Citizens' Climate Lobby

The Levers of Political Will

From our interactions with members of Congress, and from interviews with people who study Congress, we have developed a deep understanding of what creates political will and what does not. 

Here’s why that’s important: We only ask CCL volunteers to do things that we know will have a very good chance of generating political will. Specifically, we take actions that we know will be successful in having members of Congress move in the direction of our legislation.

These are the five core activities that all Citizens’ Climate Lobby chapters leverage to bring citizens into the political process and to ensure their contribution is constructive and makes more good possible. We call these activities the “levers of political will.”

Citizens Climate Radio Ep 4 Dr. Katharine Hayhoe and Communication Myths

Want to be a better climate change communicator? Then listen to this episode! Learn essential lessons about connecting with others about climate change as host, inspired by Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Peterson Toscano leads you through an exercise that connects climate change to passions and people in your life.  

Main Section

She is not only an internationally renowned climate scientist, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is a brilliant climate change communicator. Peterson revisits Dr. Hayhoe’s excellent keynote address from the 2015 Citizens’ Climate International Conference. In it Dr. Heyhoe busts two myths that trip up scientists and climate advocates in our quest to connect with others. Jumping off from Dr. Hayhoe’s talk, Peterson leads listeners through a simple exercise that will help you in your own climate communication. As an added plus, you will hear a little bit about how a changing climate affects pets. 

Art House

This month we get musical as we meet singer/songwriter Michael Levy and hear some of his climate-themed music. Michael musically explores a range of emotions, from silly to serious, that he feels climate advocates need to address in order to avoid burnout. As an environmentalist, he has been stretched by the vastness of climate change. This has opened him up to consider large scale solutions. He also reveals he is a big fan of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.  

Citizens' Climate Puzzler

People had a lot to say about last month’s puzzler and suggested many ways to respond to Simon who doesn’t want to act on climate while China (or the USA) is such a big polluter. You will hear three different answers that explore ethics, economics, and spilt milk. Even a trained therapist weighs in to consider Simon’s psychological needs. 

Here is our new puzzler question:

You are at an event with folks concerned about climate change and the environment. There you meet someone, let’s call her Margaret. You tell Margaret about your work as a volunteer lobbyist. You explain how you connect with lawmakers and offer climate solutions with the goal to change policy. In response Margaret rolls her eyes. She let’s out a big sigh and says, “Oh, please, those bozos can’t even rename a post office without shutting down the government. There is no way they are going to get anywhere with something as big and bold as climate policy. Why even bother?

 

Get back to Peterson by October 15th,  2016. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org  You can also text  leave a voicemail at 570.483.8194. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.) He will then share the best answers in our next episode which airs October 24th, 2016.

Help Spread the Word!

Citizens’ Climate Radio is available on podbean, iTunes, and Stitcher Radio. Please rate and review. If you like what you hear, please share the show with your friends. Citizens’ Climate Radio is a project of Citizens’ Climate Education. 

Dig Deeper

• Watch the complete 2015 keynote address by Dr. Katharine Hayhoe and check out all her entertaining and informative slides.
• Listen to Dr. Hayhoe’s speech through our podcast.
• Learn more about Michael Levy’s upcoming album, Great Big Love, and hear more about his story. 

Congressman Bob Inglis | Citizens' Climate Lobby | September 2016 Monthly Speaker

As we gear up to introduce and pass legislation, this is good time to look at the nuts and bolts of the legislative process, and who better to guide us than former Republican Congressman Bob Inglis. Inglis, who introduced his own carbon tax bill in 2009, left Congress in 2011 and founded RepublicEn, which is working to build support among conservatives for a market-based solution to climate change.

Citizens Climate Radio Ep 3 Cloud of Witnesses

Climate Change—what’s faith got to do with it? To dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and respond to a rapidly changing planet, people of faith and religious leaders play essential roles. Citizens’ Climate Radio host, Peterson Toscano, introduces you to two people of faith who are active climate advocates.

