Mark Reynolds: Welcome everybody, welcome to the February citizens climate lobby call my name is mark Nelson i'm hosting today's call. 17 00:10:23.670 --> 00:10:29.790 Mark Reynolds: what's going to be happening and just a few minutes i'll be introducing our guest James Bay log who we are so excited to have on the call. 18 00:10:30.270 --> 00:10:39.900 Mark Reynolds: After that we're going to get a legislative update from our Vice President of government affairs, Dr Dana Richter I think most of us on the call would have assumed by now that the reconciliation process would have wrapped up. 19 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:48.030 Mark Reynolds: But it's not and Congress has some other things it's working on so we're really excited to hear from our government affairs team about how things look going forward. 20 00:10:49.710 --> 00:10:53.280 Mark Reynolds: After that we're going to go over what we are asking you to do this month. 21 00:10:54.270 --> 00:11:00.570 Mark Reynolds: Following which I will go over some of the things that have happened since last month's call been some very exciting things and i'm excited to tell you about them. 22 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:09.030 Mark Reynolds: And then the last thing i'm going to conclude with today is we're having our June conference in DC and we're hoping to have it live and in person. 23 00:11:09.870 --> 00:11:13.590 Mark Reynolds: But the lobbying is going to be either virtual or in district. 24 00:11:14.010 --> 00:11:21.690 Mark Reynolds: And there's a component of that that is different, this year that's unique that we've never done and i'm excited about that so i'll be wrapping up the call by by sharing that with you. 25 00:11:22.260 --> 00:11:30.540 Mark Reynolds: But first I wanted to give you a chance to hear from Senator coons last weekend Senator coons did a two minute introduction to our Atlantic region. 26 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:38.190 Mark Reynolds: conference mid Atlantic region conference and I thought his comments really pertinent for all of us so let's hear from Senator coons and then we'll have our guest on. 27 00:11:39.690 --> 00:11:49.500 Mark Reynolds: hi i'm US senator Chris coons from Delaware welcome to the citizens climate lobby mid Atlantic regional conference, I want to thank CCL for holding this conference again. 28 00:11:50.130 --> 00:12:00.060 Mark Reynolds: and express my sincere appreciation to Delaware members Marty Hopkins and beth chais for being such fierce leaders on climate change at both the state and national levels. 29 00:12:00.690 --> 00:12:11.100 Mark Reynolds: At last year's Conference, I expressed my optimism that 2021 would be a year that brought climate change initiatives to the top of our domestic and global agenda and it sure did. 30 00:12:11.820 --> 00:12:17.970 Mark Reynolds: every part of the world is today experiencing the impacts of climate change, and as the lowest lying state in our nation. 31 00:12:18.390 --> 00:12:25.860 Mark Reynolds: Within economy, partly dependent on tourism and agriculture Delaware is on the very front line of this ongoing global crisis. 32 00:12:26.550 --> 00:12:33.450 Mark Reynolds: But this last year also brought some hope one of President biden's first actions was to rejoin the Paris climate agreement. 33 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:39.840 Mark Reynolds: And in Congress we've worked to make historic climate and clean energy investments that will benefit Delaware in our country. 34 00:12:40.350 --> 00:12:47.670 Mark Reynolds: Both through the American rescue plan and the bipartisan infrastructure law, yet we still have so much more to do in the months ahead. 35 00:12:48.300 --> 00:12:57.450 Mark Reynolds: i'm continuing to advance carbon pricing and border carbon adjustment policies in Congress and to work with our closest allies, Canada, the UK and EU. 36 00:12:57.810 --> 00:13:07.560 Mark Reynolds: Because I believe it's the most effective way to align our climate ambition with our closest allies to reduce carbon pollution, especially in the industrial sector across the West. 37 00:13:07.950 --> 00:13:15.480 Mark Reynolds: and apply real pressure on other countries to decarbonize their export oriented heavy industries and reduce their emissions as well. 38 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:27.390 Mark Reynolds: With significant investments now underway from President biden's bipartisan infrastructure law and a productive COMP 26 summit in Glasgow we've made important strides this past year. 39 00:13:27.900 --> 00:13:39.240 Mark Reynolds: i'm proud, I was able to lead the first ever bipartisan delegation from the Senate to COP 26 and learned a great deal from our meetings and our engagements in Glasgow, as we begin. 40 00:13:40.560 --> 00:13:51.330 there's much more work, we need to do, including the critical and unfinished work of enacting billions in clean energy tax credits and the creation of a new civilian climate court. 41 00:13:51.750 --> 00:13:57.420 i'm not giving up on those important goals, and you can continue to play a critical role in that progress. 42 00:13:58.050 --> 00:14:07.140 Thank you for your commitment to climate action and to pushing elected leaders like myself and my colleagues to keep taking serious action to address climate change. 