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Official podcast for climate heroes from Citizens' Climate Lobby. We're creating the political will for a livable world.
Episodes
Friday Mar 24, 2023
Friday Mar 24, 2023
In this month’s episode of Citizens’ Climate Radio, Peterson Toscano and Ruth Abraham feature four high school students who reveal the secret world of teenage lobbying. Brionna Dulay, Saachi Sharma, Cole Cochrane, and Anna Xies all volunteer for Citizens’ Climate Lobby. We asked them, Are lobbyists evil?
Brionna Dulay is a high school senior in Washington State, who discovered a passion for climate advocacy after she was an eyewitness to severe flooding in her community. As a Punjabi-American, Brionna recognized the lack of her community’s representation in climate advocacy and climate change's disproportionate effects on minority communities. This has pushed Brionna to speak to US senators and representatives along with local, regional, and state members of congress.
Saachi Sharma, also from Washington State, has been involved with Citizens’ Climate Lobby since middle school, and she is now a high school junior. She believes that the work done by today's youth helps make the world a better place, and says, “There's really no age to when you can start being more climate-conscious”.
Cole Cochrane started his advocacy at age 11 as a volunteer on campaigns for local candidates. Cole is now a senior in high school and has co-founded a nonprofit organization called Maine Youth Action. He serves as the Policy Director. Maine Youth Action aims to empower youth in politics and have their voice heard in critical areas like climate action.
Anna Xies lived in China till she was 11 and is now a senior in high school in Washington State. Anna is the statewide leader of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Youth and previously worked on team recruitment. Anna was struck by the positive feedback from new team members, who told her that CCL has changed their lives and given them more confidence in their public speaking and in the future of our plant.
So are lobbyists evil? Anna says, “I don't think lobbying is inherently evil. I think when you get a lot of money involved with it, it gets a little bit corrupt at times”. Cole looks at lobbying as hands-on advocacy, he says protesting is “the mobilization of the masses and that's how you get the attention of the legislators, but who's going to carry that attention when the rallies and those protests start fading away?”.
We decided to call a professional lobbyist to find out more.
Ben Pendergrass has worked in Washington for over 14 years as a Congressional staff and a government relations professional. He is CCL’s Vice President of Government Affairs and works to advance the policy goals of CCL in Congress. Ben gave us the inside scoop on professional lobbying and had some advice for youth lobbyists. Ben suggests that “being informed, being polite, and really connecting the issues back to the state or district is always very important.”
Dig Deeper
- Get involved with Citizens Climate Lobby Youth
- Check out the work Cole and many others are doing at Maine Youth Action
- Learn about the story of the youth climate movement in the book Movement Makers: How Young Activists Upended the Politics of Climate Change
- A Baby Boomer and a Gen Zer Walk Into a Climate Action Meeting, what happens next?
Good News Story
CCR’s very own intern, Lila Powell, tells us about two young climate advocates' successes in sustainability. Franziska Trautmann and Max Steitz were students at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. While sipping wine in their backyard, Franziska and Max pondered the future of the glass bottle it came in, since NOLA doesn’t have a government-funded glass recycling program. Tune in to hear how they turned that into a happy ending for their whole community!
NEW! Listener Survey
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Check out the transcript over on our show page cclusa.org/radio
Saturday Mar 11, 2023
Saturday Mar 11, 2023
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
Friday Mar 03, 2023
Friday Mar 03, 2023
Join CCL Research Coordinator Dana Nuccitelli for a training that reviews the technologies and incentives available to make our homes more electric and efficient, and the resources available from CCL to educate your friends and families and communities about these opportunities.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro and agenda
(3:15) Why go electric?
