US Senator Joe Manchin will stop at nothing to strong-arm fossil fuel boondoggles into existence, especially the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) in West Virginia and Virginia. His approach this time? A Dirty Deal with US Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to pass so-called “permitting reform” legislation.
This label is misleading because the bill would actually sacrifice frontline communities to fast track permits for all kinds of risky, destructive fossil fuel projects.
The MVP is a climate-warming, land-destroying, family-wrecking pipeline that is utterly unacceptable to us. Which is why we have been fighting it from the day it was proposed in 2015. That pipeline would cross nearly 1000 streams and wetlands to transport fracked gas from West Virginia to Virginia and possibly to overseas markets. We unequivocally oppose this pipeline and any legislation that would greenlight it.
The Dirty Deal bill has a difficult path to passage, but we need to pull out all the stops. No one has seen the official legislation yet, but the one-page summary of the deal that was leaked is a disaster – it guts bedrock environmental protections, endangers public health, fast-tracks fossil fuels, and pushes approval for Manchin’s pet project, the Mountain Valley Pipeline – and a draft legislative text that’s circulating is just as bad, it even bears a watermark from the American Petroleum Institute!
American Petroleum Institute watermark on the draft deal: https://twitter.com/jimrwalsh/status/1555223445637632000/photo/1
Manchin’s deal will not only attempt to force through the Mountain Valley Pipeline, it’ll also threaten the National Environmental Policy Act, a bedrock environmental policy.
Here’s what the draft deal claims to do if passed:
Shorten the timeline for permitting reviews to two years for major projects and one year for lower-impact projects
Allow for more categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Cut climate change out of consideration
Prohibit Tribal agencies from requesting applicants to withdraw their applications
Lengths of pipe placed the ground along the under-construction Mountain Valley Pipeline near Elliston, Virginia, U.S. September 29, 2019. Picture taken September 29, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Mostoller (Newscom TagID: rtrleleven529716.jpg) [Photo via Newscom]
This is a dirty deal written by and for the fossil fuel industry. It’ll also sacrifice frontline communities to fast-track permits for other fossil fuel projects. Leader Schumer could attach this legislation to a must-pass government spending bill this September, so we must do everything we can to stop this legislation in its tracks.
Manchin’s deal will not only attempt to force through the Mountain Valley Pipeline, it’ll also threaten the National Environmental Policy Act, a bedrock environmental policy.
We will not stand for this.
Manchin’s Dirty Deal would have monumental repercussions. It would gut existing environmental law by cutting public input and dismissing tribal authority. The clear result would be more dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure that decimates public health and accelerates out-of-control climate chaos.
No one should be sacrificed for profit. We have to fight back and urge our elected officials to do all they can to stop this terrible legislation.
I will remember today for the rest of my life. Today The House of Representatives passed The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and sent it to President Biden for his signature. Today kicks off a clean energy revolution that will save thousands of lives, prevent countless climate disasters, and shape the carbon record for millennia.
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While it is not perfect, this groundbreaking legislation will reduce US emissions 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, create 1.4 million new jobs, expand the U.S. economy by nearly one full percentage point, and prevent up to 3,900 premature deaths annually, mostly in communities of color. It will also expand health insurance and lower the cost of prescription drugs.
The Inflation Reduction Act is the first sweeping climate legislation to be passed by Congress, and it would not have been possible without the advocacy we have been doing for years. Thank you. It has been an honor to build this movement together with you. Now our job is to build more power and pass even bolder legislation. We must make this the first, and the smallest, climate legislation Congress passes.
CCAN Action Fund is enthusiastically applauding House passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. A side agreement of the bill, however, could accelerate approval of oil and gas pipelines, drawing fierce opposition from groups like CCAN Action Fund with pledges to defeat this separate measure in September.
The climate features of the bill are described in more detail here. CCAN Action Fund advocated for the removal of the provisions that would open up new leases for fossil fuel extraction, and we are disappointed to see that these provisions were included in the final bill. We will continue our decades-long practice of fighting all fossil fuel infrastructure.
