Citizens' Climate Lobby

CCL’s June 2022 Lobby Training #2: Primary & Supporting Asks

Join CCL's Vice President of Government Affairs Dr. Danny Richter for a training that will review the updates and context for CCL's June 2022 Primary and Supporting Asks as well as guidance for lobby teams as they plan their online meetings. This is a recommended training for any CCL volunteer planning on being a part of their group's June 2022 Lobby Meeting (as well as June Lobby Training #1: CCL's Legislative Plan).

Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(2:45) Member of Congress Segments
(9:34) June 2022 Primary Asks
(23:22) June 2022 Supporting Asks
(30:43) Final Notes On This Moment
Q&A Discussion (https://vimeo.com/714309341)

Presentation Slides: http://cclusa.org/june-asks-slides  
Reviewing Primary & Supporting Asks Training Page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/185 

CCR 72 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Climate Change

In today’s show we hear from Conservatives who are concerned about climate change. Not only are they concerned, they are engaged in meaningful action. Hannah Rogers, Trevor Jones, and Kaleb Christensen are three young people with ties to the State of Utah who are part of a growing movement in that State. They are each members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Fusing faith, hope, love for humanity and all nature, these young Conservative Christians are finding their places in the climate movement. 

People of faith play a vital role in talking about the causes and impacts of climate change. They also are an essential part of the growing group of citizens and leaders stepping up to propose and pursue solutions. Our guests tell us about their faith and what motivates them to pursue Conservative climate solutions. They also reveal what they bring to the climate movement and why it is essential that they have a seat at the table. 

To some they may seem like outliers, Conservatives concerned about climate change. According to a recent Gallup poll of Republican and right-leaning people ages 18-29 reveal that almost two thirds of them acknowledge climate change is caused by humans. Many of these young Conservatives are concerned about this. Older Conservatives though are not on the same page. And Progressives can be dismissive of Conservatives in the climate movement. Hannah, Trevor, and Kaleb believe the LDS Church has a unique role to play in the Republican party and the Conservative movement.

The Art House

You will learn about The Cli-Fi Imaginarium. A group of climate advocates in the UK were tired of so much talk about dreadful climate impacts, and not enough conversations and resources that address actual solutions. They decided that they are over dystopia. Using some of the solutions outlined in Project Drawdown, they organize free monthly on-line workshops for anyone to come and they imagine, What if? In these Intro to Cli-Fi Workshops, they ask, What if we incorporated one of these solutions? How will the world change? How will the neighborhood change? 

Some of the topics include District Heating, Tree Intercropping, Refrigeration, Reducing food waste, Alternative Cement, Tidal energy, and solar thermal water. While attending one of the Intro to Cli-Fi Workshops, Citizens Climate Radio’s host, Peterson Toscano, was surprised to see how such wonky solutions inspired engaging creative writing. 

Anyone who attends the workshop is eligible to submit a story to the Cli-Fi Imaginarium. 

This is a storehouse of creative, inspiring, and sometimes very funny stories all envisioning a world filled with practical and highly effective climate solutions. If you need a shot of inspiration and a positive vision of our future, visit The Cli-Fi Imaginarium. 

You can hear standalone versions of The Art House at Artists and Climate Change. 

Good News Report

Our Good News Story today comes from Nate Abercrombie, Conservative Outreach Coordinator for Citizens Climate. He has good news to share with us about a recent event that brought Conservatives from all over the country to Washington, DC to talk about climate solutions. The event was a huge success. 

In other Good News, Eric Fine, the  group leader of the CCL chapter in Greater New Haven, CT told us about a new limited series podcast all about carbon pricing. We hear from Casey Pickett and Naomi Shimberg, hosts of Pricing Nature. They tell us about the show and share some of the conversations they are having. 

