A chance to come and ask your questions, without needing to sit through a whole training. 

Maybe you’ve done the training already and have questions now that you’re starting to do the work yourself. Or maybe you’ve been working with Nationbuilder for a while but you have a particular challenge and would like some help. Or maybe conversation and screensharing is just a better way for you to learn something than a helpdesk ticket.

We’d like to help you get comfortable with the tools we have that will help you to do your work!

Please note: It’s essential to RSVP for the Q&A session, as we won't hold the meeting if there are no RSVPs.

Wildfires in Australia. Wildfires in California. The Amazon burned to make way for cattle grazing.  Pledges to plant a billion trees. Carbon offsetting by protecting forests. The planet’s forests have become ground zero for climate impacts and climate action. 

In honor of Earth Week 2021, The Climate Action Team and Democrats Abroad Spain are hosting “Our Forests and Our Climate: an Earth Week Guided Discussion” with Daniel James, newly elected chair of DA Spain. 

Daniel has decades of expertise in forest management and environmental policy, working on the Hill, for the US Forest service, and most recently, as Acting Deputy Under Secretary and senior advisor for Natural Resources and Environment at USDA. 

Date: April 21, 2021

Time: 6:00 PM CET/12 PM EST

This is a virtual event; RSVP for the link

We hope you will attend to learn more about the connection between forests and climate change, and the importance of protecting and preserving forests to the planet. We want you to be inspired to take action!

Here are some suggested watchings/readings to introduce you to the subject and spark some questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-nEYsyRlYo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q0xUXo2zEY&feature=youtu.be

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00122-z

https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/forests-and-climate-change

Submit your questions in advance to [email protected]! Please use the subject line “Climate and Forests”.

Daniel James was recently elected chair for DA Spain. He served 34 years in public service and retired from USDA in 2019. His last role was Acting Deputy Under Secretary and senior advisor for Natural Resources and Environment. In that role Daniel led the NRE Mission area which included the US Forest Service, and for a period Natural Resource Conservation Service and Gulf Coast Restoration work. 

He was appointed Associate Chief of the Forest Service in July 2016. Prior to this appointment, Daniel, served in many leadership positions, including:

•  Regional Forester of the Rocky Mountain Region; 

• Deputy Regional Forester in the Pacific Southwest Region; Forest Supervisor of the Santa Fe National Forest; 

• District Ranger on the Salt Lake Ranger District of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest; 

• District Ranger on the South Park Ranger District of the Pike and San Isabel National Forest, Comanche, and Cimarron National Grasslands; 

• Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs of the Intermountain Region, National Press Officer in Washington, D.C.; 

• and aide to the United States Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado when he was in the US House of Representatives. 

He represented USDA on the National Advisory Council for Historic Preservation, National Wildland Fire Leadership Council and also served on the Board for the Sierra Conservancy and the National Leadership Council for the National Forest Foundation. 

Daniel earned a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and a Master’s degree from Regis University of Denver. He and his partner Aaron live in Barcelona, Spain. 

Don’t forget that The Climate Action Team has curated this list of virtual Earth Day events - there is something to fit every time zone and every age group.

In honor of Earth Day (April 22), we want to take a moment to reflect, regroup and call to climate-action. On April 21 at 7pm CEST, the DA Switzerland Youth Action Team will be joined virtually by volunteers and activists from the climate movement (Klimabewegung), climate strike (Klimastreik) and the climate initiative ‘Basel 2030’. We will be hearing about experiences from the front lines of the local and national movements as well as engaging in an open discussion about the current state of the climate and ways to get engaged to counteract climate change.

With several locations nation-wide, the Swiss climate strike and climate movement are volunteer organizations consisting primarily of youth. The climate strike – as a part of the movement – specifically focuses on demanding action from decision makers and politicians by regularly striking and protesting for specific climate goals.

‘Basel 2030’ is a climate justice initiative calls to action against climate change with their goal of including climate justice in Basel law as well as minimizing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2030.

Add to your Google Calendar.

Please join us for a Community Check-In to voice your thoughts and feelings about mounting violence against AAPI people in the US, in the wake of the recent Atlanta murders and rising anti-Asian hate crimes. Join us in discussion, led by Los Angeles-based Ting Qin, M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy and experienced group facilitator. Hosted by the DA France Diversity Caucus, DA France Women’s Caucus and the Global AAPI Caucus.

Wiesbaden/Mainz Chapter Monthly Check-In April 21, 2021

Come join us online on Thursday, April 21, 2021, from 7:30 to 9:30 pm for our monthly meeting where we will discuss our chapter plans - both short- and long-term!

Meet the newly elected Chapter Chair and team who will be there for you in the coming two years and doing our part to help our country make great progress at the national, state, and local levels. 

RSVP to receive the Zoom link.

Jesse Alama, Chair

DA Germany - Wiesbaden/Mainz

Join us with special guest Jeff Graham to hear his story of fighting for voting rights in Georgia. Jeff is the executive director of Georgia Equality, an organization that works to advance fairness, safety and opportunity for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities throughout Georgia.

To celebrate Earth Day 2021 on April 22, we invite you to go outside, do something good for our planet. Normally, there would be larger events, in community and solidarity with our friends and fellow travelers to raise awareness and take action about our environment and the manifest ways it impacts us. In the current situation, though, we'll need to settle for something more (socially) scaled down. But that doesn't mean we can't take action and join up with others!

