Weekly Briefing: Heat & Wildfires: Tell Congress We Need More Climate Action

Climate change is undeniable across America this week. Record-breaking heat is blanketing the South. “Temperatures will be up to 20 degrees above normal for much of the region through at least the weekend, with no nighttime relief,” the New York Times reported today. Scientists are confidently saying that human-caused climate change made this heatwave at least five times more likely.

At the same time, smoke from ongoing Canadian wildfires has spread to the Midwest and is moving east. This has prompted air quality alerts across 17 states, according to the Washington Post. Climate change is, of course, exacerbating the hot, dry conditions that fuel wildfires. 

All that news is enough to give you a hefty dose of eco-anxiety. You can visit CCL’s Resilience Hub and check out the top article about coping with those feelings. Pro tip: One of the best ways to cope is to actually  do  something  

Our suggestion? Write to your members of Congress today! Our online tool will identify your representative and senators, and it includes a template message that you can personalize. Tell Congress these extreme weather events show we need to move faster on climate solutions like a price on carbon.
 

In other news this week:

In other news this week, our recent June Conference and Lobby Day continues to make headlines in local news around the country: 

• North Carolina meteorologist Elisa Raffa published a piece about rising carbon levels, tying in quotes and lobby day photos from CCL volunteers in Charlotte.

• Virginia’s WHRO public radio station featured some of our student volunteers from the College of William and Mary discussing their trip to D.C. and their meetings on the Hill.

• Georgia CCLer Gage Bailey wrote a moving op-ed about his lobbying experience, calling for more bipartisan climate work. “We are one people, one country, and have the same crisis staring us in the face,” he writes.

Take action this week

If you have a little time: Sign up for text alerts. Each month, we send our volunteers a timely climate action. Our June action was to write to Congress about clean energy permitting reform, and you've sent 10,923 messages so far! We’ll have a new action coming up in July. Sign up for CCL text alerts to make sure you never miss an action.

If you have more time: Organize a fundraiser. You’ve brought incredible energy to your climate advocacy in 2023, from hosting Earth Month outreach events to signing up to lobby on Capitol Hill. Chances are your friends and family are proud of your efforts and want to support you. Give them the chance by hosting a fundraiser for CCL/CCE! Get ideas and guidance in our June Action Sheet or in next week’s training.
 

Featured chapter: CCL Orange County Laguna

“The OC Laguna chapter might not be the biggest, but we are one of the most prolific LTE writing chapters,” says volunteer Jon Light. In January 2021, OC Laguna chapter member Gary Stewart kicked things off with a letter writing workshop for the chapter. 

That event and the chapter’s ongoing media efforts have resulted in an amazing streak of published letters to the editor. “Since that time, we have had a letter published every single month for 30 months running,” Jon says. “We have averaged slightly over four LTEs published per month from our chapter.”

Letters in local newspapers make a big impact on members of Congress, so these efforts are an integral part of our climate advocacy work. Great work, CCL OC Laguna!

If your own chapter could use a boost with letter writing, CCL hosts a national LTE workshop on Zoom every month. Join us for the next one on July 11.

Upcoming trainings

6/29: Clean Energy Permitting Reform Updates and Q&A - Join Research Coordinator Dana Nuccitelli to learn what's happening on clean energy permitting reform since our June Conference and Lobby Day. What was included in the debt ceiling bill, what more do we need in a comprehensive package, and what are the prospects of a bipartisan clean energy permitting reform deal this year? Bring your questions! Join us!

7/6: Summer CCL/CCE Fundraising Ideas and Resources - No other organization trains citizens to be heard by their government the way CCL does. Join Elli Sparks and Brett Cease for a training about how to support that unique and important work through local fundraising efforts. Join us! 

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