Weekly Briefing: CCL Surpasses National Goal In House Campaign To Push For Carbon Pricing
September 1, 2021
CCL volunteers finished up strong with our campaign urging House members to support carbon pricing in the reconciliation bill. We set a national goal of getting 10,000 constituents to contact their representatives, and as the campaign ended Tuesday, more than 11,000 had reached out to congressional offices by email or phone.
“In both the Senate and the House campaigns, our volunteers made their voices heard loud and clear with members of Congress,” said CCL President Madeleine Para. “I’m so proud of our people for the effort that went into this.”
With our message delivered, we now await reports from the various Senate committees on draft language for the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill to learn what provisions will be included to address climate change.
Want to learn more about what’s happening with the budget reconciliation bill? Our latest blog explains the process, what to expect next, and actions you can take now.
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In other news this week: 
Climate disasters in the news: Big disasters related to climate change continue to dominate the news. Hurricane Ida came ashore in Louisiana, going from a Category 1 storm to a Category 4 storm in less than 24 hours. Out West, the beautiful Lake Tahoe area is being evacuated as the Caldor fire rages out of control. Send letters to the editor responding to these stories that urge Congress to take decisive action on climate change that includes a price on carbon. Our LTE Topics resource can help you with these and other letter ideas.
Carbon fee & dividend in Scientific American: An economics professor from the University of Massachusetts recently published a piece in Scientific American singing the praises of carbon fee and dividend, calling it a “win-win for people and for the climate.” You can help spread this article around by retweeting our post about it on Twitter.
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Take action this week 
If you have a little time: Like, reply to and retweet Twitter posts showing support for carbon pricing from Senators John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Alex Padilla (D-CA, shown above). Senator Padilla’s tweet also links to a CCL op-ed in the Los Altos Town Crier.
If you have more time: Ask an influencer in your community to call their members of Congress about supporting a price on carbon. Do you know a business owner, local elected official or faith leader? A message from them can have an impact with representatives and senators.
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Featured Lever This Week 
Chapter development: Onboard new members
CCL chapters are always thinking about how to expand chapter membership and capacity. Having an effective team to help “onboard” new volunteers is a great way to achieve your goals! Join the new Community Onboarding Action Team to learn more.
This team’s monthly meetings will feature speakers who have a proven track record for successful onboarding, volunteer engagement and retention, developing resources and tools, and increasing chapter size and capacity. You’ll be able to learn successful onboarding processes you can apply to your own chapters.
Join the action team today and receive notices of upcoming meetings and valuable resources for your chapter.
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Upcoming Trainings 
9/2: Reviewing CCL’s Transformational Organizing Model - Reaching our goals requires volunteers who are engaged and motivated to take action. This session will review the steps leaders can take to empower our members for effective advocacy. Join us!
9/9: Getting New Volunteers Engaged - Are you seeing a surge lately in new members for your chapter? This session will brainstorm ideas and strategies to give new volunteers the knowledge and skills to be empowered advocates. Join us!
Need training on the basics? Catch our next session of Core Volunteer Training, made for newer volunteers:
9/7: Communicating With Progressives - CCL staffer Alexis Hermosillo leads this session on talking to progressives about the importance of carbon pricing being a key part of any climate package. She’ll also share CCL’s outreach to organizations at the national and local level. Learn more and RSVP.
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
Save Our Future Act and environmental justice: Appearing on Pod Save America, Sen. Brian Schatz framed his Save Our Future Act as “a progressive carbon fee” that addresses environmental justice concerns. In particular, the bill would price unhealthy pollutants, reducing toxins that cause respiratory and heart problems in vulnerable communities. Read more.
Europe’s carbon tax at the border: With Europe’s carbon price now at $65 per ton, the European Union is seeking to level the playing field for European firms by imposing a carbon border adjustment mechanism that will go into effect in 2023. What does this mean for trade with America and how might the U.S. respond? Read more.
Why we need a carbon price in reconciliation: As Senate committees deliberate on provisions in the reconciliation bill to address climate change, there are numerous reasons to include a price on carbon. From hitting emissions targets to making a border fee possible, CCL Strategy Director Tony Sirna runs down the list. Read more.
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