Weekly Briefing: CCL’s February meeting: ‘Our leverage point is Congress’

Feb. 12, 2025

Hundreds of CCL chapters and volunteers around the country gathered on Zoom this weekend for our February meeting — our first all-volunteer meeting since President Trump’s inauguration.

CCL Executive Director Rachel Kerestes opened the call by recognizing the unusual pace and concerning nature of the administration’s early moves. “We’ve heard from a lot of you that you’re feeling overwhelmed, and you’re feeling very alarmed,” she said.

Rachel discussed some of the actions that have the biggest implications for climate advocacy and the advancement of clean energy, such as the administration’s attempts to freeze federal loans and grants and to make significant changes to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other agencies.

“We’re all on the same page: The way these things are rolling out are uncharted waters,” she said. “A lot of what we’re seeing here is the executive branch trying to extend its authority into areas that constitutionally belong to Congress.”

Our take? “Congress can and should flex its muscle here” to maintain their power as an equal branch of government, Rachel said. “Our best leverage point is still Congress.” As lawmakers come under pressure from these policies and feel their political future is at risk, that should change their calculus about how to respond. It’s up to us to apply that pressure.

With that in mind, we took time during our February meeting to send more than 1500 messages to Congress in support and defense of NOAA and its critical climate and weather data — and that’s just the beginning. If you weren’t on the call with us, take a few minutes to send your own message in defense of NOAA now.

Also on the call, we heard from American Forests’ Danielle Watson about the Fix Our Forests Act, a bipartisan bill CCL supports to reduce wildfire risk. We also reviewed progress and additional actions related to defending the Inflation Reduction Act, an ongoing fight this year.

In other news this week:

Conservative Lobby Day deadline coming up: CCL’s right-of-center volunteers are invited to join us in D.C. on March 4-5 for our annual Conservative Conference and Lobby Day. The deadline to apply is Feb. 18 — less than a week away! We will be discussing clean energy tax credits, carbon border adjustments, and wildfire policy with Republican congressional offices. Before we head to Capitol Hill, we’ll train all attendees to be as persuasive as possible in their lobby meetings. If you’re on the political right, apply and secure your spot now.

Help your local school district electrify: CCL's National Youth Action Team is launching the third round of their Great School Electrification Challenge. They hope to encourage 15 school boards to pass resolutions to "electrify everything" in their districts — could one of those school boards be yours? To get started, you need a team of three students from the school district and an adult sponsor. Register by March 1 to receive training and guidance from the National Youth Action Team about how to push your school board forward toward a cleaner, more sustainable future.

Take action this week

If you have a little time: Share a clip of Rachel’s message on social media. Many people are wondering how to respond to the current political situation. Share this clip of CCL Executive Director Rachel Kerestes explaining CCL’s perspective that we can apply pressure to members of Congress, and as they feel that political pressure, they can and they will have sway on the administration’s climate actions. Here’s an excerpt of Rachel’s message on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and X.



If you have more time: Spread the word about IRA benefits. We’re spotlighting some key economic benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act on social media right now, and you can add your voice to the chorus. Share these stats on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and X, or head to our February Action Sheet for guidance about creating your own post tailored to the benefits in your state.

Featured chapter: CCL Cincinnati - See their feature here!


Training topics

Data to Defend the IRA - This recent training covers useful data for convincing members of Congress to preserve key components of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), such as the clean energy tax credits. Those components are at risk of repeal in this Congress, but some Republicans are speaking up for it. To protect them, you need to know the data for your district and state and be ready to make that argument to your members of Congress. Read or watch this training.

Fix Our Forests Act - The bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act has passed the House and needs CCL’s support to move through the Senate. CCL Research Coordinator Dana Nuccitelli and Vice President of Government Affairs Jenn Tyler held a training to educate CCLers on the bill. Read or watch this training. (Bonus: For more education on this bill from our friends at American Forests, watch minutes 21 to 48 of our February meeting.)

Lobbying Basics - As we look ahead to our Conservative Conference and Lobby Day on Capitol Hill next month, brush up on your lobbying basics. In this training, you will learn how to plan a meeting with your member of Congress and see a demonstration of what a lobby meeting really looks like. Watch this training.

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