I wrote about the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke and who does—and does not—count as “Native” in the United States, for @TheAssemblyNC:
theassemblync.com/culture/lumbee… The Lumbee are the largest tribe east of the Mississippi. They’ve been petitioning for recognition from the federal government as an American Indian tribe for over a century. There’s a 1956 act bearing their name, but they’ve never achieved this goal.

I’ve spent the last year or so largely away from the climate policy world and with my people but I’ve # been asked to weigh in on the Inflation Reduction Act, so here goes a THREAD with basically one main takeaway:

With this legislation we get to fight another day. That’s big. Given the 50-50 split in the Senate, where, essentially, a coal baron is the deciding vote, this legislation is a remarkable achievement.

I wrote this last fall and think it stands up pretty well still: theintercept.com/2021/10/31/joe…

Climate spending in The American Jobs Plan totals more than all of ARRA, which says a lot about how far Biden and the Democrats have moved left since Obama's first term.

That being said, the spending figure could and should be even bigger. Progressives like Sen. Markey, Rep. Dingell and the Green New Deal Network are calling for $10 trillion over 10 years, not ~$3 trillion over eight.

I think this is a debate we're winning and is still a productive direction to continue to push the Administration and Congress.

I'm a bit concerned my generation of progressives prioritizes social media incentives over coalition politics and policy outcomes. A lot of this is inherent to progressive identity.

We view ourselves as both pushing the envelope and organizing a diverse coalition. But it's hard to actually do both.

In just a few minutes @RepDebHaaland will join President-elect @JoeBiden and many of the next Administration's climate policy leaders.

Tune in to celebrate #DebForInterior:
buildbackbetter.gov/live/ .@JoeBiden touts the diversity of his Cabinet, which includes "the first Native American Cabinet Secretary."

"Welcome, welcome, welcome."

HOLY SHIT WE JUST WON #DEBFORINTERIOR After four years of fossil fuel executives and lobbyists opening up Native lands and sacred sites to industry tycoons, the next Secretary of Interior will be a Laguna Pueblo woman who went to Standing Rock in 2016 and cooked for the people.

In a functioning media industry, I would probably just be a journalist. But right now, it’s not a viable profession for me, so I treat it like a side hustle.

Nonetheless, I felt like my hustle started to come into its own this year.

Here’s some of my best work: For @Harpers, I reported from Wounded Knee, site of a historic massacre and liberation, amidst historic climate-induced flooding:
harpers.org/blog/2019/12/w…

A piece I wrote four years ago about Indigenous rights, land and modern treaties in Canada is making the rounds again. I’m tickled because I think it’s relevant to the climate and land use conversation stoked by the IPCC. Here’s why, in a little thread: theguardian.com/commentisfree/… Canada is a natural resource economy—particularly in its north and west where Indigenous peoples are a significant minority. Resource extraction damages the boreal forest, contributes to warming and creates major environmental and public health ills.