Climate Caucus of Alaska files grievance against the Alaska Democratic Party

To: Grievance Committee, Alaska Democratic Party 
Date: June 6, 2018   
Re: Formal Grievance against the Alaska Democratic Party, its Officers, and Staff Submitted by: Members and Officers of the Climate Caucus of Alaska 

Summary of Grievance and Requested Outcome:

As founding members and standing Council officers of the Climate Caucus of Alaska (CCA or Caucus), we are lodging this formal grievance against the Alaska Democratic Party (ADP or Party), its officers, and employees, to address the highly irregular and invalid process followed to elect four new officers to the CCA Council on Sunday, May 6, 2018, at the ADP State Convention in Talkeetna. 

It is our understanding that Matt Greene, a Party employee otherwise unaffiliated with the Caucus, presided over a meeting on May 6 that was improperly held under the auspices of the CCA. The meeting took place without the knowledge or involvement of any standing or former CCA officers. At this meeting, a group of individuals also unaffiliated with the caucus “elected” four new officers to the CCA Council: a new Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary; two of these new officers are now designated by the Party as State Central Committee (SCC) representatives. The only elected position not replaced was the Caucus Young Democrat. 

No attempt was made to contact any standing or former officers prior to the meeting, but the former Chair was informed of the election immediately following the meeting by the newly “elected” Treasurer. The Party apparently accepted the outcome of the election, as evidenced by the posting of new ADP Tier Two Subdivision representatives immediately following the Convention (see Exhibit I). To our knowledge, the individuals conducting the meeting recorded no meeting minutes, as required by the CCA Bylaws, nor did they produce a list of attendees and contact information.

The process by which the meeting and election transpired did not conform to the CCA Bylaws (see Exhibit II) or, by extension, the Party Plan, as specified below. As Caucus members and officers, we therefore consider this election invalid, as it is contrary to the letter of the applicable rules by which the Caucus operates and to which the Party has previously strictly held the Caucus. Further, this election violates the spirit of fairness, cooperation, and basic Democratic principles we expect from the Alaska Democratic Party.

We call for the State Central Committee to 1) repudiate these invalid election results and 2) support a new election conducted by standing Caucus officers, consistent with the CCA Bylaws. Alternatively, we call for dissolution of the CCA at the next State Central Committee meeting because the original intent for which the Caucus was formed has been subverted. 

For either outcome, we request a written explanation of the State Central Committee decision regarding resolution of this grievance, as required by Section III (C) of the ADP Grievance Procedure (adopted September 11, 2017).

This grievance is based on the following three points:

1. The CCA Bylaws, as ratified by the Party, provide that the authority to call meetings and conduct officer elections rests with the Caucus Chair or, in her stead, the Vice-Chair. The Caucus Chair had stepped down and the Vice-Chair had a valid reason for not being present to call a meeting. The May 6th meeting was therefore invalid.

The Climate Caucus of Alaska applied for and was approved as an ADP Tier Two organization at the May 2016 State Convention (see Exhibit III). The CCA on April 18, 2016 adopted Bylaws deemed by the Party to be consistent with the Party Plan.1 The CCA Bylaws authorize only specific officers of the Caucus to call for meetings and conduct elections, independent of the Party, Party staff, or SCC.
The CCA bylaws are clear2 on the point that only the Council Chair or Vice-Chair is authorized to call a CCA meeting. Regarding elections, the Bylaws specify3 that “officers shall be elected by the general membership at the annual meeting, which shall be held in conjunction with the winter State Central Committee [SCC] meeting.” Further, the Bylaws provide4 that “a vacant seat may be filled by a simple majority vote of the membership present at any properly noticed meeting,” which was the procedure used to replace the CCA Secretary when she recently resigned. See Exhibit IV (minutes from February 20, 2018 meeting).

