WASHINGTON, December 8, 2025 — Thanksgiving is just over a week behind us, but I am still in the spirit of gratitude – and today, I wanted to share things I’m thankful for. I spent much of my Thanksgiving break cooking. We didn’t have any family in town, so it was just my wife, our two kids, and me. A few years ago, when we were both in the Biden Administration, we ordered carryout for the entire holiday dinner, and it didn’t quite feel right. So even though we were a small crew this year, I cooked a full feast. One of my family traditions is to make a batch of my grandmother’s green chile posole with any leftover turkey, so my time over the stove didn’t end when our Thanksgiving meal was done. My family roots in New Mexico run deep, so this year I ordered some roasted green chile from Hatch, New Mexico, which is proud of its position as the chile capital of the world. I love to cook, and I was grateful for the time in the kitchen and the chance to prepare several meals for people I dearly love.
I’m also grateful for two recent events that EDF Action has held. In places where EDF Action has an organizer on the ground, it’s been our practice to gather the environmental community on a periodic basis to honor exceptional leaders with state leadership awards. Our grassroots director, Jeremy Pittman, represented EDF Action at our Arizona awards reception in Phoenix. Of special significance to me was honoring Hazel Chandler, a Moms Clean Air Force organizer, with a lifetime achievement award. Hazel, who I’ve written about in this space before, was an inspiration to many of us, myself very much included. A few months ago, Hazel testified from hospice care about the impact EPA’s efforts to rescind the Endangerment Finding would have on people like her and on communities like hers in Phoenix. Hazel passed away a week before her daughter accepted the award in her honor, but her family had been able to share with her that she had been selected for recognition, and they said it was meaningful to her. I’m working to carry forward Hazel’s inspiration in my own efforts and aspire to reach the example she set.
The week before Thanksgiving, EDF Action partnered with the Latino Victory Project on an event highlighting a report we commissioned using the Climate Vulnerability Index to examine three communities with substantial Hispanic populations and the challenges they face. We were joined at the event by four U.S. representatives, all members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. This event was personal to me because one of the more pernicious claims that the Trump Administration has made is that any sort of support for vulnerable communities is effectively a political payoff. Using the science and data that define EDF’s work to show, in a political context, that this is simply not true is work that’s near and dear to my heart. I invite you to read our report in English or Spanish, along with the accompanying press release.
This takes me back to my grandmother’s green chile posole recipe. One of the featured speakers at our event was U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, who represents Southern New Mexico and has been a steadfast leader on environmental issues during his time in Congress. I’ve admired Gabe’s leadership for some time, and EDF Action has been proud to consistently support him, but I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him better over the past couple of months. In his remarks, he spoke with pride about Hatch’s status as the chile capital of the world, but he also pointed out the stresses that these agricultural workers are subject to because of the worsening impacts of the climate crisis. I hadn’t connected the dots between my love for New Mexico green chiles and the hardships the people who provide them endure. I spent some time with the Climate Vulnerability Index and found that the congressman was absolutely right: residents of Hatch are in the 99th percentile for social stressors like chronic disease prevention, and are in the top ten percent nationwide for impacts from drought, wildfires, and heat exposure.
Connecting policy decisions to the real impacts on people’s lives is critically important work, and it’s an honor and a privilege to be able to do it – just as it’s a privilege to lift up leaders like Hazel whose work has improved the lives of so many others. Thank you for your support of EDF Action; none of this would be possible without you.