Weekly Briefing: Save Our Sequoias Act passes the House!

March 18, 2026

When choosing federal legislation to support, one of CCL’s commitments is to support policies that will reduce climate pollution. Over the years, we’ve backed several climate-friendly forestry bills to help achieve that goal, including one you may remember: The Save Our Sequoias Act.

In exciting news, the Save Our Sequoias Act officially passed the House this week and is moving to the Senate! Over the years, CCL staff and volunteers have mobilized at key moments to support the Save Our Sequoias Act, helping build the broad support that allowed it to move quickly in the House this week.

The bill was first introduced in 2022. CCL’s Government Affairs team provided feedback on the initial draft and subsequent reintroductions to help make the bill stronger. Upon reintroduction in 2023, we publicly endorsed the bill, saying, “CCL is pleased to see strong bipartisan support for a comprehensive plan to address the increased wildfire and climate threat to California's treasured giant sequoias." Later that year, the bill was one of our secondary asks when CCLers lobbied on Capitol Hill in June.

After House passage this week, the bipartisan Save Our Sequoias Act has been officially reintroduced in the Senate by Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and John Curtis (R-UT). We’re excited to see the bill back on the move! Expect targeted actions in the near future as CCL mobilizes to ensure progress in the Senate. 

For now, use our action tool to thank your Representative for advancing this bill through the House. 

Say Thanks to Your Rep

In other news this week:

• Conservative Climate Conference registration: Registration for CCL’s virtual Conservative Climate Conference closes in less than two weeks! To attend, right-of-center volunteers must fill out an application. After the application is approved, attendees will receive a registration link. While the majority of the program is reserved for right-of-center CCLers, select sessions will be available to anyone via livestream. The livestream requires advance registration and may be especially useful to anyone lobbying or liaising with Republican members of Congress. Livestream registration is open through April 17, but registration for the conference closes March 31. Don’t wait!

Take action this week

If you have a little time: Share our new video on the PROVE IT Act. Watch the latest from CCL Vice President of Government Affairs Jenn Tyler about the PROVE IT Act. Our persistence made it possible for the PROVE IT Act to cross the finish line at the right moment. It only happened because thousands of people showed up month after month. In the video, Jenn explains that monthly donations are crucial to supporting more policy wins like this one. We’re only 27% of the way to our goal of $10,000 in new and increased monthly donations made this March. There’s a long way to go, but we can do it! Become a monthly donor, then share Jenn’s video on Facebook, Instagram, and X to encourage others to do the same.

If you have more time: Watch CCL’s March Monthly Meeting and take our March action. Our March Monthly Meeting featured key CCL updates and a segment with guest speaker Marija Verner from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Marija shared the YPCCC’s latest findings on how people around the U.S. understand, experience, and respond to climate change and certain policy solutions. And don’t forget: At each Monthly Meeting, we spend a few minutes taking collective action. This month, permitting reform negotiations restarted in Congress. For our collective action, we contacted our representatives in support of bipartisan, comprehensive permitting reform legislation as negotiations have resumed in Congress. If you weren’t able to attend live, be sure to watch the recording to catch up!

Featured: Elaine's media success

 Last month, CCLers generated local media, including letters to the editor (LTEs) on permitting reform as one of the actions in CCL’s February Action Sheet. Longtime CCL volunteer Elaine Salinger from San Mateo, California — who recently won a 2026 Sustainability Award from her county! — had an exceptional experience completing this action, and was kind enough to share her experiences at our March Monthly Meeting.

“I’ve always wanted to write letters to the editor on a regular basis,” Elaine said. “But I just could not seem to fit it into my schedule.” To help keep herself accountable and get some extra help, Elaine joined CCL Media Manager Charlotte Ward’s monthly letter writing workshop in February.

Charlotte started the workshop by providing talking points on permitting reform. Then, Elaine and the other volunteers in attendance drafted their letters. At the end, everyone came back together to compare their work. “We can borrow from what each of us has written and then send it off,” said Elaine. “Within an hour you have a publishable letter to the editor. It’s phenomenal.”

Elaine’s permitting reform LTE, titled “Let the Electrons Flow” was published in one local paper. She then shortened the letter, tweaked the contents, and sent it to another paper where it was published again.

“If you want to write an LTE and maybe you’re having trouble getting started or you’ve never written before,” said Elaine, “Just drop in to Charlotte Ward’s letter writing workshop. She makes it so easy and it’s so much fun to write together as a community.”

Way to take the leap into LTE writing, Elaine! Keep up the great work.

Register to attend Charlotte’s next letter writing workshop Wednesday, April 8 at 5 pm PT/ 8 pm ET.

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