Author: Denise Robbins

Anthony Field is CCAN’s Maryland Campaign Coordinator. Here’s his story.

Tell me a little bit about yourself!

I was born in Plano, texas and went to High School in Wylie, Texas. Both are located in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. I moved to Denton, Texas to attend the University of North Texas (UNT) with a full ride and pursued a BA in Political Science and a minor in Peace Studies and Diplomacy. 

I left UNT to serve as a 2015 White House Intern for former President Obama and after began managing the ground efforts for ballot initiatives and State and Federal races in Texas, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Virginia and also managed disaster relief efforts for FEMA in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Maria. 

What woke you up to the climate crisis?

I had always been aware of the issue, but it was not until I began increasing my political activity after high school that I fully understood the scale. During my time at UNT I joined the local effort to institute a citywide fracking ban. Myself and dozens of other activists were able to take on the big oil interests and made Denton the first city in Texas to ban fracking! While this ban was eventually overturned by Governor Abbott in May of 2015, I am proud to have been a part of this incredible movement. Additionally, seeing the increased strength and frequency of hurricanes like Harvey opened my eyes to how we are already experiencing the negative effects of climate change. Thousands lost everything, a family friend included. Many thousands more had to evacuate and stay in shelters all across Texas. I had friends volunteer as translators for more than 12 hours a day for consecutive days. Tragedies like this will only become more frequent if we do not do something. 

What impacts of climate change currently hit home to you? 

The destruction of entire ecosystems, the danger posed to predominantly minority and low-income communities, the rapidly increasing health risks, the increased danger of water shortages, destructive weather patterns, the fact that we may not have a planet to live on in a few short decades…  Ya know, small things. 

What brought you to CCAN? 

CCAN looked to be, and I am happy to find, an organization at the forefront of the fight against climate change and for environmental justice. They take a grassroots approach to organizing and have a commitment to including as many groups and people as they can in their fight.

What has inspired you most working with CCAN?

Being able to work every day surrounded by people who are passionate about the work that we are doing and seeing just how dedicated activists and community members are!

What have you contributed to bringing about a clean energy revolution that you are most proud of?

I am proud of my work with Frack Free Denton and my time helping candidates who support initiatives like the Green New Deal get into office. Something that is no less important that I do is utilize my reach on social media and other networks to educate and make people aware of the growing climate crisis. 

What do you hope to see happen in terms of climate in the next year?

I had a dream that President Trump rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement. I would like to see that happen in real life.

What do you like to do when you’re not working on climate change?

I like to relax at home with my two dogs Loki and Prim, play video games, and spend time watching movies at home and in theaters with my girlfriend, Haley. 

Who would you high five?

I would high five Elon Musk. Though I have my issues with him and various companies he has been involved with, I admire his passion and drive. I am thankful that he has put space travel, space exploration, and space tech development back in the spotlight. It has been my dream since I was a little boy to witness the rise of accessible space travel and to see the vastness of open space with my own eyes. I just hope we can continue to develop better, more sustainable ways to reach the stars that will not harm our own planet or ecosystems.

Climate Solidarity Means Immigrant Solidarity

I need to start by talking about my brothers.

I’m choosing not to broadcast their names, but they are 14 and 20 years old. They came to live with me and my mom when they were 5. I’m exceedingly proud of both of them. The accomplishments of the older brother are borderline obnoxious — a ranked chess player at 12, he went on to score in the top one percent of hispanics on the PSATs, become a star rugby player, and graduate with a 4.5 GPA. He now attends college on a prestigious full ride scholarship, still playing rugby, and still being a generally awkward dork. The younger (also a ranked chess player) just finished his first year at high school. Already he’s received an award for a research project on Alzheimers — though no matter what he accomplishes, I will always remember him as the little boy who woke me up nearly every night of senior year to get in my twin-sized bed and protect him from nightmares.

This is what I used to think about when seeing my brothers. But lately, I think about what would happen if they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Both of them are half-Mexican and half-Salvadorian. They are also thankfully birthright citizens. But citizenship didn’t stop even a Marine Veteran from being erroneously detained, or more recently, a teenage boy named Francesco Galicia, who was held for 23 days.

Francesco’s story terrifies me. What could happen to other brown teenage boys who, frankly, act like teenage boys? What could happen to my brothers?

Over the last two weeks, we have seen horrifying escalation by Trump and ICE. There have been deeply disturbing images from the border showing blatant violence and neglect in concentration camps, as well as fines directed at immigrants to criminalize them further. Now, we are hearing that ICE wants to open a new detention center right in my home state of Maryland.

Please take one minute to sign the petition urging President Trump to CLOSE THE CAMPS!

