Weekly Briefing: Polish Up Your Lobbying Skills With These Trainings

May 18, 2022

CCL’s June conference registration closes on May 22. But the conference itself is only part of the fun — it's also time for our summer lobbying push!

Many of CCL’s liaisons to congressional offices are currently scheduling in person and virtual lobby meetings. Amy Bennett, Director of Congressional Liaisons and Lobby Days, encourages CCL lobby teams to plan for sessions more than a month in advance to increase successful scheduling rates. If you’re interested in lobbying while you’re in D.C., or joining a virtual lobby meeting from home, contact your chapter leader or state coordinator.

Several members of CCL staff are hosting training sessions in the near future to help all volunteers learn more about primary and secondary asks as well as any questions that volunteers might have about the conference. Amy also strongly recommends Climate Advocate Training if you haven’t taken that in the past.

Another helpful training that you definitely don’t want to miss is Dr. Danny Richter’s lobby training this Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Danny will provide updated insights on the dynamics in Congress and how our June lobby meetings can best advance our agenda.This training is recommended to all volunteers who plan on lobbying in June.

RSVP For Danny's Training

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In other news this week: 

•   COVID precautions at June conference: With COVID cases on the rise, CCL will require attendees to wear masks at the conference venue. You can read CCL’s updated COVID conference protocols here.

•   FOREST Act support: Members of CCL’s D.C. team submitted a letter to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on Forests and Climate this week voicing CCL’s support for the FOREST Act. You can read more about the FOREST Act and other secondary asks here.

•   Now hiring: CCL has several open positions available. You can view those positions and apply here.

•   Roles in a lobby meeting: Get a better idea of the roles and responsibilities that each volunteer plays in a meeting with a congressional office. Read more.

•   West Virginia Interfaith Climate Conference: People of faith across West Virginia will come together to discuss concerns for changing climate. This event will be on Saturday, June 4, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET. All are invited. For more information, click here.

•   Volunteer Spotlight — Tim Dec: May’s volunteer spotlight is on Tim Dec, a climate-conscious Republican running for California State Assembly. Read more.

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Take action this week  

If you have a little time: Like and share this tweet

CCL tweeted a news article this week about Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) planning to introduce a carbon border fee bill. You can see that tweet here. You can see Sen. Whitehouse in person at our June conference, where he will be one of our keynote speakers. 

If you have more time: Watch the May national call

This month’s national call featured speakers Jad Daley, President and CEO of American Forests, and Joel Pannell, the group’s Vice President of Urban Forestry. They discussed American Forests' work with tree cover in American cities, which is often determined by income and race, and the work their organization is doing to restore forest health across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. You can find more information and watch the recording here.

Find your CCL chapter | Check out our Action Teams | Browse upcoming events

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Do you know our next Climate Guardian?

We are Earth’s largest force of volunteer climate lobbyists, and we are grassroots through and through. Our lobbying efforts, our media buzz, and our community engagement is all led by dedicated citizen lobbyist volunteers. And the same is true of our funding. Our supporters, through personal giving and fundraising within their networks, contribute an astounding 70% of our funding every year. 

Donations to Citizens’ Climate are an investment into our bipartisan grassroots action for practical climate solutions. These gifts help us hire Regional Coordinators, who support our 435 chapters nationwide and thousands of volunteer leaders. They fund the work of our on-staff lobbyists so our preferred policies are included in high-level conversations in D.C. These donations help inform and mobilize hundreds of thousands constituents across the country through digital education campaigns, too — and so much more. 

In this pivotal moment, we need additional leadership donors — what we call our Climate Guardians — to take our work to the next level. So we’re asking for your help: if you know someone personally who has the financial capacity to make a gift of $10,000 or more, we would love the chance to ask for their support. We can provide 1:1 training to help you fundraise, or we can meet with the prospective donor directly after you make an introduction for us.If there’s someone in your personal or professional network who is interested in the environment and/or democracy, and has the financial capacity to make a gift of $10,000+, please reach out to us at development@citizensclimate.org. Thank you!
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Featured Lever This Week 

CCLer petitions AARP to support carbon price

The American Association of Retired Persons, or AARP, has 38 million members who span the whole political spectrum — and the organization officially supports putting a price on carbon. Some CCLers, organized by volunteer Rebecca Keller, are forming a new group and circulating a petition to encourage the organization to fully wield its power in the fight for climate policy. 

“It makes sense for AARP to be a leader in this fight. We seniors have benefited from a stable climate for most of our lives,” reads the petition. "Now we are seeing the climate emergency take shape before our eyes—devastating floods, wildfires, heat waves, droughts, and climate-driven migrations on an unprecedented scale. The future will be significantly worse if we fail to act now.”

Getting AARP engaged “could be a political gamechanger,” Keller says. If you’re an AARP member, read and sign the petition today.

Read & Sign the Petition!

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Upcoming Trainings 

5/19: June Lobby #1: Legislative Plan — Join CCL's Vice President of Government Affairs, Dr. Danny Richter, for a training that will provide insight on the dynamics in Congress and how we can most effectively use our time in meetings to support our agenda. This is a recommended training for any CCL volunteer planning on being a part of their group's June 2022 Lobby Meeting (as well as Lobby Training #2 - CCL's June 2022 Primary & Supporting Asks). Join us!

5/26: June Lobby #2: Primary & Supporting Asks — Join CCL's Vice President of Government Affairs, Dr. Danny Richter, for a training that will review the updates and context for CCL's June 2022 Primary and Supporting Asks. Join us!

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

5/24: Conference Q&A —Are you curious about what to expect when you attend either CCL's June Conference or virtual Lobby Days? Join Amy Bennett, CCL's Director of Congressional Liaisons and Lobby Days, for the first half of the call to focus on CCL's lobby days procedures and questions. Then, for the second half, join CCL National Events Manager, Alison Kubicsko, to review the conference details and answer related Q&A. Join us!

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