Hi, I’m Aaron. My favorite animal is the kakapo, which is a large, flightless, extremely endangered parrot that lives in New Zealand. I don’t live in New Zealand. I live in Providence, Rhode Island, which has a very, very small natural history museum that has one stuffed kakapo on display, which my son always rushes past without so much as a glance on his way to the stuffed lion when we visit because it’s raining so there’s nothing to do outside and museum passes only cost $1. There are fewer than 250 living kakapo left on the planet.
I work as a senior policy counsel with Public Citizen, where I lead a project advocating for the criminal prosecution of Big Oil companies for their climate crimes. I used to do politics and organizing, and served two terms in the RI General Assembly, where I spearheaded the passage of paid sick days, minimum wage increases, solitary confinement reform, and community solar legislation. I also lost two close races for higher office, which sucked. Sometimes I write about the law and the climate crisis; my work has appeared in The New Republic, Newsweek, Slate, Dissent, The Boston Globe, MSNBC, Common Dreams, Balls and Strikes, Ecology Law Quarterly, The Harvard Environmental Law Review, and elsewhere.
If you want to say hi, connect about holding Big Oil accountable, or yell at me, you can do so on the hellsite at @aaronregunberg or email me at aaron.regunberg@gmail.com.