Weekly Briefing: Regional Conferences Swept CCL This Weekend
April 10, 2024
"There is special magic that happens at CCL's Regional Conferences across our country every year,” says Brett Cease, our Vice President of Programs. This past weekend, that magic happened in three of CCL’s regions — California, the Mountain West, and the Southeast. 
California’s regional event welcomed 150 attendees (pictured above) in San Mateo County. In the Mountain West, 95 attendees gathered in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. And over 140 folks from across the Southeast got together in Greenville, South Carolina.
The events welcomed high-profile speakers, including Rep. John Curtis (R-UT-03), CBS News national correspondent and author Jonathan Vigliotti, and former Republican congressman Bob Inglis.
Each conference had unique programming, too, showcasing the creativity and diversity of each region. California’s event included a “Good Climate News” panel and a lightning round session with six other local climate organizations. The Mountain West conference featured a panel of leaders from the ski and snowsports industry, plus a climate policy discussion with a bipartisan group of Utah state legislators. Sessions on empowering conservative climate voices and getting out of our echo chambers built critical skills for advocates in the Southeast.
“These events are essential experiences that energize attendees, connect our volunteers, and provide a gateway for people to take the next step in their advocacy with CCL," Brett says.
If you want this type of experience for yourself — plus the chance to meet with your members of Congress — plan to join us at our Summer Conference & Lobby Day in Washington, D.C.! This year’s national conference takes place June 8-11, and registration is open now. We’ll have:
• Our first-ever Student Summit
• Chances to hold climate conversations out and about in D.C.
• Trainings and breakout sessions for volunteers of every experience level
• Hundreds of lobby meetings on Capitol Hill — which YOU can be part of!
In other news this week:
• Updates to our 2024 Policy Roadmap: In January, we shared a 2024 Policy Roadmap that showed our plans to make an impact on carbon pricing, permitting reform, and other climate policies this year. Check out the updated version of the roadmap on CCL Community to see the milestones we’ve hit in the first few months of the year.
Take action this week
If you have a little time: Talk about climate change with someone today. This Earth Month, CCL is asking volunteers across the country to have 25,000 conversations about climate change with their friends, family, and communities. The conversations don't have to be complicated — it's about keeping it real and relatable with the people in your life. We’ve pulled together tips and resources for your conversations, plus a place to log the number of conversations you’ve had.
If you have more time: Attend CCL’s April meeting this weekend. At CCL’s April meeting on Saturday, we’ll hear from Potential Energy's Ernesto Alcantar about the most effective way to talk to people about climate change. We will also celebrate recent successes and share upcoming actions you can take this month. Plan to join us on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT.
Featured: Bike tours across Mountain West
Sixteen days, 3,800 miles, three states. Bill Barron, the Mountain West Regional Director for CCL, recently embarked on a bike trip through Colorado, New Mexico, and Montana. Despite all the natural beauty of those states, this was no scenic getaway; it was a mission to spark conversations about climate solutions.
Bill sat down with newspaper editorial boards, gave presentations, met with other local climate organizations, did tabling outreach, spoke to university students, and more across the three states. Susan Hess, a Colorado CCLer, described the tour as “a great shot in the arm” for her local chapter.
Aaron Hoffman agreed, saying, “Bill’s visit helped activate our chapter. We planned, organized, dined, attended Bill’s presentations, and socialized more together as a result of his coming to town. It was a good bit of work to organize, but it was definitely worth it for the extra community and chapter engagement.”
Read more about Bill’s trip in a new post on CCL’s blog.
Upcoming trainings
4/11: Managing Money In Your Group - CCL staff walks through various ways to raise and manage money in your group for things like chapter activities and conference scholarships. Join us!
4/18: Bringing Policy Support from Trusted Messengers to Congress - The CCL Government Affairs team is recommending that all chapters secure at least one letter from a trusted messenger to their member of Congress (MOC) and deliver the letter in a June lobby meeting. This training provides some ideas for how to do that. Join us!
To see other topics and past trainings, visit the Training Topics page of CCL Community.
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