While the Inflation Reduction Act does not affect the Mountain Valley Pipeline in any way, its passage is linked to a separate bill to greenlight the Mountain Valley Pipeline through a deal between Senators Manchin and Schumer. Even as we celebrate our representatives for finally passing sweeping climate legislation, we need to let them know that they must vote against ANY legislation that facilitates construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Statement from Mike Tidwell, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and CCAN Action Fund:
“Today’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act by the US House of Representatives is a game-changing step in the fight to rescue our planet from extreme climate change. The bill will be remembered as a turning point in the nation’s move to ‘electrify everything’ with clean energy while protecting our most vulnerable communities from climate impacts and energy cost burdens.
“In the Chesapeake region of Maryland, Virginia, DC, and West Virginia, this bill will greatly incentivize manufacturing for wind and solar energy systems while growing our offshore wind industry with smart and strategic tax credits. It will mean many more affordable electric cars throughout our region with a rapidly growing network of charging stations in addition to funding for more walkable communities.
“Also, thanks to the tireless efforts of Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, this bill will create America’s first national Green Bank with $9 billion. The bank will transform American homes with loans and grants for heat pumps, electric water heating systems, and other low- and zero-carbon energy systems.”
“Many thanks also to Stacey Abrams of Georgia. Her tireless efforts over the years to register Georgia voters and fight for justice led directly to the US Senate election victories of Rafael Warnock (D-GA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) in 2021. Without Abrams’ visionary efforts, the Senate would not have had the votes to win today on climate and prescription drugs. Period.”
“But the climate fight will be far from over. We must do more to right the wrongs of climate injustice and continue our effort to make communities of color, that have been disproportionately impacted, whole again. CCAN Action Fund is committed with hundreds of other groups to stopping any ‘permit reform’ legislation – proposed for a September vote – that could ease approval of unimaginably destructive fossil fuel pipelines like the Mountain Valley Pipeline proposed for West Virginia and Virginia. We will fight as hard to stop that bill as we’ve fought to pass this climate bill.”
After a novel survey of dying trees in 2021, volunteers systematically rescued huge swaths of urban forest plagued by English Ivy and other invasive vines. Results: More than 80% of dying trees saved, creating a model for cities nationwide.
TAKOMA PARK, MD – Using a first-of-its-kind system pioneered here in 2021, hundreds of volunteers in Takoma Park, Maryland have systematically rescued more than 4,000 trees previously identified as dying from invasive vines such as English ivy. Meeting on Saturday mornings for just over a year and equipped with simple garden clippers and pruning saws, the volunteers have now saved 80% of the infested trees in this city of 18,000 people, creating a blueprint for communities nationwide.
According to a report released today by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), the 4,000th tree – a 75-year-old red oak – was rescued by volunteers on June 30th. Now, in a city where dying trees were once a common sight on both public and private land, it is rare to see any trees choking from such killers as English ivy, Wintercreeper, Porcelainberry, Oriental bittersweet, Chinese wisteria, and others.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say this city has been transformed,” said Mike Tidwell, CCAN executive director and a resident of Takoma Park. “We had dying trees everywhere – downtown, on playgrounds, around city hall. Now it’s hard to find such trees. That’s good for homeowners, for public health, for local ecosystems, and for the global climate.”
Two steps were key to this success, according to the report released today. First, CCAN commissioned a trained invasive plant specialist to walk and visually survey all 36 miles of streets and roads in the city during wintertime, when many evergreen vines are starkly visible. Five thousand mature trees – from age 20 to more than a century – were determined likely to die within 5-7 years without action. As a second step – using this data and the recorded tree locations – volunteers then set out block-by-block and park-by-park to safely cut, clip, and saw vines.
According to an extensive internet search, no baseline survey of dying trees like the one undertaken in Takoma Park had ever been done before in the United States. This simple walking survey, using a smartphone to record the location of every infested tree, gave volunteers a sense of the scale of the problem and gave them a way to chart progress. Just over a year later, only about 1,000 infested trees remain, mostly on private land where permission to access has not yet been granted. Efforts are ongoing to rescue these remaining trees.
