Weekly Briefing: CCL’s Ricky Bradley takes the stage in New York City

May 20, 2026

CCL's Executive Director Ricky Bradley recently shared the stage with Bill McKibben for a climate conversation hosted by the Brooklyn Public Library. Moderated by NPR's Rebecca Hersher, the evening focused on understanding climate deniers. 

"The room was filled with enthusiastic attendees, some of them being additional CCL volunteers," says Rob Werner, a co-leader of CCL NYC who attended the event. "Ricky held his own with Bill McKibben, the moderator was well-versed in climate issues, and audience members asked respectful and thought-provoking questions."

We caught up with Ricky after the event, who said he appreciated the chance to share personal stories, reaffirm CCL’s commitment to nonpartisanship, and discuss how to move forward in a polarized political climate.
“It was encouraging to see such thoughtful engagement around a difficult topic,” Ricky said. “These conversations remind us that climate advocacy isn’t about winning arguments. People are hungry for discussions that move beyond division and toward practical climate solutions.”

CCL's presence extended even beyond the stage and the audience. Rob coordinated with the event hosts and other local CCLers to set up an outreach table and connect with the audience even further. CCL Brooklyn co-leads Marc Cesare and Nick Mahedy, as well as CCL Brooklyn's tabling organizer Tarik Hussein, joined Rob to organize and staff the table.

"Two tablers managed the CCL table while two others chatted to exiting attendees, offering a CCL handout with a QR code to all interested in learning more about CCL or joining," Rob says. 

Watch the full conversation between CCL's Ricky Bradley, Third Act's Bill McKibben, and NPR's Rebecca Hersher on YouTube.

Watch the Recording

In other news this week:

• Summer Conference Early Bird closes tomorrow: The Early Bird registration deadline for CCL’s Summer Conference and Lobby Day is TOMORROW! After 11:59 p.m. ET on May 21, rates go up by $50. Don’t miss the savings and join us July 26-28, 2026 in Washington, D.C., for education, connection, and our annual Lobby Day. Register now and save.

Take action this week

If you have a little time: Read and share CCL’s Save Our Sequoias blog update. This month, we’re building support in the Senate for the Save Our Sequoias Act. Supporting legislation like this will help forests keep doing their important work pulling climate pollution out of the atmosphere. Read the latest on CCL’s history of support for this bill and why it would make such a big difference. Then, if you haven’t already, contact your senators in support of Save Our Sequoias. So far, we’ve sent 3,519 messages to Congress. Help us reach our goal of 5,000 contacts!

If you have more time: Catch up on BRIDGE. Have you started CCL’s new BRIDGE training yet? This is a new advocacy series that launched earlier this year, and we’re rolling out new material and a deep-dive training every month. We’ve heard positive feedback from so many trainees and inspiring stories of how the skills they’re learning in BRIDGE are improving their everyday climate conversations. Stay on schedule by watching the April recording of BRIDGE Training #4, which reviews CCL’s Theory of Change and how we can build conditions for congressional action. If you’re already caught up, be sure to attend tomorrow’s BRIDGE Training #5.

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