Why abolishing ICE is a climate solution.

We’re a Maine based climate planning firm with a commitment to centering equity and justice in our work with municipalities. Here is why abolishing ICE is a climate solution. 

Climate change is real, it’s happening now, and it will not impact everyone the same. There are many factors that contribute to disproportionate climate vulnerability but its often underlying and systemic contributors such as economic inequality, racial discrimination, or accessibility barriers. Climate solutions are actions that reduce fossil fuel pollution and prepare for climate impacts. Equitable climate solutions center the people most impacted in both the understanding of the problem and in the development of solutions that repair past harms and dismantle unjust systems and institutions. Neighbors with insecure immigration status, with limited English language proficiency, who experience housing and food insecurity, or who live with lower income are among the communities most affected by climate change impacts. 

Climate preparedness includes everything from long-range planning and infrastructure improvements that can take years to fully realize to emergency management planning for the next storm that may be more frequent or intense due to climate change. All solutions require strong social infrastructure to achieve both climate resilience and social equity. We know that the communities able to survive in climate disaster contexts are ones that have strong social resilience. The social infrastructure that is vital to social resilience can only be built through knowing and caring for your neighbors. Right now in Maine communities, many of our neighbors are not able to leave their homes for fear of being kidnapped or disappeared. This magnifies existing harms and vulnerabilities, which only increases climate vulnerability. Delivering food and supplies, providing transportation, and bail funds, Mainers are supporting one and another, but “wicked problems” can only be tackled when all of us come together and create new, just systems.

At SCC, we stand in solidarity with all of our neighbors, regardless of immigration status. We stand in solidarity with communities keeping one another safe as Federal Agents, including ICE, violently disappear people within the communities where we live and work. All members of our community deserve lives of dignity. SCC proudly joins the chorus calling for the abolition of ICE.