For a 13-month stretch starting in March 2005, three environmentalists working for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network were listed in a Maryland State Police data base as being “suspected of involvement in terrorism.” The description went on to note that the police had “no evidence whatsoever of any involvement in violent crime,” and the listing, and possible tracking, did not continue. But the activists — not surprisingly — were not happy to hear about this when they received letters from the state police earlier this month informing them of the situation. [ UPDATE: 3:30 p.m.: The climate group has been involved in civil disobedience, both before and since the law enforcement listing. But my guess is it would be hard to characterize such incidents as anything remotely resembling terrorism.] The American Civil Liberties Union is investigating the investigations.

On his blog, Mike Tidwell, the founder of the Chesapeake-area climate group and author of Bayou Farewell, decried the situation, saying his work hardly amounts to terrorism: “Since 2001, I have devoted my life entirely to the peaceful promotion of windmills and solar panels to solve global warming. Apparently not everyone liked my work, however.”

Josh Tulkin, who just moved to the Energy Action Coalition after working for the Chesapeake group for several years, also received a letter, along with a third person at the organization who does not want to discuss the incident. I met Mr. Tulkin during the stretch when he was on the “terrorist” list, at the 2005 climate-treaty talks in Montreal.

To all appearances, he was a sincere and passionate member of a contingent of hundreds of young people sifting among delegates to press the idea that today’s “fossils,” the generation running countries and companies now, were hijacking their climate. The closest thing to civil disobedience that I saw was a cluster of youth activists camped out in a cavernous hallway singing a repurposed Beatles tune: “All we are saying, is give youth a chance.”

Mr. Tulkin sent me a note overnight with his reaction and also just posted a commentary on YouTube:

Here’s the email he sent:

My name is Josh Tulkin. I am currently the Field Director of the Energy Action Coalition and Power Vote. And I am a suspected terrorist. On October 21st, I received a letter from the Superintendent of the Maryland State Police. The letter informed me that from March of 2005 to May of 2006, I was under surveillance under suspicion of terrorist activities. The letter further explains that the program is no longer under operation, and that I am among a list of people whom they have “no evidence whatsoever of any involvement in violent crime.” The letter goes on to explain that I have the option of viewing my record once, without a camera or lawyer present, before it is purged permanently. So what was I up to? During this time, i worked as Deputy Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. I helped pass the Maryland Healthy Air Act, which is reducing dangerous pollution from Maryland’s coal-fired power plants. I served as a youth delegate to the United Nations. I organized a coalition of faith leaders, students, nurses, doctors, and every day citizens to clean up Maryland’s air and protect her shores from sea level rise and global warming. I have never been arrested. I have no police record. I am standing with the A.C.L.U. of Maryland to defend my rights. I deserve to know why I was being monitored and what is in my file. And we need legislation passed so that this type of infringement of privacy will not happen again. But I won’t be intimidated. Like so many young people, I understand that global warming will have severe impacts on my future, and we are working together to address this problem. I am proud of the action of my peers, and we should be supported, not suspected. This gives us all more cause to defend our rights and our future by voting this November 4th for candidates that will help fight global warming and will honor the importance of civic engagement, rather than fear it.

There’s more background on the case in this Washington Post item that I just found.