(The event location is Mainz Hauptbahnhof, but that's just a dummy address. The "event" is at home or wherever you like it to be. But do it outside!)

It's simple: take a picture of yourself in action on Earth Day doing good by the one and only home we've got. You choose what to do. If you're on social media, consider using the hash tag #DAEarthDay to share how you're doing what you can in your own small way.(Watch that link as the day goes by. Photos will stream in! There's already stuff there.) Send pictures to our communications coordinator, Dash Nesbitt, too.

In addition to Get Out and ___!, a number of other events are taking place; a fascinating list (one that evolves daily!) can be found here. In addition, a few other Earth Day/Week events are worth highlighting:

• Wednesday, April 21, 2021, at 6:00 PM CET: Our Forests and Our Climate: An Earth Week Guided Discussion
• Thursday, April 22, 2021, at 1:30 PM CET: Climate Justice in the Biden Era: A Panel Discussion
• Tuesday, April 27, 2021, at 7pm CET: Climate Justice is Racial Justice, a Discussion with Jacqueline Patterson

(Special thanks to the Women's Caucus Climate Action Team!)

Join Democrats Abroad as tax expert Nathalie Goldstein MsC, EA and CEO of MyExpatTaxes discusses how to receive your third $1,400 Economic Impact Payment as an American living abroad, plus discusses 101 tax basics.

The webinar will cover common questions like:

• How can I receive my payment if I moved?
• Can I still receive the $1,200 from last year?
• How can I receive a direct transfer rather than a check?
• How can I receive my payment if I haven't filed my US taxes for a long time?
• How do I obtain the additional $600 per qualifying child?
• Can I get $1,200 if I'm married to a non-US spouse?

WHEN: Thursday, April 22, 2021, 9am CET View in your time zone

WHERE: Zoom call

RSVP below, and we will send you an email with access details.

While there is no donation required to attend, we hope you’ll consider a donation of $10. Click here to donate.

Thank you for your support - we look forward to you joining the webinar! 

IMPORTANT:  Democrats Abroad does not provide personal tax advice or recommendations.  We recommend that you engage a qualified, professional tax adviser to address questions related to your personal financial situation.

Join Democrats Abroad for this free event to find out how to receive your third $1,400 Economic Impact Payment as an American living abroad. The event will also go over tax basics 101.

Earth Week 2021 should be a time for celebration, but also a time to take stock of the challenges ahead.  By focusing on environmental justice, we hope to broaden the scope of interest and action, and in particular, garner timely support for the ambitious Democratic agenda on climate encapsulated in the infrastructure plan proposed by the Biden Administration.

Co-hosted by the Progressive Caucus & the Global Black Caucus

JOIN THE ZOOM MEETING
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81528029631?pwd=RmloeGFwMFZtcCswdFVxNGgrYUlqUT09

Meeting ID: 815 2802 9631
Passcode: 174537

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbWHdt6wvV

THE PANEL 

Michelle Deatrick, Founder and Chair of the first-ever DNC Environment and Climate Crisis Council, is a policy analyst, editor and internationally honored poet. She is a member of UAW Local 2320 and the National Writers Union, and serves as a delegate to her regional labor federation as well as being on the Climate Power’s National Advisory Board and the Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy’s Board of Directors. A recent county commissioner who flipped a rural three-term red seat to blue, and a former Peace Corps Volunteer, Michelle is the Chair of Women’s March Ann Arbor. She lives on her family’s 80 acre farm.

Dr. Michael K. Dorsey is a limited partner in the Spanish solar concern IberSun, s.l. and a JV partner in the Indian based solar panel manufacturer Pahal Solar. Dr. Dorsey is also a “Full member” of the Club of Rome. As a recognized expert on global energy, environment, and sustainability matters, in 2013 the US National Journal named Dorsey one of 200 US “energy and environment expert insiders.”  He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Yale University, and the Johns Hopkins University. Dorsey sits on the board the Sunrise Movement Education Fund, the 501(c)3 arm of Sunrise, an entity he and two former students co-founded in 2017. In fall 2020, Dr. Dorsey was the inaugural Macmillan Scholar in Residence at the University of Vermont.

Professor N. Bruce Duthu is the Samson Occom Professor and Chair of Native American Studies at Dartmouth College. An internationally recognized scholar of Native American law and policy, Professor Duthu joined the faculty of Arts & Sciences at Dartmouth in 2008.  He served as Dartmouth’s Associate Dean of the Faculty for International Studies & Interdisciplinary Programs.  Duthu earned his BA degree in religion and Native American Studies from Dartmouth College and his JD degree from Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans. Prior to joining the Dartmouth faculty, Duthu was Professor of Law at Vermont Law School where he also served as inaugural director of the VLS-Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China) Partnership in Environmental Law. He is the author of Shadow Nations: Tribal Sovereignty and the Limits of Legal Pluralism (Oxford University Press 2013) and American Indians and the Law (Viking/Penguin Press 2008) and much more. He is an enrolled tribal member of the United Houma Nation of Louisiana.

MODERATOR

Alexander Lee, former DA China general counsel, taught Environmental Justice at Middlebury College in 1996, a year after he founded Project Laundry List, an organization that he led till 2010. He has worked for the NH PUC as Assistant to the Commissioners and was NARUC ERE Committee Staff Co-Chair during that time. He currently teaches Environmental Science and is the head of the social studies department at a school in Guangzhou.