As part of the process for filing for Tier Two status in 2016, the founding members adopted language for the CCA bylaws from the Hawaii Democratic Party Environmental Caucus. Although the CCA Bylaws were approved by the Party in 2016, Caucus officers have since noted that the Bylaws contain language that is inconsistent with some details of the Party Plan regarding timing of elections and other items. We intended to amend the language of these sections at our next meeting to bring the Bylaws into full compliance, as well as to hold an election to fill the two vacant Council seats. 

1 ADP Party Plan of Operations, adopted May 15, 2016:
Article V(j): Additional Tier 1,2, & 3 Requirements
Section 18) Each official Adjunct or Political Subdivision of the Democratic Party recognized under the authority of this Party Plan of Organization will adopt and conduct its affairs in accordance with written rules that are consistent with this Plan.
2 CCA Bylaws: Article Four, Section 1; Article Six, Sections 1 & 2
3 CCA Bylaws: Article Five, Section 3
4 CCA Bylaws: Article Five, Section 9

In January of this year we indicated our intention to call such a meeting specifically to amend the Bylaws, but were instructed by Party staff Jeffrey Eide that we must follow the CCA Bylaw provisions to amend—i.e., Article Eleven, Section 3, which requires a quorum of 15 to approve any changes to the Bylaws. Therefore, we postponed making the amendments until we could hold a meeting with the required quorum.

The State Convention theoretically could have served as an occasion to hold such a meeting, except for two issues: the unavoidable absence of the Vice-Chair and the inability to hold a remote meeting at the Talkeetna conference facility. Neither of the two current CCA Council members (Vice-Chair Susan Todd and Treasurer Shauna Thornton) could attend the Talkeetna convention in person because the date conflicted with the UAF graduation, a fact made known to Party staff well in advance of the Convention. The May 6 meeting was not formally cancelled, but with no Caucus officers or designated representatives present to conduct the meeting, formal cancellation was unnecessary under the CCA Bylaws.

Instead, Council members planned to fill officer vacancies and present proposed amendments to the Bylaws at a subsequent CCA meeting when they could conduct a remote, GoTo Meeting conference call, which Council members were told was not possible at the Convention. Due to our geographically widespread membership, conference calls have been our normal means of holding meetings; further, this is an accommodation required under the CCA bylaws “as is reasonable and practical.”5

Given the clear language of the CCA Bylaws regarding the authority to call meetings and hold elections, it is manifest that at no time did Matt Greene, an employee of the Party who was previously unaffiliated with the Caucus, possess the authority to call or conduct a Caucus meeting or election. Further, we can find no section of the Party Plan that would authorize Mr. Greene’s actions on behalf of the Party. To the contrary, Mr. Greene’s actions were wholly inappropriate in that they violated the specific provisions of the CCA Bylaws as well as the independent authority vested in the Caucus as a Tier Two Subdivision of the Party with its own, Party-approved Bylaws.6

5 CCA Bylaws: Article Four: Meetings;
Section 1: Regular meetings. The Chair of the Council shall designate a time and location for meetings. To promote maximum participation by members located in outlying and rural communities,all meetings will include telephonic/electronic capability as is reasonable and practical.
6 We note that the Party Plan does expressly provide for Party involvement in filling vacancies for Tier One Adjunct groups (Article VII: Sanctions; Section 6) and Tier Three organizations (i.e., House Districts: Article IV(a) Officers; Section 10). That the Plan makes no such provision for Tier Two organizations indicates that authority for elections is intended to rest with the individual subdivision organization and its adopted bylaws, here the CCA and its Bylaws. This different treatment is logical given the more independent nature of Tier Two organizations, which are authorized to raise money and endorse candidates, subject only to notifying the Party after such actions.

At all times since its inception, the Caucus has conducted its operations in good faith and in accordance with the CCA Bylaws and the Party Plan. In contrast, the May 6 meeting and election were conducted by Party staff in violation of the CCA Bylaws. By ratifying the outcome of this election, the Party has directly violated the provisions of the CCA Bylaws and has breached its duty of good faith to the Caucus.