For more information, visit the CCAN page on Invasive Plants and Climate Change. It includes links to the report itself and video of volunteers saving the 4,000th tree.
BACKGROUND
Trees are one of our best solutions for combating climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide. They also provide countless other benefits to people and wildlife, including helping to filter air and water, controlling stormwater, and providing wildlife habitat. They reduce noise and provide places to recreate while strengthening social cohesion, spurring community revitalization, and adding economic value to communities. Trees also add significant value for homeowners: mature trees can add 7 to 19 percent to a home’s value, and can reduce heating and cooling costs by up to 50%. Yet dead trees can cost thousands of dollars to remove. Non-native, invasive vines pose a significant threat to trees.
With this in mind, in February 2021, CCAN commissioned what may be the first assessment of its kind in the nation. The startling results in a small city known to highly value its tree canopy likely signals that the scale of invasive vine destruction in similar towns nationwide is far beyond previous assumptions. The study also identified relatively low-resource, commonsense solutions to the problem. Many of the trees in the survey can be saved in 10-15 minutes by volunteers using common garden clippers and pruning saws.
Upon release of the assessment, CCAN began hosting volunteer events on Saturday mornings. Since April of 2021, CCAN has engaged 334 volunteers, including 191 unique volunteers. The majority of events were group activities where volunteers would remove invasive vines in predetermined areas, primarily local parks and public areas. Volunteers also visited 571 of the 840 (68%) homes where threatened trees had been identified. Contact was made with a resident at 262 (46% of 571) homes and of the homes where contact was made, 194 of those (75% of 262) agreed to let volunteers and staff remove invasive vines. When homeowners weren’t home, volunteers left an informational flier with contact information. For those homeowners who then reached out to CCAN, a core group of dedicated volunteers then made follow-up house calls to remove vines from trees. This seemingly high response rate indicates that homeowners are willing to take action when made aware of the threat to their trees. Most of the trees saved (2342 or 46%) were on public property, the majority of which was parks. The remainder (1671 or 33%) was on private property, the major part of which was single-family homes. CCAN worked closely with Montgomery Parks’ Weed Warrior program to reach 4000 trees saved. The Weed Warrior program helped direct volunteers to CCAN-led events and provided trained – and trainee – Weed Warriors who provided assistance during events. Of the trees freed in Takoma Park, 1706 were on Montgomery Parks’ property.
The Takoma Tree Saver program has clearly inspired people both within Takoma Park and around the region. In Takoma Park, it appears to have struck a chord with the public. The work of CCAN’s volunteers is obvious around town, as evidenced by dying vines, and appears to be catching on – there are signs that people are undertaking vine cutting on their own outside of the program.
The program has received numerous inquiries from people and organizations wanting to adopt CCAN’s model or simply learn from its experiences. CCAN staff have presented to multiple organizations and consulted with various groups throughout the region. Staff are currently preparing to train at least two community groups in nearby jurisdictions.
It is obvious that people’s participation in this relatively simple climate action energizes and empowers them, and they are transferring this enthusiasm to others. It appears to be successful because, primarily, it is a tangible climate action that people can take relatively simply. People can see the results of their labor, it is tactile, and it engages people in saving their beloved urban forest.
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Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.chesapeakeclimate.org
We want to hear and see you (as safely as possible)! CCAN organizers from Virginia Beach to Fairfax will be available for socially distanced, outdoor meetings.
Each organizer has a slightly different schedule so check out the times and locations below to find a meet-up near you (and lunch is on us on a first come, first served basis).
Groundbreaking study has possible national implications while calling for immediate, commonsense rescue actions from the local City government and volunteers.
TAKOMA PARK, MD – In what may be the first tree survey of its kind in the nation, an invasive plant specialist in February walked all 36 miles of the streets and adjacent areas of Takoma Park, MD looking for non-native vines. What he found was startling. He directly identified nearly 5,000 trees in the city being overwhelmed by invasive vines like English Ivy.
The startling results in a small city known to highly value its tree canopy could signal that the scale of invasive vine destruction nationwide is far beyond previous assumptions. The study also identifies relatively low-resource, commonsense solutions to the problem. Most of the trees in the survey can be saved in 5-10 minutes by volunteers using common garden clippers and pruning saws.