43 00:14:07.590 --> 00:14:14.760 i'm grateful for the work you've done and will do and I look forward to tackling the challenges of this climate crisis together, thank you. 44 00:14:16.350 --> 00:14:25.950 Mark Reynolds: Great I know that most of the people on this call are pretty familiar with our guest James ballads work and maybe they log in that met most of you have seen chasing ice and some of you have seen it multiple times. 45 00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:31.020 Mark Reynolds: You know, for 35 years he's been making visible the impacts we're having on our planet. 46 00:14:31.320 --> 00:14:43.140 Mark Reynolds: he's been making the invisible visible, as I said, many of you have already seen chasing ice and we're excited to have him share with us about his new book the human element element, a time capsule from the anthropocene. 47 00:14:43.710 --> 00:14:51.120 Mark Reynolds: Where the things I find remarkable about his work is you know, most people see science and art is somehow being at odds with each other. 48 00:14:51.540 --> 00:15:00.720 Mark Reynolds: But not everybody stops thinking at that point, and our guest is one of those people who somehow his art makes the science most more accessible, I think that's remarkable. 49 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:10.620 Mark Reynolds: And James before I turn things over to you I think it's always good to know a little bit about the people who you're speaking to So these are the most committed most knowledgeable activists that you're ever going to talk to. 50 00:15:11.190 --> 00:15:17.040 Mark Reynolds: But we're a science based organization and those things are kind of hard to measure, so I want to just mention some of the things they did last year. 51 00:15:17.910 --> 00:15:30.600 Mark Reynolds: congress's they don't hear enough from people about climate change, so the people you're smoking with had 1353 meetings with Congressional offices last year and about an equal number of those were Republicans and democrats. 52 00:15:31.020 --> 00:15:40.500 Mark Reynolds: They made 160 2083 personal letters to members of Congress last year, and they 40,567 calls. 53 00:15:40.800 --> 00:15:49.860 Mark Reynolds: They also believe it's their job to build support in every single Congressional district so Members make a courageous courageous vote there's they know there's going to be support for them. 54 00:15:50.160 --> 00:15:57.780 Mark Reynolds: So they generated 969 endorsements from prominent people in communities like mares and college presidents and business owners. 55 00:15:58.350 --> 00:16:09.480 Mark Reynolds: They published 2796 letters to the editor and then astonishing 826 opposite so that means more than once every day amazing newspaper was giving. 56 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:14.100 Mark Reynolds: The people you're talking to a lot of room to make their case for how carbon should be priced. 57 00:16:14.340 --> 00:16:22.770 Mark Reynolds: And that op ED total was figured by an additional hundred and 35 in January So these are very, very active people there are no casual observers here. 58 00:16:22.980 --> 00:16:30.990 Mark Reynolds: They want to be able to take what they're going to hear today and put it to work, so thank you so much for being here, thank you for all your extraordinary work over the years and we're just thrilled to have you here. 59 00:16:32.370 --> 00:16:50.220 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Well, thank you for that terrific introduction mark and i'm thrilled to be speaking to this audience i've been very impressed with CCS work over the years, so this is a great great place to be and i'm glad to be with fellow simpatico individuals, because we're all fighting a tough fight. 60 00:16:52.620 --> 00:17:02.430 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: The this this little show i'm about to present to you is really derived from this this book that you alluded to it's called the human element. 61 00:17:02.940 --> 00:17:12.720 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: And the premise of the book and it's a very large book it's a retrospective of 40 years of my photography thinking about the intersection of people in nature. 62 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:25.380 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: The premise of the book is that we, the human element, are an integral part of nature we've been conditioned for decades centuries millennia. 63 00:17:25.890 --> 00:17:42.060 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: To think of nature, being something like earth, air fire water plants and animals and that we were on a separate plane outside of it, but what we've seen actually through events like climate change and and all its various. 64 00:17:43.140 --> 00:17:57.240 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: related issues is that humanity is part of nature that's a great irony, you know, we in our destruction of nature and our and our manipulation and changing of nature we've learned. 65 00:17:57.630 --> 00:18:04.890 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: That we are part of it we're not separate from it and that whole romantic notion that ancient notion goes back a long, long way. 66 00:18:05.700 --> 00:18:24.120 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: So I want to just dive in here this morning to just basically one key part of this this book and the film the human element so, by the way the the book is called the human element, but we did a film that came out in 2018 that was also called the human element. 