If you have good news you want to share on the show, or if you have an idea for the art house, email Peterson. Radio @ CitizensClimate.org. Or leave a message our NEW listener voicemail (619) 512-9646

 

Connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to episodes in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

 

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on:

• iTunes
• Spotify
• SoundCloud
• Podbean
• Stitcher Radio
• Northern Spirit Radio
• PlayerFM
• TuneIn Radio

CCL Training: Q&A About Fall 2023 Conference & Lobby Days

Are you curious about what to expect when you attend either CCL's virtual Fall Conference or Lobby Days? Join CCL National Events Manager, Alison Kubicsko, to review the online conference details and Mindy Ahler, Congressional Liaisons Support to focus on CCL's lobby day procedures and questions. 

• Skip ahead to the following sections:
  (0:00) Intro & Agenda
  (2:35) June Conference Overview
  (14;06) June 13 Lobby Day Overview

Register for the Fall Conference: https://cclusa.org/fallconference 
Preparing For Lobby Day training page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/272 

CCL Training: June 2022 Lobby #1 Legislative Plan

Join CCL's Vice President of Government Affairs Dr. Danny Richter for a training that will provide up to the moment insights on the dynamics in Congress and how we can most effectively use our time in meetings to support our agenda. This is a recommended training for any CCL volunteer planning on being a part of their group's June 2022 Lobby Meeting (as well as the next week's - Lobby Training #2 - CCL's June 2022 Primary & Supporting Asks).

Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(2:48) Review Where We've Been
(8:54) Reconciliation Updates
(18:41) Currently In Congress...
(26:06) Conclusions
Q&A Discussion (https://vimeo.com/712061393)

 

Presentation Slides: https://cclusa.org/legislative-plan-slides   
CCL Training: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/459 

Jad Daley and Joel Pannell | Citizens’ Climate Lobby | May 2022 Monthly Meeting

Increasing the number of trees is an effective means to store carbon that also has bipartisan support. But the preservation and planting of trees isn’t just a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It’s also a way to foster environmental justice by improving the quality of life in urban areas where people of color are often marginalized. Jad Daley, President and CEO, and Joel Pannell, Vice President of Urban Forestry, will discuss American Forests’ work with tree cover in American cities, which is often determined by income and race, and the work their organization is doing to restore forest health across the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):
(0:00) Introduction & Agenda
(3:03) Jad & Joel's Presentation
(23:59) Q&A Discussion
(31:53) May Monthly Actions 

CCL's May Action Sheet: https://cclusa.org/actionsheet
May Pre-Call Video: https://vimeo.com/709196899 
America's Forests: https://www.americanforests.org/ 
Register for CCL's June 2022 Conference: https://cclusa.org/juneconference 

June 4 event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/caring-for-creation-together-a-west-virginia-interfaith-climate-conference-registration-330947431677 

Home page of CCI: https://citizensclimate.earth/

Kigali Amendment: https://www.unido.org/our-focus-safeguarding-environment-implementation-multilateral-environmental-agreements-montreal-protocol/montreal-protocol-evolves-fight-climate-change 

Lobbying 101: The Transformative Power of Citizen Advocacy

Learn about constituent advocacy, the advantages we hold as constituents in transforming our government and the policies we adopt, and hear stories from CCL volunteers around the country who demonstrate how citizens can build meaningful, long-term relationships with their congressional office. Joined by CCL leaders that share their stories of empowerment, Brett Cease, CCL's Education & Engagement Senior Director will be hosting Part I in the “Working With Congress” training series, designed to empower you - an important member of our volunteer network - to be ready for our annual June lobby meetings.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):

(0:00) Intro & Agenda
(2:08) Marshall Saunders's Vision & Reclaiming Our Democracy
(8:07) The Role of Citizen Lobbying 
(18:43) Expanding Our Comfort Zones
(23:45) Building Relationships
(31:34) Sharing Our Stories

Presentation Slides: http://cclusa.org/transformative-power

CCL Training on Lobbying 101: https://community.citizensclimate.org/topics/working-with-congress/lobbying-101 

Our June Lobby Day Training Schedule: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/272

CCL Training: Introduction to the Anti-Racism & Allyship Guide

CCL strives to provide a welcoming space for people from all backgrounds and cultures. Join Karina Ramirez, CCL's Diversity and Inclusion Director, for an introduction to CCL's anti-racism and allyship guide. This resource guide has been written by staff and volunteers to provide resources for those driven to dive more deeply into understanding the importance of anti-racism work including highlighting portions of our ongoing work regarding Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) and why it is integral to our work as climate advocates. 

