Citizens' Climate Lobby

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

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.  

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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

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

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

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

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 & Agenda(4:05) Carbon Pricing(10:06) Clean Energy Permitting Reform(20:40) Building Electrification & Efficiency(28:27) Healthy Forests(37:43) Putting It All Together

Presentation Slides: https://cclusa.org/policy-agenda-cvt  CCL Community Training Page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/topics/ccl-policy-agenda

In this webinar, CCL Braver Angels Action Team co-chairs, Beth Malow and Bruce Morlan, along with Leadership Team member Arlene JM Grant, will highlight a national organization, Braver Angels, that is dedicated to healing our political divisions. The training will review how Braver Angels’ techniques and skills can serve our organization’s mission of bipartisan solutions to climate change. A research article summarizing one of the Braver Angels/Citizens' Climate Lobby workshops will be highlighted and participants will be provided with actionable opportunities for their local groups. 

Join Braver Angels here:  https://braverangels.org/ 

Join the CCL Braver Angels Action Team here:  http://cclusa.org/BAactionteam  Register for our next BA/CCL Depolarizing Within Workshop on Sunday afternoon, January 29, 2023 here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/braver-angels-depolarizing-within-communications-workshop-tickets-465366051387 

Read the Research Article on our Bridging the Divide on Climate Solutions workshop here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joclim.2022.100177 

Watch the Connecting During Lobbying Meetings Video here: https://vimeo.com/771224806

Join CCI Executive Director Joe Robertson and fellow staff for an update on what took place in Egypt and Citizens' Climate International's role in the ongoing negotiations.

Join CCL Research Coordinator Jonathan Marshall for an advanced training about Building Electrification & Efficiency (as part of CCL's policy agenda) reviews the need to electrify and weatherize American buildings, why it’s important and answers frequently asked questions on the topic. Please also see our Introductory Training on this topic.

Skip ahead to the following section(s):(0:00) Intro & Agenda(3:44) What does “Building Electrification and Efficiency” (BE&E) mean?(5:22) Why is it important for climate policy?(13:15) How can it save building owners money?(20:02) What policies support BE&E?(25:11) How will CCL engage?

Presentation Slides: http://cclusa.org/advanced-electricity-slides CCL's Policy Agenda: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/495 Introductory Training: http://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/514