67 00:18:26.340 --> 00:18:29.910 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: So let me start some pictures for you and. 68 00:18:31.590 --> 00:18:34.110 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Here we go hang on just a second. 69 00:18:44.550 --> 00:18:47.160 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Why doesn't it want to play there we go. 70 00:18:51.840 --> 00:18:52.200 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Okay. 71 00:18:56.910 --> 00:19:05.130 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: So we're all on the same page, the word the anthropocene in case were somehow confused about what that is means that we are all. 72 00:19:06.630 --> 00:19:12.480 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Part of nature in essence it's the new science word four hour period of geologic time. 73 00:19:12.900 --> 00:19:26.430 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: suggesting that humans are altering the environment, this is a word that came around about 20 years ago and I think it's a really, really important framing concept to where we are today cover of the book, by the way, this is a. 74 00:19:27.600 --> 00:19:45.210 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Very large book, this gives you some sense of that scale this thing 450 pages and I dig into a lot of issues in it from climate to receiving glaciers to endangered wildlife deforestation changes in air and water and so forth, and. 75 00:19:46.470 --> 00:19:57.540 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: tried to make it as all encompassing as my little life and pictures can make it now there's one key idea word that you're going to hear come up in some of the little stories that I read for you. 76 00:19:58.620 --> 00:20:16.440 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: And the key idea is about human tectonics many of us are familiar with the notion of plate tectonics the idea that there are these massive forces in the in the earth and the crust of the earth moving the rock plates around making earthquakes like. 77 00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:27.150 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: That emanate from places like the San Andreas fault, which you can see right here in plate tectonics also create things like volcanoes. 78 00:20:29.490 --> 00:20:30.210 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: and 79 00:20:31.830 --> 00:20:44.730 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: They build mountains, but my point is that we humans are a force of tectonics as well, and one of the key elements of our human tectonics. 80 00:20:45.150 --> 00:20:56.040 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Is that we use fire and we've been using fire, for a long time at least 300,000 years there's some evidence that the use of fire may go back as much as 700,000 years. 81 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:10.740 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: But that has been a crucial tool of how we alter the environment through the through our technologies, through the size of our populations to our desires for affluence and survival. 82 00:21:11.850 --> 00:21:24.600 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: All of those things put together create human tectonics but fire is a very curious substance, and I want to read you a little something from the book to help shape our thinking about fire. 83 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:41.100 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: and your goes fire is a shape shifting trickster fire is, though, and fire is friend fire annihilate and fire rejuvenates fire purifies and fire terrifies fire cleanses and fire corrupts. 84 00:21:41.550 --> 00:21:59.280 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Fire is an agent of human tectonics and fire is the result of human tectonics orange flames gave power and comfort, since the invention of fire burning wood then burning oil, coal methane gas the dead ooze of ancient sea floors and forgotten rivers. 85 00:22:00.510 --> 00:22:12.030 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Now fire heights it's dragon face in thrust pistons electric thunderbolts blazing furnaces fuels from the fossil dead give possibility and pleasure. 86 00:22:12.600 --> 00:22:23.400 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Yet the necropolis comes back to haunt us civilian blanket overhead once the realm of heavenly hosts has become a garbage dump in nature is unnatural. 87 00:22:24.060 --> 00:22:36.600 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: So that's a key idea to think that the fire that surrounds us today is hidden inside the furnaces we're still just as dependent on fire, as we were when we were sitting at Camp fires. 88 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:39.060 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Burning sticks. 89 00:22:40.080 --> 00:22:55.680 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: But we don't see it the same way and there's a lot of fire hiding inside those internal combustion engines that we all cruise around on in cars buses and airplanes so fire is very much a part of our lives but it's hidden. 