Weekly Briefing: Kigali Amendment sees bipartisan support

September 28, 2022

Last week, the Kigali Amendment was ratified by Congress, receiving bipartisan support. This amendment aims for the phasing down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which will positively impact the ozone layer and in turn, global warming. 

The amendment was ratified with a final vote of 69 in favor, 27 against, with 21 Republicans voting in favor. 

This is just the latest example of a major bipartisan climate vote in the 117th Congress. CCL’s Senior Director of Programs brings up the point that CCL wants “to make climate a bridge issue and not a wedge issue, and it’s clear that we are succeeding in doing that. Bipartisanship on climate is now real.”

While we’ve made lots of progress, there’s still work to do. The remainder of this Briefing will contain plenty of tools for you to make climate an election issue during the midterms. If your senator voted to ratify the Kigali Amendment, you can use our easy online action tool to thank them below.

THANK MY SENATOR

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In other news this week: 

• Citizens’ Climate Radio Ep. 76: In this month’s episode, podcast host Peterson Toscano talks to Laureline Smith, who has been working on climate change education, mitigation, and adaptation at the international level for over 15 years. Listen now.
• En-ROADS shows the power of carbon pricing: En-ROADS shows that a carbon price would “reduce temperature well below where it was expected to go to avoid some of the worst effects of climate change.” Read now.
• Hurricane Ian heads for Florida: Our thoughts are with our Florida volunteers as they await this latest storm fueled by climate change. Share CCL’s tweet about Hurricane Ian here.

If you have a little time: Check out our Earth Day: Election Edition social kit
No matter who you are, or whether you work alone or with your chapter, every voice is needed to emphasize climate during the midterm campaign season. Check out our social kit here for ideas and tools. 

If you have more time: Deploy your election season tabling kit
When you’re tabling, you’ve got a unique opportunity to encourage people to vote and ask candidates about their climate platform. This election season tabling kit includes all sorts of resources to make your tabling event a successful one. 

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

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Featured Lever This Week 

CCL’s Inclusion Conference is historic for CCL

Diversity and inclusion are part of our core values and allow us to work alongside climate activists and advocates from all walks of life. 

It only seems natural, then, that CCL held a successful Inclusion Conference on Sept. 16 and 17. But the virtual conference (and setting the stage for that conference) has been several years in the making.

“The idea for this conference came about three years ago from then-staff member Princella Talley, who now sits on CCL’s board. The idea has always been to center the voices of the BIPOC community across CCL, and give them an opportunity to talk about the issues that impact them,” said Karina Ramirez, CCL Diversity and Inclusion Director.

The virtual conference consisted of a day-long session of listening to speakers on Saturday, which came after a virtual reception on Friday evening. The conference had over 125 attendees, spanning the spectrum of identities and locations. Speakers addressed topics such as theology in relation to climate change, barriers that BIPOC people face when engaging in the climate movement, impactful communication in the face of climate change, and harnessing the power of community through stillness.

To watch all of the speakers from the conference, visit our YouTube playlist.

WATCH THE CONFERENCE SPEAKERS

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Upcoming Trainings 

• 9/29: Big Tent Climate Talks: Our September event will feature a conversation with Kyle Kammien, CCL Senior Business Relations Representative, and Bill McKibben, Third Act founder, well-known author, educator, and environmental leader. This engaging conversation will focus on climate efforts inside and outside of CCL. Join us!
• 10/6: Understanding the IRA’s Methane Charge (Fee): Join CCL Research Coordinator Rick Knight, for an updated training that will explore the IRA’s methane charge (fee) and its design, implementation, and impact on emission reductions and future carbon pricing policy. Join us!

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

• 10/4: Grassroots Outreach Basics: Join Dave Cain, CCL Presenters & Schedulers Action Team Leader, and CCL Education & Resilience Coordinator Tamara Staton for a training on grassroots outreach geared at highlighting the bite-sized best practices for tabling and presentations. Join us!

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