Skip ahead to the following section(s):

• (0:00) Intro & Agenda
• (2:16) Disclaimer & Community Agreements
• (3:52) About the Guide
• (7:53) Four Types of Racism
• (12:52) On Being An Ally & Understanding White Privilege
• (25:13) Reflection & After Work

Presentation Slides: https://cclusa.org/antiracism-ally-slides

Anti-Racism & Allyship Guide: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/488 

Big Tent Climate Talks with Environmental Voter Project

 

Find out more about what the Environmental Voter Project is up to this year for the midterms and how CCL volunteers can plug in! Our April Big Tent Climate Talks episode features a conversation with Brett Cease, CCL's Education & Engagement Senior Director and Shannon Seigal, Organizing Director with Environmental Voter Project! Join us for a new, engaging, quarterly conversation that spotlights leaders in the climate community outside of CCL doing important work in building coalitions around effective climate solutions. At CCL, we know solving climate change requires a variety of policies and perspectives. That's why we do this work under a big tent that includes folks from the right, the left, and every spot in between. In our Big Tent Climate Talks, we'll talk to a wide variety of climate leaders outside of CCL to learn more about how we can all work better together.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):

(0:00) Introductions

(2:55) EVP's background and focus
(5:19) EVP's areas of focus in 2022
(7:32) How Shannon got involved in the climate movement

(10:12) How can groups get trained up by EVP for phone banking?

(13:47) using CCL's Environmental Voter Project handout

(16:24) EVP's assessment of the current moment in climate policymaking

(19:33) Inspirational stories of CCL's involvement

(21:58) Q&A From Audience

 

Helpful links:

Upcoming Events: environmentalvoter.org/events   

Get Involved with EVP: https://www.environmentalvoter.org/get-involved 
2021 Impact Report: https://www.environmentalvoter.org/sites/default/files/documents/2021-impact-report.pdf

CCL's recent blog on EVP: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/blog/democracy/elections-provide-opportunity-to-make-climate-change-a-priority

Join CCL: https://citizensclimatelobby.org 
Register For Next Quarter’s Big Tent Climate Talk Episode: https://cclusa.org/bigtent 

 

CCR 71 Pets, African Wildlife, and Climate Change

In this episode you will hear a lively conversation between our host, Peterson Toscano, and four South African veterinarians. Like many climate advocates, Peterson couldn’t help himself, and asked Kristine and Roy Page along with their friends and fellow veterinarians Adrian and Ashleigh Tordiffe about climate change in South Africa and how it is affecting household pets and wild animals. 

The conversation is rich, informed, and at times hilarious. You will learn about pets in South Africa, and about the many ways animal lovers everywhere can protect their pets from extreme heat, extreme cold, and vector-born illness spread by fleas and ticks. You will hear about the North American ticks that strikes fear in the hearts of all meat-loving South Africans.  

Adrian is an academic and researches wildlife populations, and tells us about the adorable and very loud bush baby (also known as galago.) It is one of the very few nocturnal primate, and has two completely diets. In the rainy season it eats fruits and insects, and in the dry month it consumes plant gums produced by certain trees. Twice a year it has to completely transform its digestion system to accommodate its diet. 

In addition to demonstrating the signature shrieking sounds the bush baby makes from high up in the trees, Adrian also tells us about how extreme heat and extended drought is making life harder for these amazing creatures. 

Join Peterson for a beautiful summer day braai, on the back stoop of Roy and Kristine’s home, as their many dogs roam around and the children play nearby. Joining the four veterinarians is Glen Retief, Peterson’s husband, who grew up among wildlife in South Africa’s Kruger National Park. 