90 00:23:00.930 --> 00:23:01.770 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: So here we are. 91 00:23:03.570 --> 00:23:08.040 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Looking at fire in different ways and shapes and forms that shape shifting trickster. 92 00:23:10.620 --> 00:23:26.940 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: And here's a fuel that's so key to our use of fire today Cole the human volcano looks like a volcano i'm looking down from a drone that I have on a coal loading facility at a mine in utah and. 93 00:23:28.350 --> 00:23:40.650 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: These fuels, of course, are creating the changes in the climate changes in the atmosphere that we all know about this is very sophisticated audience i'm speaking to I don't need to be Labor these points. 94 00:23:44.070 --> 00:23:53.430 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: The anthropocene is a period of time that has been defined, of course, by fire, but also by agriculture. 95 00:23:54.000 --> 00:24:04.530 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: And then subsequently by the burning of fossil fuels as part of the fire story, and in this particular scene, where in western Pennsylvania, where you see the two. 96 00:24:05.040 --> 00:24:21.300 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: key parts of the anthropocene of the past 10 or 12,000 years coming together burning fossil fuels in that coal fired power plant and agriculture, transforming the landscape, many people in the in the earth sciences think that. 97 00:24:23.190 --> 00:24:29.550 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: The anthropocene began when we started agriculture 10 or 12,000 years ago, so there it is. 98 00:24:30.270 --> 00:24:45.330 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Now I want to share something that I think is really important for us to get our heads around the Net is that we're all in this story together and i'm going to read you something i've comes from an essay I wrote called carbon inheritance. 99 00:24:46.560 --> 00:24:54.420 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: And that and I asked at the beginning, do we have a right to be angry or frustrated about how the climate and energy crisis. 100 00:24:55.230 --> 00:25:06.390 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: is altering the world without considering how we ourselves have contributed to it, no one inhabits a righteous pure and holy perch far above the human condition. 101 00:25:06.840 --> 00:25:19.320 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Not you not me not anybody else we all drive our chariots of carbon fire, we all rely on carbon fuels to produce our clothing food supply lighting the thermal comfort in our houses and much more. 102 00:25:20.130 --> 00:25:33.810 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: to other ties bind you to fossil fuels, investments, perhaps, where is your comfort and prosperity today derived from a family history linked to oil and coal, so let me make a confession. 103 00:25:35.460 --> 00:25:51.360 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: my grandparents my father's father and my mother's Father were both coal miners in Pennsylvania, and my father's Father grew grew up in a little coal mining town not very far away from where the the picture was taken. 104 00:25:52.290 --> 00:26:07.050 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: And my father's Father Michael died in the collapse of the coal mine in and was it 1946 before I was born and I never knew him, but I feel a great sense of. 105 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:18.930 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Historical connection to him, and I think we all have historical connections that we've in so many different ways, through time and place to fossil fuels. 106 00:26:20.070 --> 00:26:37.680 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: But then, as I go on to right now we'll a generational destiny terms how i've run how mysterious how improbable is it that faith pushes me grandson those miners into prying up questions about earth matter. 107 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:53.940 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: digging not with a shovel and dynamite but with pictures and words digging not to extract coal, the two ends the extraction of coal to speak and live a different truth from there's as a task I could no more avoid than they could avoid those calls seems. 108 00:26:55.530 --> 00:27:06.450 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: four and a half billion years of earth's history 4 million years of hominid history, leading to homo sapiens 400 years of agricultural history. 109 00:27:07.260 --> 00:27:24.090 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Yet only incredibly in the past four generations or so, have we understood what human minds never did before burning the fossil residue of ancient life poisons our bodies and our world, people of the past, never knew this. 110 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:33.150 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: They did what was necessary in the harsh light of their moment by the standards of today, we cannot judge them. 111 00:27:34.140 --> 00:27:46.170 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: The urgent task now is to look in our own mirror when we shoulder the burdens of the present time with noble determination, the way Michael mining ancestors did. 112 00:27:46.890 --> 00:28:01.650 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: To make their families survive and live are we morally and ethically and intellectually lucid enough to respond in full measure to the knowledge we have about the negative consequences of carbon fuels. 