This breach is particularly egregious considering the previous insistence of Party staff that the CCA strictly adhere to the existing provisions of certain sections of the CCA Bylaws (i.e., that we abide by a 15-person quorum to amend the Bylaws to make them more consistent with the Party Plan). The Party cannot pick and choose when to enforce Tier Two Subdivision Bylaws against a Subdivision, nor can the Party unilaterally override provisions of Subdivision Bylaws altogether to conduct a meeting and election under the auspices of the Subdivision but with no Subdivision officers present.

2. Council seat nominations were out of order and failed to include a duly notified candidate for Chair Prior to the convention, CCA members posted a call for nominations on the CCA Facebook page for two positions: Chair and Secretary.7 The notice further instructed individuals interested in running for Chair, Treasurer, or Secretary to contact current Vice-Chair Susan Todd or current Treasurer/Acting Secretary Shauna Thornton. Ms. Thornton timely notified the Council of her interest in running for Chair, which is why the notice mentioned nominations for Treasurer (her current position). If Ms. Thornton were not elected as Chair, she would resume her duties as CCA Treasurer, a position to which she was only recently elected (see Exhibit V, minutes from the January 21, 2018 meeting). 

Simply put, there was no basis whatsoever for any person, much less a non-Caucus officer, to conduct an election for four new officers when there were only two vacancies. As such, electing a new Vice-Chair and Treasurer without acknowledging that the current seats were filled was grossly out of order. So too was the failure to consider Shauna Thornton’s duly notified interest in running for Chair. From the standpoint of fairness, the failure of the Party to consider Ms. Thornton’s interest in maintaining her active participation on the Caucus Council is offensive in the extreme, given her status as the Caucus’ first recognized “Climate Smart Candidate” and given her years of service to the Party. Not only is she a standing officer of the Caucus, she is a member of the State Central Committee (SCC member with two votes: member at large through July 2018 and District 35 Chair), and a member of the ad hoc vetting committee.

7 Ceal Smith, the CCA Chair since its inception, recently stepped away to devote more time to AKCAN!, a non-Party affiliated climate action group. Moira Ingle, Secretary since the Caucus’ inception, stepped down because of a recently discovered conflict with her job with the State of Alaska.

We also find it highly unusual that the person newly “elected” as treasurer, Donna Mears, was able to contact former Chair Ceal Smith immediately after the meeting to ask for access to the CCA Facebook page, yet the Party staff who ran the meeting or others who stood for election did not contact Ceal or other Council members before the meeting commenced. Given the absence of Council members, a phone call or text message, at minimum, was clearly warranted to clarify the intention of the Council as to whether a) the officers still intended to hold the meeting and election on that date, in the first instance; b) which Council positions were actually vacant; and c) whether any previous indications of interest had been received by the Council, as requested in the call for nominations. That the Caucus meeting time and location is shown in the Convention agenda is irrelevant if the Vice-Chair was unable to be there to conduct the meeting.

3. The CCA officers “elected” on May 6th and appointed to the SCC fall far short of the requirements set forth in the CCA bylaws:

Article Twelve, Section 1 of the CCA Bylaws reads as follows:

A person seeking election as a Nominee of the CCA to the State Central Committee of the Alaska Democratic Party must be an active member of the CCA, and shall file with the Secretary of the CCA nomination papers, which shall include:

1. A written statement showing demonstrated involvement and active participation in CCA meetings and/or CCA activities; and
   
2. A demonstrated commitment and ability to attend the State Central Committee and CCA meetings and to represent the mission and priorities of the CCA as defined in Article Two; and
   
3. Five (5) letters of recommendation
   

(emphasis added). The CCA Bylaws provide that only the Chair or Vice-Chair has the authority to call a meeting. Yet ADP staffer Matt Greene convened the May 6 meeting, purportedly under the auspices of the CCA, without attempting to contact or notify any CCA Council members to ascertain whether the meeting listed in the Convention agenda was intended to be held. Matt Greene has had no prior involvement with the CCA, much less as an elected member of the CCA Council, and was therefore not authorized to call the meeting or oversee an election.

