“The American people want and deserve accountability in their elections,” said Whitehouse, “Unchecked secret corporate spending has tipped the scales of power away from ordinary Americans and in favor of big special interests. If Congress is going to make meaningful progress in the months and years ahead on important issues that matter to Rhode Islanders like addressing climate change, reforming our broken campaign finance system is the first step.”

Whitehouse’s DISCLOSE Act, which has been supported by Langevin and Cicilline in the U.S. House of Representatives, is part of the “We the People” legislative package to deal with secret corporate political spending, lobbyist influence, the revolving door, and other facets of the campaign finance system. Whitehouse touted the suite of legislation as a solution to the corporate spending blocking meaningful legislative action on issues like ensuring economic security for the middle class and addressing climate change.

It seems that Whitehouse mentioned climate change and chose Save the Bay’s headquarters in Providence as the location of his round table discussion because, as the Senator said in response to Meghan Kallman, chair of the RI Sierra Club, “I think it’s pretty safe to say, that at a national level, the climate battle is the campaign finance battle. They’re totally married together into one thing.”

Notably, there were protesters outside Save the Bay holding signs reminding their elected representatives about both Invenergy’s proposed $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant and National Grid’s proposed LNG liquefaction facility for Fields Point in the Port of Providence, a stone’s throw away. They were there to remind elected officials that their jobs in Washington do not absolve them from taking positions on local issues. None of the elected leaders in the room, aside from State Senator Juan Pichardo, who has publicly taken a stand against the LNG plant in Providence, have thrown their considerable political weight behind the opposition to these projects.

“This is a national package, [but] many many many issues are local,” said Kallman, “We’re watching Dakota. We’re watching Burrillville. We’re watching Fields Point… We have something of a disconnect between what’s happening on the national level and where the front line battles are being fought.”

The influence of corporate spending on elections since the 2010 Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court is a major concern to all who attended the event. Citizens United unleashed a previously restricted torrent of special interest money into the political system.  More than $1.5 billion in unlimited contributions, including more than $500 million in secret contributions, have been poured into federal elections since the decision was issued.

“It didn’t take long after Citizens United for secret money has find its way to the shores of Rhode Island,” said John Marion, Executive Director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “We know that Rhode Islanders don’t want unlimited undisclosed money in our elections. We are fortunate to have a congressional delegation that has taken this issue seriously and has offered real solutions for the problems posed by big money in our politics.”

“Senator Whitehouse is a national leader fighting to make our elections and government work for everyday people again through the We the People Act,” said Aquene Freechild, campaign co-director of Public Citizen‘s Democracy Is For People Campaign. “He’s pushing the current congressional majority to snap out of their campaign cash-induced paralysis and stand up to the tiny but influential donor class: by overturning Citizens United, disclosing all spending in elections, and slamming shut the revolving door that transforms public servants into corporate shills.”

Also in attendance at the roundtable discussion were RI Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, RI State Representative Art Handy, state director of Clean Water Action Jonathan Berard, Save the Bay’s Topher Hamblett and Dean Michael J. Yelnosky of the Roger Williams University School of Law. You can watch the rest of the video from the event below.

The EJLRI statement comes in response to Elorza’s announcement that he opposes National Grid‘s proposed LNG liquefaction facility to be located at Fields Point in the Port of Providence.

State Representative Aaron Regunberg, who represents the 4th district in Providence, also hailed the mayor’s announcement. “I am so glad the mayor has joined our opposition to this terrible proposal. It shows the LNG facility is not a done deal. This is a fight we can win, and so it is a fight we must win. Now it’s time for our federal delegation, who I know are all committed to fighting climate change, to put that commitment into practice here in Providence and join our push for #NoLNGinPVD!”

EJLRI echoed Regunberg’s call for more state elected officials to join them in the fight against expanding LNG infrastructure in Rhode Island. “We are very thankful for the support and climate leadership from our mayor and state legislators, and we now call on our federal congressional delegation and Governor Gina Raimondo to join us and stop National Grid’s plans to liquefy and export fracked gas from Providence.”

Monica Huertas, a leader in the #NoLNGinPVD campaign, responded to the news from the mayor’s office by saying “As a resident of the Washington Park neighborhood, I am so thankful for Mayor Elorza to have so willingly come out against ‘LNG.’ We can make a difference in the smallest state and as residents of the capital city we can take the lead on dismantling the old ways of doing things.  This shows that he is on the right side of history. After we have won the battle for clean energy, we can look back at this key moment in Providence and be proud that we fought together.”

Meghan Kallman, Chair of the RI Sierra Club said, “The Sierra Club is pleased with Mayor Elorza’s statement of opposition to the proposed LNG facility in Providence. Climate change is one of the gravest threats that our community faces. Infrastructure such as this liquefaction plant, that locks us into further consumption of fossil fuels, is a bad choice for our future. Further, its proposed location would imperil some of the most vulnerable residents of Providence. We are pleased that Mayor Elorza has listened to the concerns of the community and is opposing this wrongheaded proposal.”

“We have to move to renewable energy,” said Sam Bell, executive director of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats (RIPDA). “Certain machine politicians may not believe we need to act to stop climate change, but our state cannot afford not to act. Elorza giving in to the people of Providence and supporting the NO LNG in PVD movement is a big win.”

