Weekly Briefing: Take Action & Email Congress Today With Our Online Tool

May 19, 2021

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 2307) continues to gain cosponsors at an amazing pace, picking up 15 in just the past week for a total of 55. That’s nearly double the number of original cosponsors in just six weeks! 

As more House members become cosponsors, congressional leadership will see that carbon pricing has wide support and should be included in climate legislation currently under consideration.

To help with the push for support on H.R. 2307, we’re asking you to email members of Congress today. If your member of Congress is already a cosponsor, you can thank them for signing on. If they aren’t yet a cosponsor, you can ask them to support the bill. 

Our online tool makes it super easy — just input your address, and it will look up your representative and generate a sample message that you can customize and send with a few clicks.

Email Congress Now!

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In other news:

Jobs at CCL: Citizens’ Climate Lobby is now accepting applications to fill three positions: Director of Government Affairs, Conservative Outreach Coordinator, and Action and Endorsement Coordinator.

Catholic Climate Conference: About one third of U.S. senators and representatives are Catholic, and so activating Catholics who are concerned about climate change can have a powerful impact on Congress. Over the weekend, CCL held a virtual conference aimed at helping Catholics become advocates for a price on carbon. CCL President Madeleine Para, shown above with Bishop John Stowe, told attendees, "We think you can play a role in reaching their hearts and minds as fellow Catholics." Participants also heard from former Congressman Francis Rooney, a Vatican representative under President George W. Bush, who said a carbon tax is "the most logical answer to pricing carbon and removing the most hostile fuels, like coal, from the marketplace."  Click here for the full video playlist.

The National Catholic Reporter covered the conference in an excellent story — “Bishops say carbon tax is an 'eminently doable' climate solution” — posted on their EarthBeat platform.
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Take Action This Week:

If you have a little time: Share our Facebook post about emailing Congress to get more cosponsors for the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. This could encourage some of your friends to message their representatives, too.

If you have more time: Join our webinar on May 25 with three-time Emmy Award-winning meteorologist David Yeomans, who will discuss educating viewers about climate change and the great Texas blackout. After the webinar, ask your local TV meteorologists to discuss climate change when covering extreme weather events.  Learn more and add to your own calendar.

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Upcoming Trainings: 

5/20: Messaging for the Energy Innovation Act - As we communicate with lawmakers and others about the Energy Innovation Act, consistent and clear messages are important. CCL Marketing Director Lesley Beatty reviews key talking points and resources to help. Join us! 

5/27: Big Tent Climate Talks, Hannon Armstrong - In this month’s conversation within the coalition of people working on climate change, CCL’s Sara Wanous talks with Gil Jenkins, vice president of communications and public affairs for Hannon Armstrong, a leading investor in climate change solutions. Join us! 

5/27: Lobbying 401: Leading a Lobby Team - Ready to step up and lead a lobby meeting? This session will cover how to assign team roles, coordinate practice times and how to handle other special situations. Join us! 

Need training on the basics? Catch our next session of Core Volunteer Training, made for newer volunteers:

5/25: Lobbying 201: Planning and Practicing Lobby Meetings - Practice makes perfect, as they say, and with our June lobby meetings coming up, this session will prepare you for success with your member of Congress. Learn more. 

To see other topics and past trainings, visit the Training Topics page of CCL Community.
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This Week on the CCL Blog: 

Great speakers at CCL conferences: CCL’s conference is just weeks away, so register now and plan to attend. We have a lineup of stellar keynote speakers: Jerry Taylor, Jasmine Sanders, and Adele Morris. We thought this would also be a good time to look back at previous speakers like Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Dr. James Hansen, Bob Inglis and others. Read more.

Volunteer Spotlight: Nadine Wang: A member of the Ann Arbor Citizens’ Climate Lobby Chapter, Nadine Wang is also a co-leader of CCL’s Asian Pacific Action Team. On Sunday, the team is hosting a panel discussion about “Anote’s Ark,” a documentary about the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati, which is under threat from rising sea levels. Read more.