“We knew non-native invasive vines were a big problem for Takoma Park trees, but we were still shocked by the findings in this study,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Put together, 5,000 trees in an urban setting can cover acres of land and, if lost, represent a huge amount of money, comfort, and climate benefits.”
The report was conducted by native plant specialist Jesse Buff of Takoma Park. It points out that planting 5,000 new trees and protecting them to the age of several decades – and some for over a century – would be a fantastically expensive undertaking for the city. Yet saving the same number of trees currently dying in plain sight from invasive vines would cost little beyond educating citizens and supporting local volunteer efforts already underway to eradicate invasive vines.
Last summer, volunteers organized by CCAN in Takoma Park eradicated deadly vines on over 700 trees in the city. Now the group is launching a weekly Saturday morning program where volunteers sign up to “adopt” between 10 and 100 trees in the city for rescue.
The CCAN survey cataloged the exact location of troubled trees on residential, commercial, and park property. Volunteers will be given addresses and asked to set out to meet with homeowners and business owners to encourage them to eradicate the vines themselves using quick, simple methods. Or property owners can elect to have volunteers do it for them. By autumn, the goal is to have rescued all 4,850 trees in the city.
CCAN hopes the Takoma Park survey and volunteer system will become a model for other city, county and state programs nationwide to save affected trees. And again, you can read the full report here. Volunteers can get involved by signing up here and visiting this website.
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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. For nearly 20 years, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
1. Be a part of the FIRST NATIONAL Polar Bear Plunge for our climate!
Do you really need any other reason than this? This polar bear plunge is monumental and could not come at a more important time. Last year was a difficult one for our country. Though it was filled with uncertainty, it reminded us that we can’t wait to take action on important issues. The climate can’t wait any longer. And neither can we. Sign up here.
2. Take action and launch 2021 off on the right paw.
We have a lot of work to do in 2021, and climate solutions need to be at the top of the list. Your plunge is a way to send this message to our political leaders as we enter a new climate era. As climate activists, we are part of history in the making, no longer just witnesses to it. We’re shifting from being on the defensive to the offensive.
3. Bill McKibben and Rev. Lennox Yearwood – full stop.
Be inspired and hear firsthand from two of the climate movement’s leading voices. Enough said.
4. Bragging rights!
How many of your friends can say that they are sooo dedicated to the climate that they jumped into icy cold waters to promote climate solutions and protect our planet? It’ll be a great story to tell.
5. Help fund climate solutions.
Just like a charity fun run, plunge participants gather pledges from their friends and family in support of CCAN’s vital climate work.
In 2021, the CCAN team will be working to achieve a carbon- free electric grid and to ban the sale of internal combustion engine cars by 2035 on the federal level. In Maryland, we will be pushing for the strongest climate bill in state history — Climate Solutions Now. And in Virginia, the team is working to increase access to electric vehicles and put a fossil fuel moratorium in place. All of this while we continue to fight one fracked-gas pipeline after another in our communities.
6. Celebrate the victory in the Arctic by getting icy cold! 🥶
Trump’s attempted sale of the Arctic to the polluting fossil fuel industry was a bust! This was thanks in part to the tireless efforts of climate activists sending a clear message that the public was not in favor of this shameful violation of the planet we call home. And, within the first 24 hours of Biden’s Presidency, oil activity in Arctic refuge was halted.
7. Plunge Perks (of course)!
Would you like to win an electric bike? Are you a big fan of cute masks and fun t-shirts? Are you motivated enough to be our top plunger who will win an original painting by Alaskan artist Debby Bloom?
8. Celebrate the planet you love on the weekend of love.
You may have noticed we are taking the plunge on Valentine’s Day weekend. What better way is there for you to show your love for our planet and all creatures on it than by taking the polar plunge?
It was welcomed, as I trekked my way through the mountains and into Monroe County, West Virginia. He told me where to stop for cheap gas, which snacks I should grab, and the turns I would take down gravel roads to get to Sweet Springs. I knew nothing of the area. I had only just moved from New York to Richmond three weeks earlier — my car was still heavy from the last of my things.