With the exception of CCA member Erik Gunderson, none of the people attending the May 6 meeting, running for office, or ostensibly “elected” to the CCA Council have had any substantive involvement with the CCA. Donna Mears, newly “elected” Treasurer, attended one meeting by teleconference (see Exhibit V) but participated only to the extent of seconding the nomination of Shauna Thornton for Treasurer. As such, Ms. Mears can hardly be considered to have “demonstrated involvement and active participation in CCA meetings,” although her limited participation does demonstrate that she knew or should have known that Ms. Thornton was elected as Treasurer less than four months earlier and was still serving in that position as of May 6. 
 

Although the Caucus has always welcomed new members and was seeking two new officers, the election process specified in the Bylaws was grossly violated when individuals with no prior involvement with CCA conducted an unauthorized meeting and elected four new officers, two of which were summarily designated by the Party as SCC Representatives—without the required experience, letters of recommendation, or even informal consultation with standing or former CCA officers and SCC members. Under no scenario can any of these individuals be considered to meet the Bylaws requirement that “a person seeking election as a Nominee of the CCA to the [SCC] of the [ADP] must be an active member of the CCA and shall file with the Secretary of the CCA nomination papers . . . .” Again, the Party cannot pick and choose when to enforce provisions of Subdivision Bylaws or to ignore them altogether. Here, the Party has inserted itself into a Tier Two Subdivision election process, failed to follow the subdivision Bylaws, and promoted unqualified individuals to Party leadership positions for purposes known only to Party personnel. 

For example, the newly “elected” Chair and SCC Representative, Doug Robbins, has never been involved in the Caucus and was completely unfamiliar with the activities of the Caucus, as evidenced by Exhibit VI. Mr. Robbins has clearly failed to demonstrate the required “involvement and active participation in CCA meetings and/or CCA activities” and has no “demonstrated commitment” to the principles espoused by the Caucus.8 To the contrary, Mr. Robbins is a retired oil and gas geologist, hardly appropriate credentials “to represent the mission and priorities of the CCA,” an organization dedicated to a) promoting awareness and understanding of climate change effects in Alaska and b) calling for an end to oil industry subsidies, carbon fees and other measures likely to be opposed by his former employers. 

The Bylaws include these rigorous ideological credentials for Caucus officers because, as founding Caucus members, we were and are concerned that someone lacking appropriate experience or commitment might falsely represent the interests of the caucus, in direct opposition to the principles upon which it was established. Further, the unauthorized “election” of a Chair who is ideologically unsuited to lead the Climate Caucus will destroy the credibility of the organization, an outcome we cannot afford in a broader political atmosphere populated by climate change deniers. 

8 CCA Bylaws: Article Two: Purpose
In recognition of the interdependency of all life on earth and the inherent rights of all people to a healthy, just, and livable planet, we resolve to promote effective and timely action to avoid dangerous (>1.5 degrees Celsius) climate change that threatens to destabilize global, regional, and local ecosystems, communities, and economies.

This Party-sanctioned “election” of unqualified individuals to the CCA Council and the appointment by the Party of two of these individuals to the SCC are egregious violations of proper procedure and fair play. It is better to have no ADP climate caucus than to falsely legitimize the election of unqualified officers to an organization that will merely pay lip service to the critical issue of climate change. It is for this reason that we call for dissolution of the Caucus if the SCC does not accede to a new election in accordance with the CCA Bylaws.

Thank Anchorage Major Berkowitz for joining the Climate Mayors Agreement

UPDATE:  Mayor Berkowitz signed the Climate Mayors Agreement shortly after we launched our petition so we updated it to thank him!

Click HERE to thank Mayor Berkowitz for joining the Climate Mayor Agreement!  

