Together for a change

Like many idealistic young adults, Steven Marquardt came to Chico with a dream. He and a friend from Chico State planned to start a food truck serving vegan and insect-based dishes. They aimed to introduce creations such as cricket tacos and meal worm ceviche to patrons here and cities within driving distance, notably San Francisco and Portland.

“We’d make these really cool products that we thought would be a great way to start to help people transition from beef, and the traditional meat resources that are destroying our planet, toward a more sustainable source,” he said.

Marquardt, 24, graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in political science and arrived here last August after a year of AmeriCorps service in Miami. To gain kitchen experience, he worked at the Banshee, moving up from dishwasher to prep cook.

Experimenting in the kitchen and honing the business plan yielded an epiphany: The food industry really didn’t appeal to him.

“I realized I don’t want to spend the time, money and effort on this project that I now see as a very indirect way to address the climate crisis—and, in fact, too slow,” Marquardt said. “This situation that we’re in [environmentally] calls for urgent action and systemic change.”

Visiting his hometown of Oceanside, he heard from a friend about a national organization geared toward youth and young adults. The Sunrise Movement champions the Green New Deal, a set of policies centered on clean energy and broad-based economic opportunity that, as House Resolution 109, has 92 congressional co-sponsors.

Back in Chico, he talked with friends about forming a “hub,” or group chapter. A co-worker at the Banshee—“the last place I thought I’d meet an organizer”—replied, “Let’s do it.”

So, with Casey Parks, Marquardt started the Chico hub in late February. They held their first meetings in vacant rooms on campus; now recognized as a Chico State student organization, the Sunrise hub meets weekly: Wednesday evenings, 6 p.m., Butte Hall 309. A dozen members attend regularly.

He anticipates a surge after Saturday—when Chico hosts Sunrise Movement national leaders at the El Rey Theater (see infobox). Marquardt, who will co-emcee the evening, learned Chico had a spot on the limited tour even before he’d launched the group.

The reason, of course, is the Camp Fire—which is why Sunrise leaders, local and national, have fingers crossed for a special guest. Sen. Bernie Sanders told local Ridge fire survivors with the group #ClimateUprising that he’d come to the community. That was in December, though, before announcing his second presidential bid. (See “Hashtag movement,” Greenways, March 14.)

“We’ll see,” Marquardt said last week. “We’re hoping. It’s going to be great regardless. It’s going to be fun regardless.”

Of the eight cities on the “Road to a Green New Deal” tour, Chico is by far the smallest. The tour started last Thursday (April 18) in Boston and hits Los Angeles, the other Western stop, Friday. The Sunrise Movement also chose Detroit; Des Moines, Iowa; New Orleans; Lexington, Ky.; and Washington, D.C.

At the El Rey, North State congressional candidate Audrey Denney and Mechoopda artist/activist Ali Meders-Knight will take the stage with Varshini Prakash, Sunrise Movement’s executive director, and national organizers.

“This event not only is a call to action … but also a celebration of the coalition that’s been forming,” Marquardt said. “We’ve created partnerships in just two short months—I’m excited for people to see that.”

Around the same time he connected with Sunrise, Marquardt discovered Chico 350. The local affiliate of 350.org, a global organization dedicated to replacing fossil fuels, Chico 350 has united with other environmentalists to rally for common causes. Those allies include #ClimateUprising and local members of Citizens Climate Lobby (see “Paying dividends,” Greenways, Feb. 21).

Marquardt added his name to Chico 350’s online list of endorsements for a climate emergency declaration in Chico, which the City Council ultimately enacted, earlier this month.

The next day, Jan. 19, at the Chico Women’s March, he serendipitously encountered the group’s table. He joined.

Chico 350 supports his Sunrise hub and, with #ClimateUprising, Saturday’s event. The local and parent groups for 350.org—plus the Sierra Club and Sunrise, among others—promote the Green New Deal.

Citizens Climate Lobby, as an organization, focuses on a single solution for carbon emissions: a tax and dividend program, contained in a bill moving through Congress, House Resolution 763. Locals in the group participate with others—Chico 350, #ClimateUprising and, now, Sunrise.

Mary Kay Benson, Chico 350’s steering committee manager, appreciates the coalescence. She said it started gradually in recent years but intensified after the fire. Eco-activists have put aside points of disagreement that previously kept them siloed.

“Everybody preferred their own little groups for all kinds of different reasons,” she said. “It’s more open [now] than I’ve ever seen it. It’s no longer like fraternities and sororities. After the fire, and other disasters around the world, it just became so real for everybody.

“I’ve never felt more of a community spirit,” Benson added, “and that we can do it collectively. You can call it an evolution—or a revolution.”