I was there to tour the route of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Told that my new position with CCAN would include fighting the Mountain Valley Pipeline, I knew I had to get a handle on the project and get in touch with the local resistance fighters. I had spent the week prior preparing myself, planning the logistics and buying supplies. But I was overwhelmed with what I actually witnessed. The contrast between the kind, caring folks I met and the sheer negligence of a company hell-bent on delivering unneeded fracked gas through farms, backyards, and public land was dizzying.
Maury Johnson in front of the right-of-way by his property
I arrived at Sweet Springs Resort, currently non-functioning but with a deep history. Maury Johnson acted as my tour guide these first few days. An expert in the area, he has filed over 180 violations (of sediment and erosion control, incorrect storage, among others) caused by the pipeline he has personally identified along the route. He explained that Sweet Springs Resort, named for the hot springs nearby, was a hotel for a period of time and the current property owner planned to restore it. When I inquired further into the past, he said that this spring originally belonged to native peoples (mostly likely historical Eastern Sioux lands of the Yesa Confederacy, but he never specified), and that there had been a massacre to acquire the land. This was an orienting way to start my trip: the aggressive reminder that we are all on stolen land. As I interacted with those whose properties were taken through eminent domain to build the pipeline, I remembered the long history of abuse and land theft.
Before we began our destruction tour, Maury pointed out three different water bottling plants and a few other springs resorts, touting that Peters Mountain has some of the best water in the world. Water is not just an attraction, but a source of manufacturing and a major economic driver. The pipeline’s presence threatens that. We first must consider the runoff, erosion and sediment deposited in this karst zone (meaning that there are underwater rivers and caves throughout the region) from construction alone. And keep in mind that with every project there is a possibility of leakage, which would poison the water in the whole region. This is not just folks’ drinking water and health we’re talking about (which should be reason enough to halt the project), but their livelihoods.
We drove in our separate SUVs, communicating by walkie talkie because of COVID concerns and its rising rates in the county. Maury stopped in the middle of the road to take a picture of a box turtle (they’re doing a study, he informed me) and safely delivered it to the other side. I can think of no better way to describe the folks in this fight — attentive and driven to preserve life. As we pulled up to the right-of-way at Pence Springs, my heart sunk. Lush green hills were stripped down to a 125-foot clearing. Along the edges of the stream were splitweed and ironweed, yellows and purples dotting the water before it opened up to a massive treeless zone. Here the pipe had already been put in the ground. It hasn’t held any gas and never will, if we have anything to do with it.
Other areas I came across were not nearly as “finished.” While MVP claims that they are 92% done, I cannot say I saw even half of that during my time. At only a few locations did I see the yellow topped markers indicating that the pipe was in the ground. Most of the route was vast dead zones. In the most “completed” areas, pipe was welded and staged with no trench to be seen. In other areas, the pipe wasn’t even staged — segmented and piled, left out to bake in the sun for years since they were placed there. These pipes and their coating aren’t supposed to sit out for more than one year, but I saw some dated 2017.
Pipe dated 2017
In other areas, it seemed utterly uncleared. Because of the stop work orders in place (status uncertain due to the recent biological opinion), several sections in Giles County had time to regrow for the past two years. Nature is resilient; the ecosystem in these areas will restore itself. As long as we stop gas from ever entering these pipes, there is a chance to bring these areas back.
During my time on the route, I was able to visit the Yellow Finch Tree Sit as they marked their two-year anniversary. The right-of-way here looked particularly rotten — horrible, steep, brown, with big white tarps over it — a band-aid to control MVP’s numerous erosion violations. It looked like a black diamond ski slope with its steep drop-offs, but far wider than any expert run would be. I hiked up a logging road, imagining what a terrible sight it must have been for those at camp as thousands of trees like the ones they were sitting in were trucked out. With a wave of death snaking through the hills in one direction, the other view held a hand-felled cut, leading right up to a remaining stand of trees on the route. From this height, I could see a little bit of white amidst the canopy — a poster draped over one of the sits. As gut-wrenching as it was to see all of that barren land, this little section imbued some much-needed hope in me. I hiked down to get a look at the sits from below.
