Alaska climate refugee champion Robin Bronen driven by a desire to protect humanity
This ambition steered Bronen to work as an attorney in Alaksa where she started out representing domestic violence victims. Her work with victims of abuse lasted until she decided she wanted a new challenge and joined the Peace Corps.
This new path led her to do agricultural work in Honduras.
As Bronen's time wrapped up in Honduras, her two trainers took her aside and opened the door to a new path. They told her to return to the U.S. and use her legal expertise to help immigrants there.
'They said to me … 'You now understand why people from our country are going to the United States, and we need you to help us there,'' Bronen recalled.
So, when her tenure with the Peace Corps ended, she returned to Alaska to work as an immigration attorney.
She spent 15 years in The Last Frontier working to realize her ambitions to protect people, but this focus shifted when she realized she wanted to address the climate crisis that was affecting her neighbors in Alaska.
Bronen co-founded the Alaska Institute for Justice in 2005 to focus on immigration issues in the state. The nonprofit added language interpretation and climate justice programs to help Alaska Native communities navigate mounting concerns in those areas.
Bronen announced her retirement as Alaska Institute for Justice executive director in September.
Her previous law degree wasn't going to be enough, so Bronen rededicated herself to graduate school to better understand climate science.
'I wanted to understand it myself, given what I was witnessing in Alaksa,' Bronen said.
The term 'climate refugees' was gaining popularity at the time, and Bronen was able to find the intersection of her immigration background with her new pursuit: working with Alaska Native Indigenous communities affected by the climate crisis.
It was my grandmother who fled Ukraine back in the early 1900s because she was Jewish, and so she and her family survived the pogroms. So, I grew up in this belief in needing to protect humanity from the ways that we can be unkind and unjust to each other, because she always believed in the goodness of people in spite of what she had lived through.
Honestly, our work is all about the people we serve and the communities we serve, and so my proudest moments are when we're able to serve people in the ways that protect their human rights and make justice happen for them as individuals or communities.
So, in the immigration realm, the first person I ever represented who was seeking asylum in the United States was a Russian-Jewish man who had been sent to Siberia, and I was able to represent him and get him political asylum in the United States. I felt like I was paying back my ancestors who were not able to stay where they were born.
To stand beside people who have been treated unjustly by our political, legal system and standing with them as an ally to help them get the resources or justice they deserve in the face of whatever opposition comes toward us.
I just found a quote by Cornell West that's all about love: 'Justice is what love looks like in public.' So that is my mantra.
I look up to the people and communities we serve. So right now, I am working mostly with Alaska Native Indigenous communities, and I look up to them for the wisdom and courage to keep having hope and faith that we will be able to withstand whatever the climate crisis is going to manifest in the places that we love and live.
I'm an avid runner, so I go running every day — pretty much six miles a day — to clear out that energy when I am confronted with challenges in doing the advocacy that we've done. Running is an incredibly creative process, so ideas always come to me of new angles to use to deal with whatever is presented as the challenge of the moment.
Some advice I wish somebody older than me had given me is that justice requires persistence and to be really creative in the strategies I use to advocate for the people in communities I serve. Change has not happened over the course of the decades I've been doing this work. That persistence and courage to keep advocating for those who need to have a voice beside them so their human rights are protected and they get the justice they deserve.
IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Climate refugee champion Robin Bronen is Alaska's Women of the Year honoree
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US freezes air defense and precision weapons shipment to Ukraine, White House says
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Hamilton Spectator
10 minutes ago
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Lithuania's defense chief praises Philippine campaign exposing China's aggression
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Politico
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Good will Lander
Presented by the Coalition for a Better Times Square With help from Amira McKee Brad Lander is feeling pretty good for someone who just got trounced in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary. The city comptroller's campaign struggled to gain traction as Zohran Mamdani — younger and less experienced — soared high enough to eventually defeat former New York governor Andrew Cuomo by 12 points, according to unofficial results released Tuesday. But thanks to their unique cross-endorsement, Lander has been celebrating Mamdani's victory as if it was his own. 'People, it turned out, were so hungry for a more hopeful and collaborative form of politics,' Lander told POLITICO. The two progressive Democrats brokered their alliance in the last leg of the chaotic, 11-candidate primary contest, the first true cross-endorsement since the city began ranked-choice voting four years ago. 