The Sunflower Alliance community and the Bay Area progressive movement have suffered an incalculable loss with the passing of our dear brother, Steve Nadel. His passion, big heart, strategic insight, and determination will be an inspiration to us all as we continue to fight for climate justice. Rest in Power, beloved comrade.
Steve’s politics were inspired by revolutionary and intersectional feminist Grace Lee Boggs and forged in the Nuclear Freeze movement and the Concord Naval Weapons Station protests. With a long professional background in the material sciences, Steve was uniquely suited for translating obscure technical issues into transformational political action. He was a founder and core member of the Sunflower Alliance, and a wise, calm, steady, and caring member of our activist community. Whether risking arrest or testifying in hearing rooms, he never swerved from his total dedication to the organization’s mission to serve communities directly impacted by the fossil fuel industry and climate chaos. As a key actor in the Bay Area Air Quality Management District network, he devoted years to careful analysis of Air District policies and actions, mobilizing the public in a series of challenging campaigns to move air regulators in a more righteous direction. 350 Bay Area was yet another beneficiary of his strategic savvy, starting with the Summer Heat mobilization at Chevron in 2013. Steve also provided major ongoing behind-the-scenes support to the Bay Area’s Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force.
Please watch this space for information about ways we will come together to honor his memory.
Steve Nadel — ¡Presente!