leadership team that brings consistency to our work, communications support and expertise, and just enough administrative support to ensure that the majority of our staff is insulated from the worst of it. Meanwhile, our campaign staff knows the geography, politics, and constituencies of Maryland, DC, and Virginia inside and out. It’s a beautiful arrangement and I wish there more CCANs out there…with clearer names that don’t insinuate a knowledge they don’t have (please don’t ask me about phosphate in the Bay). ☺ Sometimes I think I should leave to go start one of these groups. Don’t worry, Mike, I have no immediate plans.
Number 7: CCAN has seen me through some life-changing times.
My mom was diagnosed with cancer just months before I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I spent a week per month over the course of 8 months working remotely to be with her and my family with Mike’s only question being: what else can we do to support you? I spent much of the winter that she died in North Carolina, doing work when I could, thankful for the escape it brought and thankful to leave it behind as needed. The entire CCAN team was patient as I made my back to the world, in a fog at first, with more clarity as time passed…only to embark on the next fog with the birth of my two children over the next few years. I’ve been able to carve out a role that supports CCAN, the climate, me, and my family and I’m so grateful.
Number 6: We take chances on people.
CCAN has launched and furthered the careers of DOZENS of change agents. We often hire young, inexperienced staff because we value fresh eyes, we value passion mixed with a readiness to learn and take on big responsibility, and we thrive on the energy and creativity that new advocates and organizers bring to our campaigns. Our alumni are running other climate and environmental organizations or programs, making a living running a nationally known podcast, starting up their own consulting careers supporting clean energy, and litigating climate protection, to name a few. CCAN has trained and supported many of them over the last decade, and while I’d never take credit for their success, I’m proud to be a part of it.
Number 5: CCAN takes risks.
We are – as an organization, from the top to the bottom – willing and ready to take risks and push the envelope. Most of the time that pays off, and when it doesn’t we learn from it and move on. We’ve dumped a ton (literally) of coal on a Senate lawn garnering national media coverage (yay!), and we mailed letters along with little packets of coffee beans to legislators in Annapolis to prove a point about how little of an investment we were asking for offshore wind…the amount of a cup of coffee…resulting in a building-wide Anthrax scare (oops – we learned a valuable lesson or two!). We sit down with legislators, but we also sit-IN their offices if that’s what’s needed. I stay because this inspires me.
Number 4: CCAN has a culture of learning.
How can we be better, more effective, more just, win faster, win slower to go faster, take more risks, take fewer risks, build more power, build more strategic power, etc. etc.? Most of our annual retreats and in-person quarterly staff meetings are spent tackling our weaknesses, offering trainings to strengthen our skills, and debriefing our recent efforts to document things we did well and things we’d do differently next time around. I stay because I’m proud of that culture – our people and our planet deserve it.
Number 3: We also know when to compromise so we can live to fight another day.
We have passed legislation in Maryland and DC that set national precedent and we’ve passed bills that are far from what we wanted because we realized that the tiny investment in clean energy in Virginia was all we were gonna get until some new leadership came along. In deciding to pursue legislation as one of our strategies, compromise is a given. But, we push as far and as hard as we can, and that’s one reason I stay.
Number 2: We win.
Our list of victories is long and getting longer each year. We’re efficient, we’re smart, we’re tenacious. And, as I’m always teaching our staff at CCAN – we are good planners and time managers. So, with that…I’ll skip listing them all out even though it’s one of the most important reasons I stay. Because I need to get back to work.
Number 1: We have a culture of gratitude.
Thank you to CCAN for this second home. Thank you to Mike Tidwell for having the sheer will and passion it takes to sustain this organization. Thank you to each and every staff person past and present who supports me, teaches me, and inspires me to keep doing this work. Thank you to each and every volunteer and coalition partner who makes this a MOVEMENT, not a job. Here’s to another decade working for climate justice.