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QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'Ultimately, what we're seeing in President Trump's rhetoric is an attempt to focus on who I am, where I'm from, what I look like, how I sound, as opposed to what I'm actually fighting for.' — Zohran Mamdani told NY1 of Trump's criticism, including questioning the Democrat's citizenship status. ABOVE THE FOLD POOR POLL NUMBERS FOR GOP MEGABILL: A majority of New York state voters do not have a pretty view of President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' with 52 percent saying they believe it' will worsen life for most Americans, according to a Siena College poll released this morning. Just about as many people — 54 percent — say Trump's domestic and foreign affairs agenda will not make America great. The Senate approved the Republican megabill Tuesday in a nailbiter of a vote. 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The poll was conducted June 23-26 among 800 registered state voters. It had an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. — Emily Ngo CITY HALL: THE LATEST ADAMS' SUMMER HOLLIDAY: Real estate mogul Marc Holliday, who's pitching a casino in Times Square with his firm SL Green, is hosting a rooftop fundraiser for Adams' reelection campaign on July 9 at Le Jardin sur Madison overlooking Manhattan's Madison Square Park. Holliday donated $100,000 to pro-Cuomo super PAC Fix the City just days before the primary, so the Wednesday event is a sign that some in the city's monied class are throwing support behind Adams in the general election rather than waiting to see if the former governor will mount a serious campaign against Mamdani. 'You're going to see quite a bit of that,' Adams' political adviser Frank Carone told Playbook. 'The outpouring of support the mayor has received has been overwhelming, humbling and exciting at the same time.' Holliday downplayed the move, saying he's supported Adams since his days in the Legislature 'and would have supported him in the primary as well.' 'Under Mayor Adams' administration, the city has thrived and is far better off than it was three and a half years ago,' he added in a statement. Holliday himself can't donate more to Adams, after giving $400 in April 2022 — the maximum for a registered lobbyist. He's chair and CEO of SL Green, and topped the Commercial Observer's real estate power list this year. Holliday was set to get a $10 million bonus if the firm's bid wins a license from the state and builds a casino, but POLITICO reported in January that deal was likely illegal. Adams has gone back to fundraising for his reelection campaign while awaiting resolution of his lawsuit against the Campaign Finance Board for denying him public matching funds. He reported bringing in $300,000 in just three weeks in the last filing. — Jeff Coltin More from the city: — Adams' charter revision commission is moving forward with a plan to put measures on the November ballot that would curb the City Council's power to reject new housing and shift local elections to even years. (New York Times) — Major crimes are down across the city, except for a troubling years-long spike in rapes, new NYPD stats show. (New York Post) — Mamdani wants to end mayoral control of schools, but he hasn't detailed his plans for an alternative. (Gothamist) NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY ZOHRAN MAKES ALBANY INROADS: Mamdani's mayoral bid on Tuesday was endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins — the latest sign that the establishment is coming around to support his upstart campaign. Institutional backing in Albany will be crucial to fulfilling his agenda if Mamdani is leading City Hall next year. The state Capitol is a place where mayoral priorities go to die and recent history is littered with failed proposals from Michael Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio. That Albany — a small city some 150 miles north of Manhattan — can call the shots for a world capital has long grated on mayoral nerves. Mamdani will need Albany's sign off for his proposed tax hike on rich New Yorkers. Many of his priorities — such as funding free buses and child care services — would also require state support. Some Democrats are skeptical (to say the least) that Mamdani — a three-term backbencher in the state Assembly — will have an easy go of it next year should he win. 'We know he's going to be very limited in what he can do when it comes to his many promises,' said Democratic Assemblymember Chuck Lavine. 'The state of New York has great authority over what the mayor of the city of New York can do. He has the opportunity to grow, but at the same time he's going to have to provide the public with more specificity with what his programs involve.' Gov. Kathy Hochul — who is yet to endorse the 33-year-old democratic socialist — has firmly shot down a tax hike. The Democratic governor, who is running for reelection next year, will have to navigate a treacherous political path if Mamdani is mayor. Republicans are already yoking her to the party's mayoral nominee with the expectation he'll be unpalatable to moderate, suburban swing voters. Lefty Democrats will undoubtedly press her from the other end of the political spectrum to back Mamdani's agenda. Hochul, though, has emphasized potential areas of agreement, like addressing affordability. State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a vocal Mamdani booster in the state Legislature, told Playbook he's confident the Democratic nominee could win over the Capitol. To bolster his case, Rivera pointed to Mamdani's 12-point win over Andrew Cuomo in the third and final round of early voting. 'What these numbers demonstrate and what the next couple of months will demonstrate is his ability to crossover,' Rivera said. 