Dear Major Berkowitz,

The world is aghast at the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, our planets best hope for a stable climate.  It is now up to our municipalities and states to fill the gap.  We urge you to join more than 80 majors around the country in signing the Climate Mayors Agreement, in declaring:

As 86 Mayors representing 40 million Americans, we will adopt, honor, and uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement. We will intensify efforts to meet each of our cities’ current climate goals, push for new action to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, and work together to create a 21st century clean energy economy.

We will continue to lead. We are increasing investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. We will buy and create more demand for electric cars and trucks. We will increase our efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, create a clean energy economy, and stand for environmental justice. And if the President wants to break the promises made to our allies enshrined in the historic Paris Agreement, we’ll build and strengthen relationships around the world to protect the planet from devastating climate risks.  

The world cannot wait -- and neither will we.  

We acknowledge your exceptional leadership on climate change and appreciate the actions you have taken to date, including:

Your inspiring welcoming speech to the 2015 GLACIER Conference acknowledging that Alaska is on the front lines of climate change and the multitudes of ways it is already effecting our communities.
Your leadership in adopting LED streetlight technology citywide that saves the city $350k/year while reducing our carbon footprint significantly (overview here).

Your participation in the "Our Cities, Our Climate (OC2)" initiative in 2015 in which you acknowledged that Alaskans needn't "be captive to the dysfunction that happens in D.C. any more" and noted the "opportunity for cities to take the lead" in using "our market power individually and collectively".   

Your commitment to the Compact of Mayors, launched at the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit, an agreement between 40 global city networks to "set ambitious, voluntary city climate commitments or targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction and to address climate risk" in a transparent manner.  At the time the Compact represented the greatest opportunity to bring attention to and quantify city action leading up to the Paris Agreement. 

Implementation of a Resilience AmeriCorp city $25,000 grant to engage residents and community leaders in the Mountain View and Fairview neighborhoods to make "housing stock more energy efficient, enhance the reliability and affordability of the energy grid through micro-grid development, and encourage more local food production".

Your inspiring speech in support of truth, knowledge and science at the recent March for Science, and many other efforts and venues around our city. 

You understand that Alaska is on the front lines of climate change.  We respectfully request that you join the growing number of Majors across the US in taking bold municipal action to overcome Federal and State inertia in fulfilling the goals laid out by the Paris Agreement.  We look forward to your leadership in taking Anchorage and Alaska into a clean, sustainable twenty-first century. 

Sincerely,

The undersigned...


Ceal Smith, MSci.
Policy Director
AK Climate & Energy Action Network
AK Climate Caucus, Chair
Eagle River, AK

Climate Caucus of Alaska: Mission, Priority Issues & Actions

Kodiak Island Wind Turbines

The Climate Caucus of Alaska (CCA) was unanimously approved as a Tier II subgroup of the Alaska Democratic Party during the Alaska Democratic Convention on May 13-15, 2016 in Anchorage.

The following is a summary of priority issues and actions identified by more than 125 elected delegates to the 2016 Alaska Democratic Caucus and invited guests who attended the CCA founding meeting.



MISSION STATEMENT: To adopt and promote concrete, policy-based initiatives to address climate change in Alaska.

PRIORITY ISSUES

1.    ENERGY
     a.     Fossil Fuels
             i.      End oil tax subsidies, money and corruption in politics
             ii.     No LNG
             iii.    Remove natural gas from existing Dem platform
             iv.     Ban on fracking, tar sands and Arctic offshore drilling
             v.      State carbon tax & dividend
     b.     Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
             i.      Reinstate & increase energy efficiency programs & funding
             ii.     Identify and implement best practice policy incentives and financing (Property Assessed Clean Energy [PACE] Financing, Feed-in Tariffs [FiTs], State Bank, Community Choice, Revolving Loan Funds, etc.)
             iii.     Dev & promote AK 100% Renewable Energy Roadmap Smart Energy Plans
             iv.     Implement cold climate green building standards & codes (efficiency, solar readiness, ground heat systems, etc.) in partnership with the AK Cold Climate Housing Research Center.
             v.     Energy efficiency & renewable energy installation training, training, training and jobs development,
             vi.     Implement RE sustainability index (i.e. Sisitna Dam)
             vii.    Identify and promote best Energy Democracy policies
     c.      Energy Security
              i.     Energy costs, subsidies
              ii.    Microgrid development
              iii.   Air & water quality impacts

