Weekly Briefing: WATCH: Rachel's Q&A With Volunteers
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 like:
• What are your priorities as you come on board? “My focus is going to be on making sure the staff and volunteers have everything you need to work as efficiently and effectively as possible,” Rachel said.
• How will your past experience help CCL achieve our mission? “Bipartisanship has always been a throughline for me,” Rachel said, reflecting on her career. “I believe firmly and passionately that we can work with anyone.”
• What role will carbon pricing play in CCL’s future strategy? “Carbon pricing has obviously been very important to CCL’s work from the beginning, and it’s going to continue to be important,” Rachel affirmed.
She also touched on the topic of how climate advocates can stay motivated and effective in a contentious election year, which is on people's minds as campaign season gets into full swing.
If you couldn’t join us live, you can hear Rachel's full answers on the recording of the call, which is available on CCL’s YouTube channel now.
In other news this week:
• Climate economics: CCL Research Coordinator Dana Nuccitelli published an article in Yale Climate Connections this week titled, “How much will climate change drag down the economy?” His analysis provides more evidence that deploying climate solutions is much cheaper than maintaining the status quo. Chat with Dana about his piece over on CCL’s Nerd Corner.
Take action this week
If you have a little time: Share these social posts from Lobby Day. Our 442 lobby meetings on Capitol Hill last month made a big impression — quite a few members of Congress posted on social media about us! We rounded up those posts so you can easily see and share them on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X, or LinkedIn.
If you have more time: Call Congress about the PROVE IT Act. We have two days left in our monthly action to call Congress about the PROVE IT Act — have you made your calls? We’re hopeful that we’ll see the House version of the PROVE IT Act introduced soon, and your calls to Congress will help build as much support as possible for that introduction. Make your calls today! Our click-to-call tool and prepared script make it super simple.
Featured chapter: CCL Raritan Valley
Just like Rome wasn’t built in a day, it can take patience and persistence to form connections with congressional offices. CCL’s Raritan Valley chapter in New Jersey knows the importance of fostering long-term relationships — they’ve had quite a bit of practice!
Back in 2009, their representative took a risk by supporting a cap and trade bill, which failed in Congress. “He felt like it was a bad political move on his part and he reminded us of this virtually every time we met with him,” said Nadine Sapirman, one of the chapter’s leaders. “Relations were cordial, but cool.”
As the years went on, members of the Raritan Valley chapter began to explain and answer questions about supporting a carbon fee and dividend policy. They listened to staffers’ concerns and responded with helpful resources every time.
Things really took off for the chapter in 2015 when five high school-aged CCLers met with the representative to talk about how climate change would impact their futures. “This was a game changer,” said Nadine. “The representative was so impressed by these students… at the end of the meeting he told them, ‘You are on the right side of history.’”
The chapter kept writing, calling, securing grasstops endorsements, publishing letters to the editor, and attending town halls. In 2016, they met with the office once again to ask them to join the newly formed bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. Within a month, their member had joined and began regularly participating.
There’s immense power in building great relationships. Thanks to Nadine and the folks in Raritan Valley for showcasing the value of listening, the importance of meeting members of Congress where they are, and the power of youth in influencing our representatives and senators!
Want to hear Nadine tell her chapter’s story? She shared it on Tuesday night’s meet-and-greet call between CCL volunteers and CCL’s new Director. Jump to 10:45 for her story.
Upcoming trainings
7/8: Electrification Month prep series - We’ll be talking a lot about electrification in the month of August, and our Electrification Action Team is ready to help you prepare! Starting on Monday, July 8, attend any of these workshops to get ready for electrifying conversation, tabling, presentations, and more.
7/9: Grassroots Outreach Basics - Join Dave Cain, CCL Presenters & Schedulers Action Team Leader, and CCL Education & Resilience Coordinator Tamara Staton for a training that highlights the bite-sized best practices of tabling and giving presentations. Join us!
7/16: Grasstops Engagement Basics - One key way to advance climate solutions at the national level is to gain the support of local community leaders. Join CCL's National Action Director Todd Elvins to learn how to conduct outreach to grasstops leaders in your area and beyond. Join us!
7/23: Communicating with Conservatives - Join CCL's Conservative Outreach team to learn about conservative messaging on climate change and how CCL’s policies can align with conservative values. Join us!
To see other topics and past trainings, visit the Training Topics page of CCL Community.
Nerd Corner Chart of the Week
Clean technologies are replacing fossil fuels, but how fast will the transition happen?
Join the discussion about how the cleantech revolution is here.
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