Citizens' Climate Radio Episode 82: Are Lobbyists Evil? 

Average Rating:

Listen now!

In this month’s episode of Citizens’ Climate Radio, Peterson Toscano and Ruth Abraham feature four high school students who reveal the secret world of teenage lobbying. Brionna Dulay, Saachi Sharma, Cole Cochrane, and Anna Xies all volunteer for Citizens’ Climate Lobby. We asked them, “Are lobbyists evil?” b0ac77ceed4d86b9943f9c3bf77789a5-huge-ru

Brionna Dulay is a high school senior in Washington State who discovered a passion for climate advocacy after she witnessed severe flooding in her community. As a Punjabi-American, Brionna recognized the lack of her community’s representation in climate advocacy and climate change’s disproportionate effects on minority communities. This has pushed Brionna to speak to U.S. senators and representatives along with local, regional, and state members of congress. 

Saachi Sharma, also from Washington State, has been involved with Citizens’ Climate Lobby since middle school, and she is now a high school junior. She believes that the work done by today’s youth helps make the world a better place, and says, “There’s really no age for when you can start being more climate-conscious.” 

Cole Cochrane started his advocacy at 11 years old as a volunteer on campaigns for local candidates. Cole is now a senior in high school and has co-founded a nonprofit organization called Maine Youth Action, where he serves as the Policy Director. Maine Youth Action aims to empower youth in politics and have their voices heard in critical areas like climate action.

Anna Xies lived in China until she was 11 years old and is now a senior in high school in Washington State. Anna is the statewide leader of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Youth and previously worked on team recruitment. Anna was struck by the positive feedback from new team members, who told her that CCL has changed their lives and given them more confidence in their public speaking and in the future of our planet. 

So are lobbyists evil? Anna says, “I don’t think lobbying is inherently evil. I think when you get a lot of money involved with it, it gets a little bit corrupt at times”.

We decided to call a professional lobbyist to find out more. 

Ben Pendergrass has worked in Washington, D.C., for over 14 years as a Congressional staffer and a government relations professional. He is CCL’s Vice President of Government Affairs and works to advance the policy goals of CCL in Congress. Ben gave us the inside scoop on professional lobbying and had some advice for youth lobbyists. Ben suggests that “being informed, being polite, and really connecting the issues back to the state or district is always very important.” Dig Deeper

Good News Story

40fa0edb9890fd4ed29c17f7219a74d3-huge-li
Citizens’ Climate Radio Intern, Lila Powell, tells us about two young climate advocates’ successes in sustainability. Franziska Trautmann and Max Steitz were students at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. While sipping wine in their backyard, Franziska and Max pondered the future of the glass bottle it came in since NOLA doesn’t have a government-funded glass recycling program. Tune in to hear how they turned this issue into a happy tale for their whole community.

Transcript

Click here to view a full transcript of this episode. 

NEW! Listener Survey

We want to hear your feedback about this episode. After you listen, feel free to fill in this short survey. Your feedback will help us as we make new decisions about the content, guests, and style of the show. You can fill it out anonymously and answer whichever questions you like. 

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on:

Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

Posted by Brett Cease on Mar 24, 2023 8:41 AM America/Los_Angeles

Share this

Share:

Recent Posts

July 10, 2024 We lobbied — and Congress listened! A bipartisan group of lawmakers has just introduced the PROVE IT Act ( H.R. 8957 ) into the U.S. House of Representatives. Last month on Capitol Hill, CCL volunteers held 442 meetings asking Congress to advance this legislation. In recent months, we’ve also generated 10,617 calls and emails urging ... more
Posted by Brett Cease on CCL Community Bulletin Jul 11, 2024 5:15 PM PDT
Each month, Citizens’ Climate Lobby supporters gather locally for a  monthly meeting  where we educate ourselves by listening to a guest speaker. Go to your  local chapter's page  to find out more about your chapter's plans for listening in.  July's Monthly Meeting will be held on Saturday, July 13th at 1:00 pm ET   and feature CCL's Government ... more
Posted by T Todd Elvins on CCL Community Bulletin Jul 5, 2024 4:50 PM PDT
July 3, 2024 On a meet-and-greet call last night, hundreds of CCL volunteers connected face to face with CCL’s new Executive Director, Rachel Kerestes. It was a meaningful evening of CCL volunteer stories and Q&A with Rachel, helping us all get to know each other as Rachel begins to lead the organization. On the call, Rachel answered questions ... more
Posted by Brett Cease on CCL Community Bulletin Jul 4, 2024 1:15 PM PDT
June 26, 2024 It's an exciting day at CCL — our new Executive Director, Rachel Kerestes, officially joins the team! Rachel was hired by the Citizens' Climate boards this spring, and today she takes the baton from CCL’s longtime leader, Mark Reynolds. “We are thrilled about the expertise Rachel brings to the Citizens’ Climate team,” board chairs Zaurie ... more
Posted by Brett Cease on CCL Community Bulletin Jul 1, 2024 5:28 PM PDT