'That means sitting down with anybody and getting to a good place.' — Nick Reisman More from Albany:— Hochul's support for a new nuclear plant has sparked interest — and some early lobbying. (WXXI) — Building a nuke plant will likely be a costly endeavor, experts found. (Spectrum News) — The governor touted the opening of an affordable housing development in her hometown. (Buffalo News) KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION A SALTY LEARNING CURVE: Democrat Beth Davidson appears to be operating on a steep learning curve when it comes to the state and local tax deduction, a top issue in the district where she seeks to unseat GOP Rep. Mike Lawler. The Rockland County legislator told Spectrum News in May she believes the SALT cap should be lifted '25 percent at least.' Then, given the chance to clarify, she said she meant to say it should be lifted to $25,000. That proposal is far lower than the $40,000 limit that blue state House Republicans, including Lawler, have negotiated in grueling intraparty meetings. It's also a very far cry from her fellow Democrats' call for the cap to be scrapped altogether. Davidson — waging a formidable campaign in a crowded Hudson Valley primary, and so far leading the Democrats in fundraising — told Playbook this week that she erred in her previous comments because she wasn't aware the current cap on SALT had an expiration date. 'I didn't actually realize it was expiring completely at that point,' Davidson said before pivoting to attacking Lawler. 'I made a mistake in the number, but he's made the mistake in how he's voted, which I think is more important.' Davidson added that she would have supported allowing the SALT cap to expire if she were serving in Congress. The current $10,000 SALT cap, set by Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, was set to sunset after this year, but is now on track to quadruple. On Tuesday, the Senate approved the GOP megabill with the limit increased to $40,000. Lawler has praised the deal as a win. SALT is a top priority in battleground House districts in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island, where high taxes have hit homeowners hard. 'I'll own that I didn't know that, and now that I do, I'm completely opposed to, certainly, the $40,000 cap,' Davidson said of the expiration date. The county lawmaker, one of at least seven Democrats seeking to unseat Lawler in the 17th Congressional District, has previously attacked the incumbent for voting with Republicans for a bill that didn't completely eliminate SALT. 'First, Beth Davidson didn't know what a 'fiscal year' was, and now she admits not even understanding how the SALT deduction and cap works,' Chris Russell, a Lawler campaign spokesperson, said in a statement. 'This is beyond embarrassing. How is this person running for Congress?' Davidson's spokesperson, Molly Kraus, fired back: 'Mike Lawler is about to vote for a trash bill that guts Medicaid and puts an unacceptably low cap on SALT, so he's trying to distract by punching his most feared opponent Beth Davidson, who's clearly living in his head rent free.'— Jason Beeferman and Emily Ngo More from Congress: — Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson are digging in to pass Republicans' massive tax and spending bill by Friday in time for a July 4 celebration. (POLITICO) — Chuck Schumer forced a name change for Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' moments before the legislative package passed the Senate. (Fox News) — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries warned Democrats would not allow quick passage of the GOP megabill in the House. (POLITICO) NEW YORK STATE OF MIND — A Columbia University cyberattack appears to be politically motivated. (New York Times) — More than 22 miles of car-free streets will be available this summer. (NY1) — Two upstate utilities have proposed a major rate hike. (POLITICO Pro) SOCIAL DATA FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: New York Public Radio is revamping its board of trustees, adding Gary Knell, a senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group and former president and CEO of both National Geographic and NPR; Jenna Weiss-Berman, co-founder of Pineapple Street Studios and head of podcasts at Paper Kite Productions; and Jeremy Kuriloff, managing director and partner at BCG … City government veteran Carl Weisbrod is now a vice chair of the board, along with journalist Anna Quindlen … John Rose, CEO of Spectrum Advisors and a senior advisor at BCG, will chair the board. … MSNBC is adding Vaughn Hillyard as senior White House correspondent, Laura Barrón-López as White House correspondent, David Noriega as a correspondent and Marc Santia as an investigative correspondent. Hillyard, Noriega and Santia previously were at NBC. Barrón-López previously was at PBS NewsHour and POLITICO. MAKING MOVES: Eric S. Goldstein has stepped down as CEO of UJA-Federation of New York. WELCOME TO THE WORLD: Allie Taylor, founder and president of Voters For Animal Rights, and Scott Taylor, a staff engineer at Shopify, welcomed Althea Starlight Taylor on June 29. — Anna Epstein, a director at FGS Global, and Aaron Steeg, an associate at Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, on June 17 welcomed Alice Madeline Steeg, who is named for two of her late grandmothers. Pic HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) … NYC Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr. … Andrew Rigie of the New York Hospitality Alliance …Josephine Stratman of the Daily News … Stephen Hanse, president and CEO of the New York State Health Facilities Association … Xavier Mission's Cassandra Agredo … Robert Press … NBC's Tom Llamas … Derek Gianino of Wells Fargo … NBC's Keith Morrison … Katherine Lehr … Jonathan Capehart … Courtney Geduldig … Brooke Oberwetter … Michele Gershberg … (WAS TUESDAY): Myron Scholes Missed Tuesday's New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.
