U.S. Climate Emergency Council spied upon by Maryland State Police
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I never thought I'd write an email like this. I never thought that members of the U.S. Climate Emergency Council staff would be spied on by the Maryland State Police as we peacefully and legally promote windmills and solar panels!!
But that's what's happened. We have recently been notified that the Maryland State Police kept intelligence files on four staff members from USCEC and our sister organization, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Outrageously, while peacefully and legally fighting global warming through grassroots organizing, we were "suspected of involvement in terrorism." Read a recent New York Times article for more background.
We need to fight back to protect our civil liberties. Without a strong democracy and civil protections, we cannot have strong and lasting environmental protections. CCAN is demanding full disclosure and reform in the face of this tawdry police spying affair, but we need your help.
With the help of concerned citizens like you, our goal is to raise $10,000 by December 31st to cover these costs. That means if 100 of you donated $50 right now we'd be halfway to our goal!
Of course there are many reasons to give to USCEC. Perhaps the final tragedy in this spying scandal is how much it has distracted the government from the bigger issues. The real threat is the prospect of up to 23 feet of sea-level rise as the Greenland ice sheet continues to implode from rapid global warming. The violent activity behind this threat is our astonishing over-reliance on fossil fuels, especially coal, to power our economy while suicidally saturating the atmosphere with greenhouse gases. For all our declarations of "never again," the ground zero site of the World Trade Center will itself be literally under water from sea-level rise if we don't switch quickly to 100 mpg cars and clean electricity from wind power.
History shows that it is precisely during times of war and want that governments tend to over-reach and trample liberties. And it's only in resisting these temptations that certain kinds of governments - democracies - grow stronger.
With a climate disaster looming, I've worked very hard for many years to promote clean, renewable energy. But now I need to stand up and work hard to keep government itself clean.
But I can't do it by myself. We need your financial support right now. Please give generously to USCEC/CCAN during this moment of great need.
Sincerely,
Mike Tidwell
Director, U.S. Climate Emergency Council and Chesapeake Climate Action Network
PS - Our lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union of Md. have been doing a tremendous job getting the word out about this outrageous spying scandal. You can learn more about the case on their website.
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