Carl Lundgren, Neighbor

Political / Activism:

Co-Chair, Coalition to Ban Depleted Uranium (CBDU), 2005 - present. CBDU is a member of the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons.

Member of Board of Directors, Hutchinson River Restoration Project, 2014 - present

Coordinator, PeaceWorks!, a group that teaches, studies, and advocates for the skills and principles of nonviolent communication, conflict resolution, collaborative negotiation, and nonviolent social defense.

Chair, Bronx Greens 2005 - 2009; Secretary, 2009 - 2014; currently acting Chair

Chair, Bronx County Green Party: 2008 - present

Green Party candidate for NY State Senate 2012, 2014; running again in 2016

Green Party candidate for Bronx Borough President 2013

Served on State Committee of Green Party of NY State as a regional representative 2004 - 2010

Served as a delegate from NY State on the Green Party of the US National Committee 2006 - 2010, also served on the Eco-Action and Dispute Resolution Committees of GPUS.

Elected chair of Shut Down Indian Point (SDIPN), 2015

Personal:

Architect, Butterfield, O'Connor & Assoc., 2010 - present

Bass player, singer, songwriter with local band

Bicycling enthusiast

Carl started on his path to activism in 1970 while a student at James Monroe High School in the Bronx, joining the Environmental Science Club - the first such club at the school - and organizing an aluminum can recycling drive. The club made numerous field trips including the Great Swamp Environmental Center in NJ, an invitation only concert by Pete Seeger at Wave Hill in the Bronx, and a talk by consumer advocate Ralph Nader at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.

Carl first registered to vote in his senior year of high school when a local voter registration drive came to the school. Knowing even then there was no difference between the parties, he refused to enroll in any party preferring to remain a "blank." He didn't officially enroll in a party until 2000, when he happened upon the Green Party Presidential Nominating Convention telecast live on C-SPAN, and learned that Ralph Nader was one of the candidates, and, in fact, won the nomination. He immediately re-enrolled as a Green and became active with the Bronx Greens local.

During that senior year, Carl - a lifelong advocate of nonviolence - sought advice from the boy's dean (who was also the faculty adviser for the Environmental Science Club) on filing for Conscientious Objector status, as he would be turning 18 at the end of the term. The war in Viet Nam was winding down but young men were still being drafted. He was informed that because he didn't belong to a recognized pacifist religion (he was Lutheran at the time) the process would be more difficult. He never completed the process. The draft board instituted a lottery system that year and assigned a new classification, 1H, which meant 1A but on hold. Birth dates were assigned a number, the numbers then placed in a drum and pulled out at random. That year, numbers 1 - 40 were called up. Carl's number was 41. The war ended the following year.

Carl is a lifelong resident of the Bronx, a musician by passion, an architect by inclination, an activist by conscience, a politician by indignation, a pet owner by joy, a bicyclist by enthusiasm, a vegan by common sense, and a Humanist by rationality.