Citizens' Climate Lobby

Ben Pendergrass | October 2023 Monthly Speaker | CCL VP of Gov’t Affairs

Ben is the head of the CCL government relations team in Washington D.C. and in his role, he works to the advance the policy goals of CCL in Congress. Ben has worked for over 20 years in Washington both as Congressional staff and as a government relations professional. For several years, Ben served on the legislative staff of Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM). Most recently, he was Senior Vice President, Policy and Legislative Affairs for a national trade association. Ben has worked in a wide range of policy areas including taxes, natural resources, agriculture and national security. He has successfully advanced standalone legislation as well as provisions in annual appropriations bills, tax extender legislation, and farm bills. He has also worked extensively with federal agencies and worked on numerous federal regulations.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Updates
(6:33) Volunteer Forums Q&A w/ Debbie Chang
(12:34) October CCL Actions
(16:06) Ben Pendergrass Speaker
(23:44) Q&A Discussion
(42:49) Conclusion & Wrap-up 

October Action Sheet: https://cclusa.org/actionsheet 
Preparing for Lobby Day Training: https://cclusa.org/preparing-for-lobby-day 
Pre-Call Video: https://vimeo.com/873841799 

Ramona Liberoff | Citizens’ Climate Lobby | August 2023 Monthly Call

Ramona Liberoff is the Executive Director of PACE (Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy).  Her role is to manage the stakeholders within PACE, who include leading corporates, governments, academics and innovators, to achieve the goal of doubling circularity. Prior to joining WRI, Ramona worked at the intersection of global climate, innovation, and finance, at Roots of Impact, as the CEO of SPRING Accelerator, and as COO of the Innogy Innovation Hub, after a career of leading innovation for multinationals such as Unilever and Pepsico.  She has founded several innovative businesses including circular transport and energy, and funded more than twenty, as well as mentoring several hundred impact start-ups.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(2:45) Ramona's Presentation
(13:18) Q&A Discussion
(25:13) Updates from Citizens' Climate International
(37:41) August Actions & National Updates

Helpful links:
Action Sheet: https://cclusa.org/actionsheet 
August Pre-Call video: https://vimeo.com/853796120 
August Action: https://cclusa.org/action 
PACE Circular: https://pacecircular.org/ 

Sarahia Benn | Citizens’ Climate Lobby | July 2023 Monthly Speaker

Sarahia Benn is a dedicated advocate for Black, Brown, Marginalized, and veterans affairs, serving as Executive Director of Policy Foundation of Maryland. She also holds the position of Voices Maryland Executive Legislative Director, playing a crucial role in advancing the interests of underserved and underrepresented communities. She is also the President of Association of Prevention of Sickle Cell (APSCA) which is one of Maryland’s oldest nonprofits advocating for medical justice and equity. With extensive experience and expertise in policy development and advisory, Sarahia is a prominent environmentalist contributing to the drafting and advising of local, state, and national policies in multiple realms.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(2:53) Sarahia Benn's Presentation (Slides: https://community.citizensclimate.org/content/resources/CCEJ-July-2023.pptx)
(22:33) Q&A w/ Sarahia
(28:18) Conference Review & July Actions

More about Sarahia's work: https://www.rebuildmdcoalition.org/ 
CCL JulyAction Sheet: https://cclusa.org/actionsheet 
Pre-call June video:  https://vimeo.com/843499202 

Bill McKibben | Citizens’ Climate Lobby | May 2023 Monthly Speaker

To have any shot at building the clean energy economy needed to turn back climate change, we will have to overcome the inflexive resistance to development of the projects and resources that will facilitate that transition. Perhaps the most trusted person to deliver that message to environmentalists is climate champion Bill McKibben, and that's exactly what he did in a recent piece for Mother Jones. He joins this month's national call days before our volunteers go to lobby on Capitol Hill. Bill is an author, educator, and environmentalist, who helped found 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign, and he recently helped found Third Act, a progressive organizing movement for people over the age of 60.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(2:00) Bill McKibben's Talk
(22:39) Q&A w/ Bill
(30:53) June Actions & Conference Preview

Bill's article in Mother Jones: https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2023/04/yimby-nimby-progressives-clean-energy-infrastructure-housing-development-wind-solar-bill-mckibben/ 
Join the June Conference: https://cclusa.org/juneconference 
CCL June Action Sheet: https://cclusa.org/actionsheet 
Pre-call June video:  https://vimeo.com/834902797 

Kajsa Hendrickson, Director at Future 500 | Citizens’ Climate Lobby | April 2023 Monthly Meeting

The work to preserve a livable world requires buy-in and participation from all sectors — civil society, government, business, science, academia. Finding common ground among these various sectors is essential to meet our climate goals, and so we talk this month with Kajsa Hendrickson, Director at Future 500, to learn more about stakeholder engagement and collaboration, particularly with the business community. Kajsa works directly to build bridges between groups at odds, or even in conflict, something she honed as a volunteer at CCL in San Diego. She currently collaborates with CCL coordinators, NGOs, and community representatives in the Southeast on a utility-stakeholder information exchange. Before joining Future 500, Kajsa worked on stakeholder engagement with the largest solar incentive program in the country, closing the gap between who has access to and who benefits from sustainable energy.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(2:42) Discussion w/ Kajsa 
(22:11) Q&A From Attendees
(30:30) Review of This Past Month
(36:17) Earth Day Tabling Kit
(39:59) June Conference Promo