(5:15) The IRA and Your Home Electrification Bank Account
(13:07) Heat pump space heating and water heating
(19:06) Induction stoves
(22:38) Home weatherization
(26:54) Electric vehicles
(35:22) Rooftop solar and batteries
(38:49) EPA's Climate Pollution Reduction Grants
Presentation Slides: https://cclusa.org/ira-homeowner-slides
Training Page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/528
Rewiring America IRA Calculator: https://cclusa.org/ira-calc
Friday Feb 24, 2023
Friday Feb 24, 2023
Join CCLers from around the country who will share their experiences in being involved with state and local campaigns to support clean energy permitting and siting projects. We'll discuss why local permitting of clean energy projects is critical to meet our emissions goals and help attendees become more aware of what you might encounter (+ / - ) if your team pursues something locally.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(2:32) Before You Get Started
(5:22) Why is Local Permitting Important?
(18:45) Examples of Advocacy Materials
(31:24) State and County Level Considerations
(44:07) John’s Experiences In Indiana
Presentation Slides: https://cclusa.org/local-clean-permitting
CCL Community Page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/543
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
In this month’s episode of Citizens’ Climate Radio, we feature two women so compelled by their experiences in the wilderness, they published books about their experiences.
Lilace Melin Guinard, is a poet and non-fiction writer. CCR host Peterson Toscano walks alongside Guinard in northern Pennsylvania’s Hill Creek State Park as the two discuss the unique experiences that women face alone in nature. As a young woman who was fed up by non-communicative boyfriends, Guinard sought out solace in wild spaces and places. Backpacking and solo-trips equipped her with autonomy and released her from the fear of the outdoors she was taught while growing up in suburbia in the 1980s.
In her memoir, When Everything Beyond the Walls Is Wild: Being a Woman Outdoors in America, Guinard explores the challenges and rewards of exploring wilderness alone. She writes to tell the stories of a regular person empowered by facing the risks of enjoying nature alone. This memoir provides accounts of her experiences alone, often accompanied by her dog, in remote wilderness.
She reflects on the ways culture socializes women to find safety indoors while overlooking the dangers women and girls can encounter in their own homes. She emphasizes that these cultural messages shape women as they participate in outdoor recreation. Guinard who has been a professor of creative writing, women’s studies and outdoor recreation leadership draws from her expansive knowledge of literature and encourages previously marginalized members of society to take advantage of the beauty of nature and the great outdoors.
Dig Deeper
- Women Outdoors: a non-profit organization, dedicated to building a network for women curious about nature
- 10 outdoor women's organizations you should know (exploreorigin.com)
- The Case for Evidence-Based Outdoor Recreation Interventions for Girls: Helping Girls “Find Their Voice” in the Outdoors (pdf) Empirical evidence of the benefits of outdoor recreation on adolescent girls
“I’m rooting for us but i’m also rooting for the rest of nature” - Hila Ratzabi
We spotlight poet, writer, and editor Hila Ratzabi. In her recent book There are Still Woods Ratzabi writes both for herself as well as others who need to process the strong emotions around climate change. Her advice? Recognize there are ways to get involved. Beyond political actions she recognizes the importance of cultivating our creative sides.
Raised in the borough of Queens in New York City, Ratzabi has always written poetry to make sense of the world around her. Communion with nature has been a personal aspiration of hers since she was a young girl, and it has been a running motif in her body of work. However, it took living through Hurricane Sandy to shift her focus to the relationship between humans and climate change.
In this episode she reads and breaks down a selection from her book. In Willapa Bay Ratzabi recollects her time at an artist residency in the Western most point in Washington State, a space where she was able to have a spiritual connection with nature. With her senses heightened, she experienced captured the image of the tilted moon and the sounds of the wind blowing through the seagrass. Ratzabi practices gratitude for being a part of nature while simultaneously fretting over grasping onto Mothers Earth’s fleeting beauty as it slips away due to ongoing and impending threats of climate change.
Resilience Corner
Tamara Staton, CCL’s Education and Resilience Coordinator shares the fifth and final step to building resilience: Repeat
Get more tips and resources by visiting The Resiliency Hub.
Tamara wants you to remember, “You are strong, you are resilient, and you can make things happen.”
Transcript
Click here to view a full transcript of this episode.
