Josh Tulkin works in an office down a short hallway from mine. We yell back and forth at each other for questions and answers. Sometimes he has so much energy that he taps his fingers really, really fast on his chair and it kinda freaks me out.
Also, he's been classified as a terrorist.
Josh himself was informed of this fact by the Maryland State Police who, on October 21st, kindly informed him that he was on a terrorist watch list and his activities were monitored for more than a year.
Josh's most terrorizing activities: Helping pass landmark legislation like the Maryland Healthy Air Act and the Clean Car Bill.
While deputy director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), Josh helped to build coalitions of faith groups, community groups, students, and of nurses and doctors to improve air quality, reduce the impacts of global warming and environmental degradation on the Chesapeake Bay. The Horror!
And thank goodness Maryland State Police spying has brought Tulkin's Gore-ish past to light. It's been very useful to our organization.
Using many of his same terrorist tactics, Josh is now the field director for the Energy Action Coalition's national Power Vote campaign that has already galvanized over 250,000 young people to vote for clean energy. He continues to terrorist-ically help build diverse coalitions, inform, and organize thousands of people in communities across the United States.
Also thankfully, the Maryland State Police appear to have exonerated Josh as well as executive director of CCAN, Mike Tidwell, and 53 other "suspected terrorists" for their active citizenry. But that should in no way exonerate the MSP for spying on its State's most democratic, active citizens.
Responded Mr. Tulkin: "Young people understand that global warming and the destruction of our national resources are serious threats to our future, and I see my work in this fight as a moral obligation, not a crime," said Mr. Tulkin. He continued: "It is wholly unacceptable for the Maryland State Police to monitor activists and enter their names into databases for doing what our Constitution calls and empowers us to do in engaging in the political process. I am proud to work with thousands of students across the country who are working to fight global warming.
They deserve our support, not suspicion, and I encourage young people to use their voices to vote this November 4th for a President and Congress who understand the critical role youth play in protecting the moral compass of society."
If only our country were full of more terrorists like Josh.
Please go online to learn more about Maryland ACLU's challenge to MSP spying: http://www.aclu-md.org/Index%20content/NoSpying/NoSpying.html