2.     CLIMATE CHANGE AWARENESS & PREPAREDNESS
     a.     Education; educating people about climate change, countering denial
     b.     Public Health & Safety
             i.     Identify & strengthen vulnerable communities
             ii.    Increase research and public awareness of increasing physical hazards (high-risk zones, mudslides, earthquakes, permafrost, flooding, wildfire, coastal erosion, loss of sea and river ice, wildlife behavioral changes, tree displacement, etc.)
             iii.    State of Emergency Declaration (research)
     c.     Emergency Services
     d.     Food Security
     e.      Adaptation/Community Resilience
     f.      Mitigation

3.    ALASKAN NATIVE COMMUNITIES
     a.     Strengthen Native participation at all levels of government decision making
     b.     Incorporate traditional knowledge, citizen science at all levels of research and decision-making
     c.     Subsistence rights
             i.     Identify and address increased risk to subsistence from increased shipping traffic, oil and gas drilling, receding sea ice, etc.
     d.     Food & Energy Security
     e.     Vulnerable Communities
     f.      Adaptation
     g.     Relocation
             i.     Identify legal, policy and financial needs in partnership with effected communities
             ii.     Develop & finance statewide plan
     h.     Human rights/climate & social justice

4.     FISHERIES (primary threats)
     a.     Ocean warming
     b.     Ocean acidification
     c.     Pebble Mine, Chuitna Coal Project, Susitna hydro project
     d.     Overfishing

5.    ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION
     a.     Assess economic impacts of climate change across the state
     b.     Divest borough, municipal, and state investments in fossil fuel industries (including Permanent Fund)
     c.      Small business development, esp. food security, community resilience, local production of basic need products
     d.     Labor/job training and expansion of Green economy
     e.      Implement a Green Energy Revolution in Alaska!

6.    CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENCE, IMPACT ASSESSMENT & MONITORING
     a.     Education, expand K-12 curricula and programs
     b.     Restore and increase university & state agency climate change research programs and community collaborations (esp. citizen science)
     c.      Rigorous research, ongoing monitoring and public awareness of climate change impacts (identify high-risk zones, mudslides, earthquakes, permafrost, flooding, wildfire, coastal erosion, loss of sea and river ice, wildlife behavioral changes, tree displacement, etc.)

7.    POLICY
     a.     Reinstate Governors Climate Change Subcabinet
     b.     Support & develop working relationships with Climate Smart local, state and congressional candidates
     c.      Educate local and state leaders about the urgency of climate change and policy solutions
     d.     Policy & Legislative
             i.     Identify model policies and legislation
             ii.     Work with local, state and governors office to implement climate smart initiatives and legislation

8.    MOVEMENT BUILDING
       a.     Increase membership
       b.     Establish regional, district and community chapters
       c.     Partner with citizen, community groups and government agencies across the state

PRIORITIES
1.     Education – emphasize sense of urgency:  it’s already here
2.     End oil tax subsidies
3.     Re-establish Governors Sub-cabinet on Climate Change
4.     Adaptation – it’s already here; e.g., food security
5.     Economic Transition – away from fossil fuels; carbon tax
6.     Carbon Tax and Dividend 
7.     Fisheries – food security, ocean conditions, throughout Pacific NW
8.     Fundraising