There were three platforms about fifty feet up in the trees. They had buckets and pulley systems, banners and tarps. Beneath them were big umbrella-like barriers to prevent anyone from climbing up. MVP had only sent one surveyor who had climbed once – to spike a tree, killing it, where a sitter’s platform was staged. These folks are willing to put their bodies on the line and break the law for what they know is right. It reminded me of other fights against injustice, and the presumed “illegality” of human bodies when they are in certain spaces. Social justice and environmental justice are joined in so many ways — like how climate refugees will only increase with extreme weather.
Anniversary day was a weird one – celebratory for the staying power of the Yellow Finch tree-sitters — but deeply tired. Yellow Finch hasn’t had many visitors other than stalwart suppliers due to COVID-19, but last weekend about ten of us visitors sat apart from each other in the dirt, trying to make the most of it. Folks walked around drinking beer and eating cakes with antifascist slogans. While morale was high that day, there was the explicit hope that we all wouldn’t be there next year. These tree-sitters want to go home, to not have to face another winter out here in the cold. In full organizer mode, I asked what I could do to help – did they need material resources, what sorts of media should I send their way, etc. At one point, I received a blank stare: “Just stop the pipeline.” It was a sobering moment. The tree sits are a stalling method for the tedious legal, policy, and media work – for those of us who are down here safely on land to do our jobs and stop this pipeline from ever being completed. We all have our place in this fight; we too have a vital part to play.
My trip was coming to a close around Labor Day, which I spent with Russell Chisholm, the leader of a coalition of local “preserve” groups called POWHR. I drove into the Newport Village Green to meet him, welcomed by a sign stating “You are now entering the blast zone.” Unlike my experiences with Maury, we didn’t visit the private landowners affected, but instead travelled along the Forest Service land that had been permitted for construction. The thought of this alone is unsettling — a forest that is supposed to serve the public good and is highly frequented by campers is now zoned to have a massive 42-in pipeline running through it. Forty-two inches is a huge diameter: I stood next to these wide tunnels, and realized I could easily crawl inside.
We approached the right-of-way through the Jefferson National Forest, a steep path that included several hard right angles. As we pulled in, we saw that posted up on a tree were notices that this area — of public land — was off-limits due to construction. To circumvent our inability to walk the site, Russell brought out a drone — a very helpful tool in catching when and where construction begins again. That day it showed me a longer stretch than I could imagine — a trail of brown bobbing over ridges through the otherwise verdant forest. The aerial view from the drone showed me the magnitude of this project — of how much has gone to waste when the MVP is cancelled like the long-fought Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
There are countless other horror stories I could share: of retirement dream homes built from scratch t on old family property that was completely bisected by the pipeline; of flower beds outside kitchen windows torn up for an easement less than 100 feet away; of a sinkhole caused by boring into CARST zones near a couple’s chicken coops; of an organic farm that will disappear if the pipe is filled with gas. I have the happier stories, as well: of posters, walls and cars painted in anti-pipeline slogans; the jokes and onion rings among the trees; the fresh country eggs that were gifted to me for breakfast; the folks that opened their homes and their hearts to me as I slept in their backyards.
I drove the three hours back to Richmond meditating on what I had seen. Resolved and directed, I am acutely aware of my place in the fight. You too have a place.
The fight’s not over. September 11 is the FINAL DAY to submit comments to FERC to oppose the extension to the MVP. The deadline to file a comment is 5pm this evening. You can sign the CCAN public comment here or file a personal comment of your own through FERC with this toolkit.
Please also donate to Appalachians Against Pipelines in support of the Yellow Finch Tree Sit, POWHR or CCAN. We will always be outspent by MVP — only we can fund our collective liberation.
A friend in my internship program in DC texted me on March 10. Amid the first appearance of coronavirus infections on the West Coast, our program at the University of California Washington Center–through which I was an intern at CCAN–decided to immediately pull hundreds of students out of the DC center and to end the program a month early. Counterintuitively, they were sending us back to California, which at the time was the second largest epicenter of the outbreak.