The Art House

Krista Hiser is back with another installment of The Ultimate Cli-Fi Book Club. Every few months Krista Hiser shares with us her thoughts about climate-themed literature. This episode Krista looks at the 2010 satirical novel Solar by Ian McEwan. 

Michael Beard is a Nobel prize–winning physicist whose best work is behind him. Trading on his reputation, he speaks for enormous fees, lends his name to the letterheads of renowned scientific institutions, and half-heartedly heads a government-backed initiative tackling global warming. While he coasts along in his professional life, Michael’s personal life is another matter entirely. His fifth marriage is crumbling under the weight of his infidelities. But this time the tables are turned: His wife is having an affair, and Michael realizes he is still in love with her.

When Michael’s personal and professional lives begin to intersect in unexpected ways, an opportunity presents itself in the guise of an invitation to travel to New Mexico. Here is a chance for him to extricate himself from his marital problems, reinvigorate his career, and very possibly save the world from environmental disaster. Can a man who has made a mess of his life clean up the messes of humanity?  (Goodreads)

Krista is also responding to a hard-hitting research paper Through the Eye of a Needle: An Eco-Heterodox Perspective on the Renewable Energy Transition by Megan K. Seibert and William E. Rees. 

Abstract: This analysis makes clear that the pat notion of “affordable clean energy” views the world through a narrow keyhole that is blind to innumerable economic, ecological, and social costs. These undesirable “externalities” can no longer be ignored. To achieve sustainability and salvage civilization, society must embark on a planned, cooperative descent from an extreme state of overshoot in just a decade or two. While it might be easier for the proverbial camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for global society to succeed in this endeavor, history is replete with stellar achievements that have arisen only from a dogged pursuit of the seemingly impossible

This research reveals just how tricky it is to take on climate change. It is a wicked problem with many moving parts we often do not want to see or acknowledge, but Krista encourages us to see the problems in their fullness so we respond with significant and effective solutions. 

Dr. Krista Hiser is Sustainability Curriculum Coordinator for the University of Hawaii Office of Sustainability, where she facilitates change management, interdisciplinary dialogue, and professional development opportunities for faculty to design, update and transform courses to integrate sustainability across the curriculum. She serves on the advisory board for the Sustainability Curriculum Consortium (SCC) and on the Steering Committee for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

You can read a written version of Krista’s essay at The Ultimate Cli-Fi Book Club for Sustainability in Higher Education.

You can hear standalone versions of The Art House at Artists and Climate Change. 

Good News Report

Our good news report comes from State College, PA, the home of Penn State University.  

CCL volunteer Dick Jones and the State College CCL chapter is pleased to report that State College Bureau Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on congress to pass Energy and Innovation Act. It is one of over 100 city councils to pass such a resolution including Allentown, Bethlehem, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and York, PA.  

 

CCL Training: IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Updates

Join CCL Research Coordinator Dana Nuccitelli for a training that will discuss all three volumes of the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of its Sixth Assessment Report. The report summarizes the latest scientific research on climate change adaptation and vulnerabilities and highlights the urgency of climate change impacts. Scientific assessment warns that missing Paris targets would harm human health and biodiversity worldwide, and risk irreversible losses sooner than previously thought. But the IPCC report does make clear how important it is that Congress pass the strongest climate package possible through reconciliation this year, ideally including a price on carbon.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):

• (0:00) Intro & Overview
• (3:07) Working Group I: Causes
• (12:22) Working Group II: Impacts
• (23:35) Working Group III: Solutions
• (37:06) Taking Action

Presentation Slides: http://cclusa.org/2022-ipcc-slides  
CCL Community page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/260 
IPCC Reports: https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/ 
Dana's Yale Program on Climate Communication Blog: https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2022/04/new-ipcc-report-only-political-will-stands-in-way-of-meeting-the-paris-targets/  
Dana's CCL Blog: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/blog/policy/the-latest-ipcc-report-has-a-lot-to-say-about-carbon-fee-and-dividend/