PRIORITY ACTIONS
§  Communicate sense of URGENCY!
§  Strong party platform on energy & climate change
§  Hold candidates and leaders accountable
§  Media – Communications
·      Editorials/letters to the editor, speakers bureau
·      Regular teleconferences of the caucus
·      Develop and advocate for policies
·      Connect ideas
·      Get press attention
§  Policy Advocacy (form subcommittee)
·      Reinstatement of Gov Subcommittee on Climate Change
·      Convene Legislative Committee on Climate Change
·      Renewable Energy Roadmap
·      Economic transition plan
§  Prioritize Native Alaskan concerns
·      Declare State of Emergency for specific villages
§  Fundraising

ELECTION OF CCA OFFICERS:
The following officers were elected by unanimous votes:

Ceal Smith, Chair, Eagle River, AK
Dave Matheny, Vice-chair, Fairbanks, AK
Moira Ingle, Secretary, Chugiak, AK
Patricia Rivera, Treasurer, Fairbanks, AK

Climate Smart candidates break silence on Alaska's #1 issue

There is no issue more pressing for Alaska, and the future of our state, than climate change, which is intricately connected to questions of energy.  There's just no getting around it.

Yet, that's precisely what most candidates running for office this election season are trying to do.  Heads stuck in the sand, or worse.  Denying climate change, not just where you'd expect -- in the offices of Big Oil executives in Texas -- but on the front lines in Alaska where, due to Arctic amplification, the climate is warming twice as fast as the Lower 48.

Incredibly, candidates are ignoring and denying that climate change is happening, here and now -- where glaciers and sea ice are disappearing before our very eyes; where permafrost is melting beneath our houses and roads; where coastal erosion is tearing at the edges of nearly every coastal community in the State, pushing rural Native Alaskans into disequilibrium with life ways that have sustained them for millennia; where ocean warming and acidification undermine our sustainable fisheries industry, and threaten mighty whale and a multitude of other vulnerable marine animal populations.

A few courageous Alaska candidates are quietly breaking the silence on climate change at kitchen tables, senior centers and a plethora of small community "get acquainted" meetings across Alaska.  In the process, these "climate-smart" candidates are discovering that climate change concerns are front and center in the minds of many of their constituents.  

Early in the election season, the Alaska Climate Caucus sent a questionnaire to the candidates to solicit feedback on their positions on key climate and energy issues. 

Except for a handful of candidates, we received no response, or only negative responses like the comment from former Libertarian candidate Jon Watts (direct quote) that, "this is a complete hoax for the purpose of ligitimizing demonstrably falsified science, for the end goal of defrauding the American taxpayer through a global carbon tax scheme, while callously using native communities' ligitimate challenges to forward a greedy agenda. You should be ashamed.  I decline to participate in your survey."
 

We are heartened, however, that a few brave souls are stepping up to face -- head on -- the mounting impacts from climate change on our public health and safety, our economy, and our vulnerable communities and ecosystems.

The Alaska Climate Caucus recognizes Independent US Senate candidate Margaret Stock, Shauna Thornton (Dem, HD 30), Brent Watkins (Dem, HD 32), Sam Kito II (Dem, HD 33) and Les Gara (Dem, HD20) for their courage and vision in moving Alaska towards a sustainable future and away from the ravages of a boom and bust fossil fuel dependent economy that serves only to push Alaska closer to the brink.

These climate-smart candidates embrace the undeniable results of climate science.  They understand that climate change is the number one challenge facing Alaska today.  Unless otherwise noted below, these candidates share the following policy positions in alignment with Alaska Climate Caucus priorities:

SUPPORT

• a state carbon tax and dividend, 
• reinstatement and expansion of energy efficiency and renewable energy incentives, 
• reconvening the Governor's Sub-cabinet on Climate Change, 
• development and implementation of an Alaska 100% Renewable Roadmap modeled after Smart Energy Plans, 
• boosting Alaska's food security and local food production, 
• rigorous climate mitigation and adaptation policies, and 
• convening an annual statewide public conference on climate change.

