Weekly Briefing: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse To Speak At CCL Conference

March 23, 2022

With registration open for CCL’s June conference in Washington, D.C., CCL is excited to share that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) will be speaking at this year’s conference. The conference is the first in-person CCL event in two years, and will be held from Jun. 11-13. 

Sen. Whitehouse has played a  prominent role in climate advocacy and support of carbon pricing, and is known for his “Time to Wake Up” climate speeches on the Senate floor. 

Sen. Whitehouse introduced carbon pricing legislation, the Save Our Future Act, last summer. He stopped his "Time to Wake Up" speeches last year when he thought climate legislation was inevitable. But with no climate bill passed yet, he's resumed those speeches.

Other speakers include Citizens’ Climate Lobby Board Member Mark Reynolds, Maryland Regional Director at Climate XChange Wandra Ashley-Williams, and many others.

Conference-goers can add Saturday seminars onto their registration tickets for deeper dives into topics like working across the political divide, finding CCL’s next climate policies, and inclusion discussions.

Register for the Conference!

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In other news this week: 

• Conservative conference in the media: CCL’s Conservative Outreach Coordinator Nate Abercrombie appeared in multiple news outlets last week as he promotes CCL’s Conservative Conference. You can see Nate on AM Buffalo here, and you can apply for the conservative conference here.
• Evergreen donors: As CCL’s March fundraising campaign continues (with a potential $150,000 bonus gift!), CCL highlights Evergreen donor Jean Larson on the blog this week. You can read her story here.
• Elections and climate: Many CCL volunteers are looking for ways to strengthen democracy and increase voter participation. The Environmental Voter Project can help. Read more here.
• Don’t Look Up: Get ready for the 94th Oscars with CCL by learning more about “Don’t Look Up,” a star-studded climate advocacy comedy that uses a catastrophe to talk about activism and media, with four nominations. Read more.
• Endorsement from Notre Dame:  The president of the University of Notre Dame recently endorsed the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. You can see all endorsements here.
• Manchin ready to talk: E&E News is reporting that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is ready to resume negotiations on a reconciliation bill that would contain provisions to address climate change. Read more.

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Take action this week  

If you have a little time: Share this tweet about fossil fuels

CCL recently tweeted a short video about the importance of switching to clean energy as a result of inflation and high gas prices. Like and share that tweet here.

If you have more time: Write an LTE about Ukraine

Write a 150-word letter to the editor for your local paper on one of the climate and Ukraine-related topics in our LTE Topics resource. If you’d like a letter outline or some help getting started, see our training on writing effective letters. When you use our online LTE tool to submit your letter, it’ll be logged for you automatically. For a recap on the impact of war in Ukraine and how it affects climate policy, you can read Tony Sirna’s piece.

You can also connect with your nearest CCL chapter to take action in your community, or join one of CCL’s national online Action Teams to take action on specific topics like agriculture, health, faith, and more. 

Browse CCL Community’s Event Calendar to find upcoming events, trainings, and calls you can join.
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Featured Lever This Week 

Media: Climate Anxiety Counseling

Tamara Staton, the Greater Pacific Northwest Regional Coordinator and the Education and Resilience Coordinator for CCL, recently did an interview posted on Medium about finding resilience in climate work. At CCL, Tamara helps volunteers manage anxiety and prepare for climate action through mental wellness resources offered through the Resilience Building Action Team. 

In her interview, Tamara touches on themes like courage and resilience.

“Courage and resilience both support us in taking on challenges, with a general sense of confidence that things will work out,” Tamara says. “The difference between the two, however, is that resilience enables us to skillfully manage the setbacks.”

Additionally, Tamara talks about the importance of taking the time to recover from setbacks in order to come back stronger than before.

“Resilience helps us stay the course, through the highs and lows, and helps us bounce forward from challenges. It is that characteristic that gives us strength to stick things out when they are challenging, when we are inclined to give up, but we don’t.”

Read the Interview!

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Upcoming Trainings 

3/24: Growing Your Local Group — Join CCL's Field Development Director Elli Sparks for training that reviews how to find, recruit and talk about CCL to potential new supporters. Join us! 

3/31: Running Engaging Online & Hybrid Meetings — Join CCL Education & Resilience Coordinator Tamara Staton for training that will review recommendations and tips for chapters interested in running engaging online and hybrid meetings. Join us!

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

3/29: Chapter Development Basics — This training will highlight recommendations and resources to help get a new CCL chapter up and running, as well as the chance to hear from CCL group leaders about their experiences organizing their groups. Join us!

To see other topics and past trainings, visit the Training Topics page of CCL Community.