Helpful links:
April Pre-call Video: https://vimeo.com/815749590 
Register for June Conference: https://cclusa.org/june-conference 
Future 500: https://www.future500.org/ 
Earth Day Tabling Kit: https://cclusa.org/earth-day-kit 
An Update From CCL's Executive Director: https://community.citizensclimate.org/bulletin/2101/376 
Donate to CCL:  https://cclusa.org/donate 

Rev Mitch Hescox | Citizens’ Climate Lobby | March 2023 Monthly Meeting

In the quest to find common ground between Republicans and Democrats on climate solutions, communities of faith play an important role in bridging the partisan divide. The Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN), whose members are focused on caring for creation, is one of the organizations working in this advocacy space. This month, we hear from Rev. Mitch Hescox, President of EEN, about their efforts to educate and mobilize evangelical Christians to manifest a stable climate and a healthy, pollution-free world. Rev. Hescox, co-author of Caring for Creation: The Evangelical Guide To Climate Change and a Healthy Environment, serves as a member of the National Association of Evangelicals’ Board of Directors and EPA’s Clean Air Act Advisory Committee.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(1:59) Rev. Hescox's Presentation
(18:27) Q&A with Rev. Hescov
(30:12) Communication Updates w/ Flannery Winchester
(33:09) March Action Updates

Pre-meeting video: https://vimeo.com/807084626 
Presentation Slides: https://community.citizensclimate.org/content/contents/training/march-2023-ccl.pptx 
 Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN): https://creationcare.org/  
CCL's March Actions: https://cclusa.org/actionsheet 
Donate to CCL: https://cclusa.org/donate 

Andrew Jones | Citizens’ Climate Lobby | January 2023 Monthly Meeting

What will it take to keep global warming below dangerous thresholds? Thanks to Andrew Jones and his team at Climate Interactive, we have answers to that question. They developed the climate simulators, C-ROADS and En-ROADS, that make it easy for users to see how combinations of various solutions will affect global temperatures. As Citizens' Climate Lobby explores legislation to address climate change, these simulators can show us how to get the biggest bang for our buck. (Spoiler alert: Pricing carbon has the greatest impact.)

In addition to being the director and co-founder of Climate Interactive, Andrew has worked at the Rocky Mountain Institute and Sustainability Institute. He currently teaches system dynamics at MIT Sloan and the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sam Daley-Harris | Citizens’ Climate Lobby | November 2022 Monthly Meeting

How do you empower citizens to effectively engage with their government to solve big problems? We talk this month to the person who literally wrote the book on this topic, Sam Daley-Harris. He's the founder and CEO of Civic Courage, and he'll share some of the successes he's seen with the organizations he's coached. One of those is Citizens' Climate Lobby. In 1980, Sam founded RESULTS, a grassroots advocacy organization working to end hunger and poverty. He is the author of Reclaiming Our Democracy: Healing the Break Between People and Government, which tells the stories of life-changing moments people had in discovering their power to make a difference. In the aftermath of the midterm elections, Sam will also explore the lessons we can apply to our climate advocacy.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(3:33) Sam's Presentation
(15:42) Q&A Discussion
(27:12) Government Affairs Update w/ Jenn Tyler
(20:44) November Actions & Updates

November Pre-Call video: https://vimeo.com/770063939 
Civic Courage: https://civiccourage.org/ 
Register for December Conference: https://cclusa.org/fallconference 
Sam's Slides: http://cclusa.org/sam-daley-harris-slides 
November Action Sheet: https://cclusa.org/actionsheet 

Hahrie Han | Citizens’ Climate Lobby | September 2022 | Monthly Meeting

Our recent big win on climate legislation owes much to the grassroots organizing that CCL and others provided. More solutions will be needed to meet our climate goals — like a price on carbon! — which means more grassroots organizing. Joining us this month is CCL Advisory Board member Hahrie Han, who specializes in the transformational process that empowers volunteers to be effective advocates. Dr. Han is a Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University and the Inaugural Director of the SNF Agora Institute, which strengthens global democracy through powerful civic engagement and informed, inclusive dialogue. She is the author of several books, her most recent being Prisms of the People: Power & Organizing in Twenty-First-Century America.

Neil Chatterjee | Citizens’ Climate Lobby | June 2022 Monthly Meeting

It isn't often we have a guest who can cover as much ground on climate and energy as Neil Chatterjee. As the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during the Trump administration, it was his job to ensure that energy was delivered, reliably and safely, across the U.S. A vocal supporter of carbon pricing, he took a bipartisan approach to forming energy policy. On this month's call, Neil will share his climate story, why he supports carbon pricing and how we can prepare the grid for the transition to clean energy.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(1:47) Neil's Talk
(28:14) Earth Emergency
(33:02) June Actions & Conference

June’s Pre-Call video: https://vimeo.com/719233771  
More About Neil: https://twitter.com/FERChatterjee 
June Action Sheet: https://cclusa.org/actionsheet 
Earth Emergency: https://feedbackloopsclimate.com/ 
June 2022 Conference: https://cclusa.org/juneconference