OPPOSE

• oil tax subsidies, 
• oil and gas development in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR),
• offshore drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, 
• high-volume, slick-water hydraulic fracturing ("fracking")

ALASKA CLIMATE CHAMPIONS!

(Scored 8-10/10)

STATE HOUSE

Shauna Thornton, Democrat, House District 30 (Kenai).  Running against former oil and gas employee and Republican, Gary Knopp.

Shauna is clearly Alaska's front runner on climate issues.   She was instrumental in helping the caucus formulate its questionnaire and was our first respondent.  Shauna supports strong local food security and community resiliency efforts and has worked for many years to obtain these goals in her Kenai community including working closely with Kenai Change since its inception.

District 30 candidate debate here. 
Contribute to Shauna's campaign here. 





Brent Watkins, Democrat, House District 32 (Kodiak) 
Running against GOP incumbent Louise Stutes

Brent is a close second front runner on climate issues.   A former fisherman and planning commission member, Brent helped plan, his home community, Kodiak Islands 98% Renewable Energy system.  He strongly supports protection of our coastal waters and development of sustainable new industries that move Alaskans beyond dependence on dirty energy.   Brent also supports improving food security and local food production, and rigorous climate adaptation measures.

Candidate interview here.
Contribute to Brent's campaign here.

US SENATE

Margaret Stock, US Senate, Independent running against Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski (Rep) and Ray Metcalfe (Dem).

Margaret Stock is taking a firm public stand on climate change.  According to her questionnaire response, she's "developed a policy statement on climate change after consultation with scientists and other experts."  In addition to the positions noted above, Margaret Stock does not support oil and gas development in ANWR or Chukchi and Beaufort Sea offshore waters "at this time"; she is awaiting details before deciding her position on the Alaska Liquid Gas Export Project.

Alaska's D.C. reps refuse to see causes of climate change, Anchorage Daily News, Opinions, August 24, 2016 by Margaret Stock.

ADN report on the recent candidate debate in Barrow, AK
ADN report on the Senate candidate debate in Kodiak, AK.
Contribute to Margaret's campaign here.

CLIMATE SMART CANDIDATES

STATE HOUSE

Sam Kito III, Dem, House District 33 (ANC), incumbent and House Minority Whip (unopposed). 

Representative Kito does not support a ban on fracking.  Otherwise, he is aligned with ACC priorities on climate change.

KTOO Sam Kito III named new House Representative (Feb. 2014). 
Facebook page here.

HONORABLE MENTION

Les Gara, Dem, House District 20 (ANC), incumbent

Due to cross communications, Les Gara didn't receive our questionnaire prior to the deadline.  However, he submitted the following comments that suggest he deserves at least an "honorable mention" for his strong support for energy efficiency and renewable energy development in Alaska. 

"I support renewable energy and energy efficiency very strongly and wrote successful amendments requiring all schools and state and university buildings to be energy efficient. I have been a strong supporter of strong funding for home rebate and energy efficiency and renewable energy efforts. I support safe, but not unsafe fracking - Alaska safely engages in North Slope fracking now to produce oil and it is tightly regulated for safety. I'd support strong fracking safety regulations to protect water and our resources"

Alaska's Climate Champions Shauna Thornton, Brent Watkins and Margaret Stock are in uphill races facing tough opposition, which is heavily funded by oil and gas money.

We urge our members, emerging coalition partners and others concerned about climate change to rigorously support Alaska's Climate Smart candidates.

They need our support. 

Please contribute at this critical time in the election process.  Most importantly: 

VOTE!

The Alaska Climate Caucus (ACC) is a new Tier II subgroup of the Democratic Party approved at the May 13-15, 2016 convention in Anchorage by more than 55 mostly elected Bernie Sanders delegates and invited guests from around the state.  The mission of the Alaska Climate Caucus is to adopt and promote concrete, policy-based initiatives to address climate change in Alaska. 

ACC priority issues and actions can be viewed here. 

Written by Ceal Smith, Chair, Alaska Climate Caucus

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