Featured chapter: CCL Pasadena-Foothills

In January of this year, climate concerns got a lot more real for members of the CCL Pasadena-Foothills chapter. Their communities in the suburbs of Los Angeles — Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre — were ground zero for the Eaton Fire earlier this year, estimated to be the second most destructive wildfire in California’s history. Chapter members are pictured above with the Eaton Fire burn area in the background.

“Several members of the CCL Pasadena-Foothills chapter lost their homes in the fire, and dozens more were forced to evacuate and are now dealing with the lengthy process to remediate smoke and ash damage to their homes,” says Sandy Krasner, who runs the chapter alongside Robert Haw.

“This shared experience has created a new sense of purpose within our chapter,” Sandy says, because wildfires are worsening due to climate change. “Our interactions with our federal representatives have taken on a renewed sense of urgency, and our members’ letters to local media now come from a place of authentic experience.”

“As a survivor of the recent Eaton Fire in Altadena, CA, I am seeing directly the impacts of these changes in our climate,” chapter member Charles Edwards wrote in a recent letter to the editor submitted to the New York Times. “For our children and our children’s children, [...] we must urge our congressional representatives to address climate change like the wildfire it is.”

Chapter member Peggy Painton recently did just that by attending a telephone town hall held by Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34). “I asked him to do everything he could, including working with Republicans, to protect the Inflation Reduction Act,” which includes preserving clean energy tax credits that are driving down climate pollution.

“It will take a long time for Altadena and its neighboring communities to recover from the enormity of this loss,” Sandy adds, but this chapter is determined to help meaningful climate action rise from the ashes.