Main Section

Rachel Lamb, an American, is the national organizer and spokesperson with Young Evangelicals for Climate Action. David Michael Terungwa, a Catholic from Nigeria, is a leader in the African GREEN Movement and Africa Regional Coordinator for Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Both Rachel and David Michael stand as witnesses to their communities about the dangers of climate change and the need to act. 

The Art House

In the Art House we conduct an audio brain experiment. What will they be saying about us in the future? We take a trip to the future to look back at the present day about the role that Christian missionaries can take as witnesses to their churches at home about how climate change affects the people in the countries where they serve. 

Citizens' Climate Puzzler

Also, we review listeners'  answers to the Citizens’ Climate Puzzler and introduce a new puzzler. Citizens Climate Puzzler. Check it out and and send us your best answer.

You are talking to someone who you think could be an effective climate advocate. This may be a lawmaker, a faith leader, or a friend. After sharing your passion and what you are doing to address climate change, the person you are talking to, let’s call him Simon, shrugs and replies.

What difference does it make if we do something in our country when it’s China that’s doing most of the polluting?  Now Simon’s answer sounds to me like a very American reaction. If Simon does not live in the USA, he might instead ask: Why on earth should we  do anything when the USA has done much of the polluting and is doing so little to act? 

In addition to his actual question—why should my country do something when others do not--what do you hear in Simon’s words?  What emotions, fears and beliefs might his question reveal? How might you answer Simon’s question while also addressing what is unsaid. 

Get back to Peterson by September 15th,  2016. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org  You can also text  leave a voicemail at 570.483.8194. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.) He will then share the best answers in our next episode which airs September 26, 2016.

Help Spread the Word!

Citizens’ Climate Radio is available on podbean, iTunes, and Stitcher Radio. Please rate and review. If you like what you hear, please share the show with your friends. Citizens’ Climate Radio is a project of Citizens’ Climate Education. 

Dig Deeper

See a Climate Reality video about David Michael Terungwa 

Learn more about Rachel Lamb and the Young Evangelicals for Climate Action.  

Justin Ford | Citizens' Climate Lobby | August 2016 Monthly Speaker

Our guests for the August 2016 monthly call were Justin Ford and Rikkia Ramsey from the Truman National Security Project.

Justin Ford is the Organizing Director of the Truman National Security Project. His responsibilities include building and maintaining a national leadership structure, overseeing advocacy and organizing tactics, and leading a comprehensive training and professional development program for Truman members and allies. Justin also serves in the Army as an airborne combat engineer.

Rikkia Ramsey is the Policy Program Coordinator for the Truman Center. Before joining the Truman Center, Rikkia was Military Legislative Correspondent for U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC), addressing constituent concerns regarding defense and foreign policy issues. She’ll talk about the Truman Center’s Operation Free, a coalition of veterans and national security experts that advocate for securing America with clean energy. It recognizes that climate change and our dependence on oil, are national security threats and fights on a local, state and federal level for strong clean energy policies.

 

Legislative Update - Steps to Passage and the State of Congress

CCL's Legislative Director Danny Richter reviews a timeline of what needs to happen before and after the introduction of Carbon Fee and Dividend and the current status of Democrats and Republicans.

Citizens Climate Radio Ep 2 Duh, We Are the Children

For those of us who want to motivate our friends to climate advocacy, we are often looking for a silver bullet—that perfect talking point that will get people on board. One of the most popular is, “We need to think about future generations. We must act on behalf of the children and the grandchildren.” In this episode we explore this climate pitch. 

Main Section

Host Peterson Toscano speaks with three women whose lives have been affected by pollution particularly in their childhood. Piper Christian is a 16 year old climate advocate from Utah who was moved by an even younger person from Malaysia she met at the Paris Climate Summit last November. Clara Fang is an ecologist and poet, who as a girl experienced extreme pollution in her homeland of China. Now living in the USA, she is seeking global solutions to climate change. Cathy Orlando a Canadian had an epiphany about climate change when she was pregnant at age 40. She brought her instincts, knowledge, and sass with her to the climate advocacy table. 

The Art House

We also hear from ecologist and poet Lilace Mellin Guignard who during our Art House section of the program asks the profound question, “How do we raise children in a time of climate change?” She answers this question with a poem. 

