Maeve Hogan
Email: maeve@rogueclimate.org
Title: Energy Resiliency Organizer
Organization: Rogue Climate
Meet Maeve Hogan (she/her/hers):
A New Yorker through and through, Maeve grew up in New York State and received a B.A. in American Studies from Columbia University. She will be looking to take her skills in historical analysis to the modern day, and bring her passion for environmental consciousness to help the Rogue Valley to become a more equitable and sustainable community for the future. Leaving behind the bustling streets of NYC for the serenity of the Cascade Mountains, Siskiyou Forests, and the Rogue River has been an exciting change for Maeve, and you can find her exploring the Oregonian outdoors whenever she finds a spare moment.
Community and Organization:
The cities of Phoenix and Talent sit right on Interstate 5, situated between Ashland and Medford. Talent has a population of 6,700+ people and Phoenix has 4,700+. The two towns have overlaps in their school systems, but they differ in governmental approaches to incorporating sustainability into town policies to rebuild. Both are classified as rural communities, and have a sizable population that commutes into either Ashland or Medford for work daily. The devastating Almeda Fire in 2020 particularly impacted low income and Latinx communities, and wiped-out considerable amounts of the affordable housing available in Phoenix and Talent. There were 18 manufactured home or trailer parks that were either fully or partially destroyed during the fires, and many of the former residents of these parks remain unhoused a year after the fire.
Rogue Climate is a small nonprofit that was founded in 2013 as a result of local advocacy efforts to fight the proposed LNG pipeline. The organization has grown since its roots of a handful of people to now have 6 full time staff, and 10 additional part time staff spread out over the Rogue Valley and in a new office in Coos Bay, and surrounded by a strong and complex network of allies. Rogue Climate’s main strategies are local action, state action, cultural engagement, leadership development, climate justice, and emergency relief. Rogue Climate recently participated in a successful campaign to pass three pieces of statewide legislation that respectively tackle affordable access to energy (HB 2475), transitioning to renewable energy by 2040 (HB 2021B), and ensuring equitable access to healthy homes (HB 2842). The team and their partners attempt to correct centuries of oppression by working closely with local tribes and BIPOC communities, including advocating for and engaging in bilingual organizing.
Project:
Maeve will be serving with Rogue Climate as an Energy Resiliency Organizer. Rogue Climate took on a big role in the recovery following the Almeda Fire of 2020 that burned approximately 40% of all structures within Phoenix and Talent, many of them being low-income housing and manufactured homes and 600 families remain unhoused to this day. Talent is looking to rebuild back better in terms of energy efficiency and fire resilience, and is focused on incorporating affordable housing. The time following the fire provides an opportunity to reinvigorate the Clean Energy Element of Talent’s Comprehensive Plan, especially in equitable ways that can benefit the lower income population. Maeve’s role will be to help provide low-income residents with information and incentives to rebuild back more energy and fire resilience by hosting various educational events, coordinating with local city officials on new equitable energy projects, and helping to establish long term disaster preparedness for the region.