NEW! Listener Survey
We want to hear your feedback about this episode. After you listen, feel free to fill in this short survey. Your feedback will help us as we make new decisions about the content, guests, and style of the show. You can fill it out anonymously and answer whichever questions you like.
You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on:
Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.
Friday Feb 17, 2023
Friday Feb 17, 2023
Join CCL's Action and Endorsement Coordinator Sabrina Butcher for a training that provides some ideas to start the process of identifying and recruiting allies in our communities. Some of the best tools for convincing friends their voices make a difference and walks us through how to start inventorying your group and potential allies who can support CCL's efforts at the national level.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(2:40) Why Care About Grasstops?
(6:10) Focusing Your Outreach
(15:00) Important Resources
(20:40) Lessons From The Hill
(28:11) Putting It All Together
Presentation Slides: http://cclusa.org/focusing-grasstops
Training Page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/273
Friday Feb 17, 2023
Friday Feb 17, 2023
Join CCL staff and volunteer leaders for a training that will unveil the updated Film Screening Guide resource and walk through how CCL chapters have used screenings to attract their community for discussions on climate and clean energy solutions.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(4:46) Setting up the Venue & Guests
(8:55) Asian Pacific Action Team Example
(12:34) Social Time, Actions, & Sharing Your Success!
(16:39) CCL Michigan Chapter Experience
(23:25) Fundraising Options
(28:45) Wild & Scenic Film Festival
Training Page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/277
Film Screening Resource: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/307
Presentation Slides: https://cclusa.org/film-screening-slides
Saturday Feb 11, 2023
Saturday Feb 11, 2023
In the realm of climate communication, social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram loom large as a means to reach people, especially younger people who are most concerned about the world they will inherit in the future. Joining this month's meeting is Doria Brown, a social media influencer known as The Earth Stewardess on TikTok (72,000 followers) and Instagram (22,500 followers). Doria is an environmental scientist and the youngest municipal energy manager in New Hampshire, working for the City of Nashua. Her social media posts focus on energy science, sustainability, and science communication. Doria will speak with us about how she reaches a wide audience with her short, creative videos.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
- (0:00) Welcome & Opening
- (1:46) Doria and Ashley: Social Media & Climate Advocacy
- (15:10) Q&A Discussion
- (27:00) CCL February Actions Overview
- (31:03) Highlights from Citizens' Climate International
- (38:30) June Conference Registration Details
February's Pre-Call video: https://vimeo.com/797509465
February Action Sheet: https://cclusa.org/actionsheet
Register for the conference here: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/climate-change-conferences/summer/
Follow Doria at https://www.instagram.com/theearthstewardess https://www.tiktok.com/ @earthstewardess1747
Friday Feb 03, 2023
Friday Feb 03, 2023
Ahead of CCL's March 28-29 Conservative Conference (https://citizensclimatelobby.org/climate-change-conferences/conservative/) join Conservative Outreach Director Andrew Eyerly for a training that will provide ideas and resources for all members of CCL to recruit conservatives. Regardless of your political affiliation, the ideas in the training to engage with conservatives concerned about climate change that also may be interested in joining a supportive community in Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(2:44) Background
(9:11) Who To Reach Out To
(15:34) Generating Conservative Interest
(26:14) Having A Conversation
(35:51) Putting It All Together
Presentation Slides: https://cclusa.org/growing-conservative-membership
Training Page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/364
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
Join CCL's Research Coordinator Dana Nuccitelli for a training that will explore how Citizens’ Climate advocates for an array of policies, including carbon pricing, that are effective in reducing net emissions and building bridges both in Congress and in our communities. Citizens’ Climate’s mission is to create the political will for a livable world, and we won’t stop working until we have a healthy and stable climate.
Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Our Policy Agenda
(2:09) Carbon Pricing
(9:24) Clean Energy Permitting Reform
(21:29) Building Electrification & Efficiency
(27:29) Healthy Forests
Presentation Slides: https://cclusa.org/policy-agenda-cvt
CCL Community Training Page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/topics/ccl-policy-agenda