MaryPIRG Student Climate Action Coalition (MSCAC)
University of Maryland, College Park
Project Overview
The FUTURE Act is a piece of legislation which aims to commit all of Maryland’s Public Universities to carbon neutrality by 2035 or sooner. The legislation was introduced by Del Solomon and Sen Rosepepe to the Maryland General Assembly where it had hearings in both legislative chambers. Students from the campaign testified at the hearings, got 9 SGAs from across Maryland to send letters of support, collected petitions, held rallies to build visibility for the bill, and were featured in the Sun. While the FUTURE Act did not pass this session, excitement around the bill and previous work done by us, student groups, RHA, and SGA at UMD pushed the administration to make a surprise Earth Day announcement and commit the UMD campus to carbon neutrality by 2025!
Best put by our fearless leader, Reese Barrett: Over the past year, MSCAC has grown from a handful of students to hundreds of supporters, spread to almost every public university in Maryland, written a bill (the FUTURE Act) that was sponsored in both houses of the Maryland General Assembly, and made connections across a broad coalition of state advocacy groups. We’re planning to carry this momentum into next session and turn our legislation into real emissions reductions that we so desperately need in order to protect our futures.” -Reese Barrett, MaryPIRG Students Climate Action Coalition Coordinator
For the Student Sustainability Leadership Award, MaryPIRG Students is nominating Reese Barrett
Background
We have known for years that continuing our dependency on fossil fuels is leading to a warming planet, rising seas, and poorer quality of life. With over 3000 miles of coastline, Maryland is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The solution is dead simple: stop using fossil fuels and switch to renewable sources as soon as possible. Students with MaryPIRG’s Climate Action Coalition Campaign have been working to protect our future all year. In the fall, Coordinator Reese Barrett helped write The FUTURE Act, a piece of legislation which aims to commit all of Maryland’s Public Universities to carbon neutrality by 2035 or sooner.
Goals
Overarching Goals * Pass the FUTURE Act during the 2022 Maryland General Assembly legislative session * Create opportunities for in-person engagement through direct actions like demonstrations and rallies * Hold in-person and virtual lobby meetings with state legislators and their staff * Provide opportunities to train new and existing members on lobbying strategy and practices
Endorsement Goals * 50 cosponsors in the House of Delegates, 12/23 from Appropriations Committee * 20 cosponsors in the Senate, 6/11 from EHE Committee * 50 endorsements from state/local/university environmental and advocacy organizations * 5 endorsements from “big green organizations” * Attempt to meet with 12 environmental justice university faculty members * Meet with 10 environmental justice organizations * Submitting written testimony to hearings from all relevant endorsers * Submitting letters of support as testimony to hearings from all public universities’ Student Government Associations * Representation from all public universities
Implementation
On a campus-level: MSCAC increased student understanding of environmental issues. As an organization, one of our priorities is to involve students in climate action and climate justice. Through virtual strategies like petitioning, making educational social media posts, and social media storms, we made climate change an issue students can rally around.
On a state level: MSCAC worked on an initiative to increase legislative action around climate change. We wrote the FUTURE Act after months of research and coalition building and got two legislators (one from the House (Delegate Solomon) and the other from the Senate (Senator Rosepepe)) to sponsor the bill in the Maryland General Assembly. We did this because we believe our state's public academic institutions are the perfect place to push the fight against climate change forward.
Timeline
TIMELINE We started the project in May of 2020 and it is not yet finished. The work is on going and so here is a list of what will be done in the upcoming year
Summer 2021 * Research what happened to the FUTURE Act during 2021 session, update strategy accordingly * Think through our Senate sponsor * Fill all Executive Board positions * Campaign Coordinator works with Committee Leaders to develop strategies to meet goals for Fall, Winter, and Spring, organizes Google Drive * Assistant Campaign Coordinators work with Campus Delegates to develop strategies to meet goals for Fall, Winter, and Spring, create action plan to get representation at each 4-year public university not represented in MSCAC (Frostburg, UMGC, Coppin, UMB, University of Baltimore, USM) * Grassroots/Operations Coordinator develops strategy for email list, Google Calendar, and onboarding plan, looks into Action Network * Government Relations Committee completes research on any changes to MGA committees and develops strategy for lobby certification * Government Relations Committee schedules as many lobby meetings as possible with legislators on committees * Visibility Committee reimagines website, continues social media promotion * Outreach committee designs template for weekly newsletter, creates method for outreach and tracking for organizational endorsers, and outreach to big greens * Environmental Justice and Inclusion Committee builds resource list/graphics for new members to learn about environmental justice * Environmental Justice and Inclusion Committee seeks out local Indigenous group ideas and voices to incorporate into our environmental justice plan
Fall 2021 * Campaign Directors and Campus Delegates run recruitment drive * Campaign Directors and Campus Delegates begin outreach to university officials and Student Government Associations, SGA resolutions passed by the end of the fall semester * Campaign Directors and Campus Delegates organize in-person engagement opportunities * Campaign Directors and Campus Delegates submit first letter to each school newspaper or local news outlet * General Body Meetings begin * Kickoff event with “Climate Change and Public Health” panel * Government Relations Committee continues lobby meetings * Visibility Committee continues social media promotion * Outreach Committee continues outreach to organizations * Environmental Justice and Inclusion Committee begins monthly events
Winter 2021-2022 * Campaign Directors and Campus Delegates continue outreach to university officials and Student Government Associations * Campaign Directors and Campus Delegates organize in-person engagement opportunities * Campaign Directors and Campus Delegates submit second letter to each school newspaper or local news outlet * General Body Meetings continue * Government Relations Committee continues lobby meetings * Visibility Committee continues social media promotion * Outreach Committee continues recruiting endorsers, begins to prepare endorsers and Student Government Associations for testimony * Environmental Justice and Inclusion Committee continues monthly events
Spring 2022 - Legislative Session * Campaign Directors and Campus Delegates continue outreach to university officials * Campaign Directors and Campus Delegates organize in-person engagement opportunities * Large, simultaneous, cross-campus rally * Large rally in Annapolis * Campaign Directors and Campus Delegates testify in hearings * Campaign Directors and Campus Delegates submit third letter to each school newspaper or local news outlet * General Body Meetings continue, direct contact of general members to legislators * Government Relations Committee continues lobby meetings, signs on cosponsors * Visibility Committee continues social media promotion * Outreach Committee prepares and tracks endorsers and Student Government Associations as they submit testimony * Environmental Justice and Inclusion Committee continues monthly events * The FUTURE Act passes!
Financing
The work was made possible through our partnership with the StudentPIRGs. The money given was used to hire professional staff to help students as they wrote the bill and advocated for it. Also, the money was used for community engagement purposes.
Results
- The FUTURE Act was introduced in both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly
- The project helped shift the University of Maryland, College Park to adopt a plan to become carbon neutral by 2025, before the impending legislation
- Garnered a vast network of students from across the state
- Gotten two legislators in the Maryland General Assembly to sponsor our bill
- Held two virtual climate rallies to garner support from within the community for the bill
- Held a Climate Week of Action that pertained to the bill as well as other environmentally friendly practices
Lessons Learned
- Working with lots of faculty and admin early in the process is very beneficial
- Making connections across a broad coalition of state advocacy groups is key