Thankfully, immigrant communities and allies across the country are working overtime to protect families and fight back against encroaching facism. Nonprofits like CASA, RAICES, and Families Belong Together are working to warn people about raids and assist with legal proceedings. Faith communities across the country are acting as sanctuaries for families and individuals to hide in. Jewish allies especially have been putting bodies on the line with “Never Again” demonstrations and making explicitly clear the connections between these actions and Nazi Germany.

This week, I asked my mom to make my brothers carry their passports with them. I hope that if anything should happen, the passports will be enough to get them home safely. The way things are going, it feels like only a matter of time before that citizenship status becomes a question, especially as Trump’s administration has already made moves to this end.

If you care about climate change, you should care about immigration and racialized xenophobia. The two are inextricably linked. Climate change is already forcing millions to leave their homes for safer ground. Over the next 30 years, — estimates range between 25 million and 1 billion people being displaced due to the impacts of climate change.

Please take one minute to sign the petition urging President Trump to CLOSE THE CAMPS!

It’s time for climate activists to show solidarity. Follow the Never Again Action page and the CASA Maryland page for upcoming events to get involved. You can also write a letter to the editor in response to Hogan’s silence on this issue.

As we move forward into the next decade of climate transformation, it is up to all of us to be watchful of fear and hatred that threatens families like mine.

-Emily Frias
Maryland Grassroots Coordinator
Chesapeake Climate Action Network

Photo at the top via Flickr user ep_jhu with a Creative Commons license

So much has happened in a few short months! Let me start at the beginning — right before this year’s legislative session.
At the beginning of the year, we were ready to ride the green climate wave to victory. Nearly a supermajority of legislators in both houses pledged their support of the Clean Energy Jobs Act during the electoral season prior to the start of session. An omnibus bill, the legislation was to include all of the following:

• A doubling of our state’s renewable energy requirement to 50% by 2030 and a plan to reach 100% by 2040
• A $7 million dollar grant fund for veterans, women, small business owners and people of color to enter the green energy economy
• An additional $8 million in workforce development funds, including $1 million earmarked for investment in high schools
• An end to incentives for trash incineration as a qualifying renewable source

With so much support behind us, it seemed like session would be smooth sailing. Full speed ahead, we started the first day of session with one of the biggest Annapolis rallies in the history of our organization.
We soon learned that we had extremely stormy weather on the horizon. Following the passage of stricter emission standards for incinerators in Baltimore City and on the heels of County Executive Mark Elrichs’ declaration that he would shut down the BRESCO incinerator, the incinerator lobby came out in force. The provision to remove subsidies from incineration was stripped out of the bill. Yet, with the support of clean energy champions like Delegates Mosby, Llewis, Charkoudian and an unlikely ally in Republican Senator Hough we   worked to introduce two stand-alone bills also removing incineration incentives.
In the weeks to follow, it became clear that the stand alone bills around incineration did not have the votes required to pass, and that the house was heavily divided on the issue. Meanwhile, the session clock kept ticking. But finally, a ray of hope broke through the clouds – the Senate passed their version of the bill with a bipartisan super majority, fully intact. However, due to the heavy delays, the bill ended up in the Rules committee, where many bills meet their end.
And then, more waiting. It felt like years that the fate of our energy future was held in limbo. It was only in the final week – , intense grassroots pressure, and the mounting climate and solar energy crisis on everyone’s mind- that House leadership made the decision to move the bill out of Rules and to the floor for a vote, without including the incineration provision. Finally, at 10 pm on the final day of session and after hours of floor debate, the Clean Energy Jobs Act reached final passage from the General Assembly.
Following our tumultuous session, we had a lot of discussion — with our community, and with ourselves. We knew the bill accomplished many things, but not everything we had worked so hard for. We wrote this summary of our perspective here, where we outlined the good and the bad about the very good but not perfect Clean Energy Jobs Act. Ultimately, we decided that because of the urgency of the climate crisis, and the benefits that the bill did provide, we would move forward with pursuing a signature from the Governor. This presented another challenge, as he had previously vetoed the Clean Energy Jobs Act of 2016.   We were joined in our efforts by the amazing father and son duo, Vinny and Jamie DeMarco, who had previously biked over 400 miles across the state after the last clean energy jobs legislation  was vetoed. They took to their bikes again and this time rode 150 miles, starting in Annapolis and making their first stop in Ellicott City.
After their ride, it was time again for even more waiting. On nearly the last possible day for action, Governor Hogan wrote a letter announcing he would not be vetoing the Clean Energy Jobs Act. We’d reached final safe harbor at last.
I and all of CCAN want to thank all of our supporters who stuck with us through this journey. To do that, we will be celebrating the passage of this bill with a party soon — details TBD. So get ready to celebrate and hang tight for more exciting updates about our next big move!