At first I was frustrated with their reasoning: why such a dramatic move? At the time DC had only a handful of cases, and it was unclear why sending students back home would provide any more safety or security than keeping us housed at the center. Students had to scramble to find housing and transportation. Some needed aid just to afford to leave DC.
But within a few days it became clear that they had made the proper decision: the sooner everything shut down, the better the outcome would be.
The University gave us until the following week to vacate, but I was already wondering if there would be travel lockdowns: the President had already floated the topic. I did not want to be stuck in DC without housing during a pandemic. I departed on Wednesday, March 18.
California to Chicago
Meanwhile, my family worried about my father.
He had just buried two brothers in one month’s time (unrelated to the virus). An 81-year-old with coronary heart disease, he had been cleaning out my uncle’s house in San Diego when the virus arrived. We wanted him to fly immediately back to his home in Chicago, but he had unfinished family business in California and insisted on completing his work. He decided it was safest to drive a car back to Chicago by himself.
He declined my offer to accompany him due to the increased risk of exposure.
Two days after he left, I learned that CCAN’s Anthony Field, with whom I shared a room in our office, tested positive for the virus. It started getting much closer to home.
California
By the time I arrived home in Oakland, California, the entire state was in lockdown.
I couldn’t see my friends who I had been away from for months. I learned that my friend Qilo was in isolation with coronavirus symptoms. They are a manual therapist who has many older and immune-compromised clients, and those clients were anxiously awaiting Qilo’s test results. Qilo had to try for days, however, to get access to a coronavirus test. Over a week later, their test came back negative, but they did not trust the results due to the widely reported inaccuracy of the tests. They also received widely-varying advice to self-quarantine for anywhere from three days to two weeks after symptoms have subsided.
It is also unclear whether one is immune after carrying the virus–information which will be crucial in the coming months for healthcare workers and manual therapists such as myself and Qilo, who depend on personal contact for our livelihoods. Since I can no longer see massage clients, I myself will have to file for unemployment, which luckily has been extended to gig workers, contract workers, and the self-employed during the crisis. Some service workers are using their vulnerable yet powerful position at this moment to demand better working conditions, benefits, and protections.
There is a clear parallel here with the climate crisis, where vulnerable communities who are the least responsible for climate change often suffer the worst impacts, yet receive the least support.
Nesting in North Oakland
Working from home in Oakland, California
Now I am sharing the strange collective experience of watching the virus spread throughout the world while sheltering in my apartment.
The increasingly tense and traumatic scenes inside hospitals and nursing homes elude me. Having spent most of my life as a physical laborer, the inability to take physical action to help those in need is unsettling and alienating.
Luckily, California acted earlier (as they have done with climate policy) than all other states with the shelter in place order–a wise move that has allowed California to dramatically lower the spread of the virus. Most people I know are taking the order seriously. While my fiance and I have still had an occasional friend over to our apartment while practicing social distancing, we have kept it to a bare minimum. My classes and internships are now online and most human contact is through Zoom or video chat. I spend over half my waking hours in front of a screen.
Working from home has proven difficult for the three members of my household, as I’m sure many of us have experienced. Every few moments I cannot resist the urge to look at data, read articles, and generally obsess about the pandemic. Luckily my supervisors and teachers have been forgiving.
Zain meets waffle
My fiance, Zain, has taken the opportunity of this crisis to advance one of his favorite hobbies: eating.
I’ve noticed lots of new treats making their way into our house–perhaps a reward for the half hour wait in line to enter the grocery store and a wait half as long to check out. A week ago, Trader Joe’s was rationing food: customers could take at most two of any given item. Our neighborhood grocery store, Berkeley Bowl, is limiting the number of people allowed in the store at once. Tape demarcates six-foot social distances for the line outside the store, which snakes around the block.
I’ve been taking the opportunity, amidst the toilet paper hoarding, to remind folks that wiping with water will save countless acres of forests. I’ve offered moral and instructional support for those transitioning to water wiping, and there are a few entertaining videos out there as well that I have discovered. People are panic-buying not just TP, but bidet toilet attachments! Luckily there are some still in stock, or one can use a simple plastic pitcher, as do most Muslims around the world, including Zain’s family.