The EJLRI statement concludes, “The decision to approve or reject National Grid’s proposal is still under fast-track review and likely approval in the Washington DC offices of FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  Governor Raimondo, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Congressman David Cicilline, and other elected officials need to join their colleagues in Providence and make it clear that there can be no more dangerous fracked gas expansion projects in Providence, or anywhere in the state.  We stand by no fracked gas LNG in Providence, no fracked gas power plant in Burrillville, and no fracked gas Access Northeast expansion of the pipeline, compressor station, and additional LNG production.

“Rhode Island is making international news as a climate change leader, and we need to be clear that real climate leaders reject fracking and support a rapid and Just Transition to a sustainable future that centers the needs of workers and frontline communities.”

Meghan Kallman, of 93 Capwell Ave, has announced her candidacy for Pawtucket City Council in Ward 5. “I’m running for City Council to make Pawtucket a thriving, economically viable, sustainable city for our residents, our children, and our small businesses,” she said of her campaign. “Our Council needs new ideas and fresh energy, and I am ready to work hard to make those new ideas a reality”.

Kallman works as a researcher at Brown University and teaches in the state prison. She also volunteers her time with a number of nonprofit and advocacy programs serving both Pawtucket and Rhode Island. “My organizing experience, both in the community and at the State House, have prepared me to be an effective and creative City Counselor”, she says.

Kallman is co-founder of Crash Pawtucket, an organization that showcases small businesses in the city in partnership with neighborhood and community groups. She also serves on the Pawtucket Juvenile Hearings Board, a restorative justice program aimed at keeping children out of legal trouble.  Pawtucket resident Elizabeth Maynard shared, “I live and work in Pawtucket. Meghan and I have been working together on the Taft Street Community garden, and it’s great to be part of such an uplifting project with someone so motivated and committed. I was thrilled to hear she is running for City Council.”

Kallman explained her motivation to run for office: “The job of an elected official is to to ensure our that our community thrives. We need to build a positive environment for families to live in, students to learn in, and businesses to grow in. I will work to align the city’s services with the needs of our community” she said.

Kallman has a PhD in sociology from Brown University, and a Bachelor’s from Smith College. She lives with her partner Tim, a divinity student and future Unitarian Universalist minister.

Oak Hill resident Morgan Lord said of Kallman’s campaign: “Meghan Kallman is an engaged, knowledgeable and well-integrated member of the Pawtucket/Oak Hill community. As an established city-organizer, she works very hard to nurture connections between Pawtucket residents and their representatives, all the while taking action on many of issues affecting the city’s well-being”.

[From a press release]

The idea was launched by Meghan Kallman, a frequent contributor to RI Future, and Josephine Saxton Ferorelli back in November. It is described as “a woman-led network of Americans bringing awareness to the threat climate change poses to childbearing.”

Conceivable Future house parties, attended by both men and women, discuss their thoughts in an open and safe space, and if interested, record video testimonials about their thoughts concerning reproduction and climate change. There have been house parties in Chicago and New Hampshire previous to the one I found myself at in Pawtucket. More are planned for the future.

Many of the thoughts expressed by the eight young people gathered in a circle of chairs were private and sometimes difficult to express. I decided early on that I could not, in good conscience, report on the specifics of what was said. Some people seemed to be thinking aloud, rather than delivering well thought out answers. I had intended to observe and listen, but when Josephine asked if there was anyone in attendance who was already a parent, I found that I was the only one. I am twice the age of most here, my oldest daughter is their age.

I found myself explaining the doubts and fears I had entertained when my wife and I decided to have children over a quarter century ago. I didn’t grow up with the specter of cataclysmic climate change. I had grown up under the threat of nuclear war, an idea that now seems quaint and old fashioned.

Having children is not a decision I have ever regretted. But I do recognize the selfishness of bringing my own biological children into the world: as one of the women in attendance pointed out, there are so many children in the world who need parents, why make new ones? Yet even as I understand the logic and the concerns, many of us have a deep yearning to become biological parents. For many, it is tied to our concept of what makes us human. Of course, there are many who do not feel this way. The beauty of Conceivable Future is that this isn’t about judging the choices and desires of others, but of understanding.

Every parent who follows the news will wonder, “What kind of world am I bringing my children into?” The Conceivable Future manifesto states this idea as, “Throughout history we have always had to think about what sorts of lives our children would live; that’s what it means to be a parent. This is our time and climate change— and its consequences— is our struggle.”

Right now, there is no political will to battle climate change. Our politicians continue to support the fossil fuel industry that is literally killing our planet. The conversations and video testimonies that the Conceivable Future project is facilitating is an attempt to “build moral power and solidarity” with the ultimate goal of demanding, “an end to all US fossil fuel subsidies.”

If our species can somehow bring positive action towards solving the problem of encroaching ecocide, perhaps the future won’t seem so bleak and the stakes won’t seem as high. Until then, the Conceivable Future project offers a possible space to share our hopes and fears.

The Conceivable Future project will soon be launching a full website, with video testimonials and a more complete idea as to what the project is and what it hopes to accomplish.

In the video, co-founder Meghan Kallman reads the Conceivable Future manifesto.