Puzzler

Many people wrote in with their answers to last month’s Citizens’ Climate Puzzler. Hear how people responded to Claire, who is concerned about climate change but feels there are bigger issues to address. In addition to hearing from listeners, we are joined by Joanna Huxster, PhD, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Bucknell University who does research on the public’s understanding of climate change. She shares her expert opinion on what sort of responses might be most effective. 

This month’s Puzzler

Imagine you are chatting with someone while traveling somewhere—bus, train, plane, camel—however you travel with others. You reveal that you are concerned about climate change. You say you are pursuing a variety of solutions. The person you are speaking with, let’s call him Sven, replies, 

“I could not agree more. In fact, I am doing so much to address global warming—I recycle, take shorter showers, ride my bike to work, and I have become a vegan. If we each would just do our own part, we will tackle this problem.” 

What do you think about Sven’s response? Is he correct to assume that if enough people change their individual consumption habits, we will tackle this problem? He clearly cares about addressing climate change and is putting lots of effort into cleaning up his personal lifestyle. How would answer Sven?

 

Send in your answers. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from.

Get back to Peterson by August, 15th 2016. You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org  You can also text  leave a voicemail at 570.483.8194. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.)

Citizens’ Climate Radio is available on podbean, iTunes, and Stitcher Radio. Please rate  and review. If you like what you hear, please share the show with your friends. Citizens’ Climate Radio is a project of Citizens’ Climate Education. 

Matt Anderson | Citizens' Climate Lobby | July 2016 Monthly Speaker

Our July guest was Matt Anderson, director the National Audubon Society’s Climate Initiative. In 2014, Audubon released a report, Birds and Climate Change, which found that 314 bird species — nearly half of all North American birds — are severely threatened by global warming. Prior to working at Audubon, Matthew spent two and half years as executive director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment (NRPE).

Congressman Ted Deutch speaking at the 2016 CCL Conference

Citizens' Climate Education and Citizens' Climate Lobby presented Congressman Carlos Curbelo and Ted Deutch with CCL’s first Climate Leadership Award.

In accepting the award, Rep. Deutch touched on the change in conversation that is happening around climate change in Congress because of the Climate Solutions Caucus and the key role that CCL played in creating the caucus.

Citizens Climate Radio Ep 1 Beginnings and Transformations

Welcome to the first episode of Citizens Climate Radio. In this podcast we highlight people’s stories, 

we celebrate your successes, and together we share strategies for talking about climate change. 

Our theme this month is Beginnings and Transformations. We bring you an intimate, moving, and at times hilarious conversation with Marshall Saunders, founder of Citizens Climate Lobby, and Mark Reynolds, the executive director. They reveal their origin stories. Highly ambitions and successful businessmen, they seemed unlikely candidates to head up an organization that puts relationship-building and climate advocacy at its heart. 

We also go to the Art House, a section in the show where we highlight creative ways to talk about climate issues. Show host, Peterson Toscano, shares a comic monologue with five of his wackiest characters. Together they reveal the Five Stages of Hot Climate Action! 

Also, hear about our monthly Citizens Climate Puzzler. Check out this month's puzzler and send us your best answer!

You are at a party, perhaps a graduation party or something for work or it really doesn’t matter. You are chit-chatting, and you let drop that you are concerned about climate change. You say you are involved in a group that is pursuing solutions. The person you are chatting with, let’s call her Claire, smiles and says, “Well, I too am concerned about climate change, but really I think there are much more pressing issues that we need to address.” 

How might you respond in a way that opens up the conversation? See if you can offer an answer that affirms Claire while moving her closer to climate change advocacy.  

Get back to Peterson by July 15,  2016. You can email your answers to radio@citizensclimate.org or call  and leave a voicemail at 570.483.8194.  Peterson will read/listen and respond to all of your messages. He will then share the best answers in our next episode which airs July 25, 2016.

 

Citizens Climate Radio is a monthly podcast and a project of Citizens Climate Education. Please subscribe to the Citizens Climate Lobby iTunes channel or wherever you listen to audio programs, and please share, rate, and review.