Personally, I have valued the domestic time to concentrate on home projects, personal wellness, and valuable bonding time with my household. Other unemployed friends of mine have used the time to do creative projects, to clean and organize, to meditate, and to read and watch movies. Yesterday Zain and I revisited the 2011 Hollywood film Contagion about a much more virulent (and deadly) global pandemic.
Maybe I am an optimist, and I certainly have privileges that buffer me from the worst economic effects of this crisis–which will undoubtedly throw thousands more into poverty–but I see some silver linings.
Zain is a biologist who studies HIV (and now coronavirus), and confirmed that the science in that movie was sound, more or less, which made me actually feel relieved that the Covid-19 pandemic is not nearly as bad as the one in the film. This is a test run, said my friend Alisa, who works in new antibiotic development. Her whole industry has been frustrated by the lack of public investment and lack of concern for growing antibiotic resistance and the threat of new pathogens. Another friend of mine, who works for the State Department combating the illegal wildlife trade, said this had the perverse benefit of finally bringing attention to the issue. While many have pointed out the failure of the US to contain the spread, Covid-19 will likely ensure that we are not caught unawares when the next virulent pandemic arrives.
This pandemic has also enabled policies that progressives have only dreamed of: direct checks to support those in need, the extension of unemployment to gig and contract workers, paid sick leave and extensions of publicly-funded healthcare, and the release of non-violent offenders from incarceration, among others.
While most are temporary measures, it will be difficult and unpopular for the federal government to claw those away when so many workers have been suffering under wage and healthcare insecurity. These measures, however, will obviously not be sufficient to stem the dramatic economic nosedive that we are undergoing, which could likely rival The Great Depression. This is why it is more important than ever that we continue to organize, build power, and fight for policies that will help us arise stronger from this crisis.
Panino
In addition to greater support for social safety nets, I have observed increasing mindfulness and intentionality around me.
While in normal circumstances people move about their daily lives on auto-pilot, social interaction and space have moved to the foreground. When walking my dog, Panino, I have to engage everyone I pass to acknowledge our distance, with a glance of social solidarity. When social distancing with friends, the desire for contact and greater closeness is palpable. In my online classes and meetings on Zoom, it is harder for me to turn away or tune out, as my face is intimately visible to all of my peers. In some ways on Zoom, it even feels more intimate than meeting in person, and there is a stronger sense of empathy and shared purpose.
I believe that this reinforcement of the social ethic will have a more profound impact on our society moving forward than we can currently comprehend.
The Future
Coronavirus seems to magnify everything and to put it under the spotlight.
It is inflaming domestic abuse. It is exposing the weaknesses in our economy, our public health system, and our social support system. It is testing the bounds of fiscal and monetary policy. A friend of mine is considering dropping out of school because he has been unable to cope with his ADHD without a proper place to study outside of his home. Other friends of mine with anxiety disorders and depression are struggling to cope. Anxiety and isolation can fuel addictions, and sheltering in place has certainly not helped me reduce screen time. I have found it helpful to video chat with family and friends, to reach out to those in need, and to connect with the various mutual aid networks that are arising everywhere to help myself and my community members cope. I have also found it important to remember that the outside world is immense, and it is safe to go outside: to hike in the forest, to garden, to support my local farmers market, and generally to not be confined indoors.
It’s true that public health experts and others have been warning us about a pandemic for decades. While we were largely unprepared, we can now only control how we move forward. As the old saying goes, “never let a crisis go to waste.” There’s no turning back now. I look forward to organizing through this, and coming out the other end with strengthened social bonds, newfound courage, and a fighting spirit.
Let’s use this health crisis as a template for tackling the climate crisis, and let’s never forget what’s at stake.
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![Lengths of pipe placed the ground along the under-construction Mountain Valley Pipeline near Elliston, Virginia, U.S. September 29, 2019. Picture taken September 29, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Mostoller (Newscom TagID: rtrleleven529716.jpg) [Photo via Newscom]](https://chesapeakeclimate.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/unnamed.jpg)