113 00:28:01.980 --> 00:28:09.000 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: I think that's the essence of where we are today are we lucid enough do we have the energy to respond to these issues. 114 00:28:10.020 --> 00:28:12.600 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: here's another carbon fuel oil. 115 00:28:13.950 --> 00:28:16.680 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: in the Gulf of Mexico during the oil spill years ago. 116 00:28:21.330 --> 00:28:22.770 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: That came right out of the Bank. 117 00:28:25.380 --> 00:28:31.140 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: occasion fishermen who was finding he wasn't catching any any fish but he was sure catching a lot of oil. 118 00:28:31.650 --> 00:28:42.960 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: As we all know, these have these issues have direct human consequences they are not abstract the burning of fossil fuels and so to a different form of fire that i'd like to share with you. 119 00:28:43.980 --> 00:28:59.820 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: This this is from the book it's a very large body of work about wildfires and we we photographed all of this for the film and then, subsequently, for the book in in all around the American and Canadian West. 120 00:29:00.990 --> 00:29:16.410 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: I find it incredible force out there in the landscape and, by the way, here's one of the firefighters in California using napalm, which is a jelly gasoline to light up a fire to prevent the wildfire from catching on to the fuels. 121 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:30.690 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: These people do unbelievably hard work they're real heroes, I spent four years Jason fires. 122 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:42.150 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: And went to firefighter schools and my my filming team did as well, so that we could learn how not to get ourselves killed out there, learn how fire behave, so we could hope to be in the right place at the right time. 123 00:29:43.590 --> 00:29:50.490 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: it's incredible incredible work and the fires are essentially unstoppable under many circumstances. 124 00:29:51.540 --> 00:29:52.350 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: A school bus. 125 00:29:57.510 --> 00:30:11.220 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: This is a fire that almost burned down my own my own House how many years ago, was that I can't even remember anymore eight or nine years ago here in the foothills of the Rockies like they've got one of my neighbors houses and and. 126 00:30:12.990 --> 00:30:13.920 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: 100 others. 127 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:27.540 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: One of the firefighting crews that we worked with Tony Howard from California and one of his folks kerrigan for. 128 00:30:28.680 --> 00:30:42.360 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: From one of the towns in northern California her main activity in life is lifting weights and running a lot, so that she can can work really hard on the fire line she worked harder than I need any of the guides out there really an amazing character. 129 00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:51.270 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Which brings us to yet another theme in the book sea level rise and we don't have time to get into that today. 130 00:30:51.780 --> 00:30:57.900 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: So I want to use this picture, though, to set the stage for my final thoughts that comes from the book. 131 00:30:58.440 --> 00:31:13.860 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: And it's an essay that is called the human element it's buried way in the back of the book page for 42 or something like that, but it's really the essence of the book and it the the the lyrics are titled the human element so here goes. 132 00:31:15.210 --> 00:31:27.060 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: The hour is fleeting the facts of life on earth are clear and I submit them for candid consideration human tectonics are changing the nature of nature. 133 00:31:27.930 --> 00:31:42.990 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: We depend on the stability of the fundamental elements of the world and imbalance in the human element leads to an imbalance in the other element, people are the only element that can choose to restore balance. 134 00:31:44.220 --> 00:32:02.490 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: No boundary separates people from nature in damaging nature, we are damaging ourselves in protecting nature, we are protecting ourselves no law or Decree No religion or tradition, gives us the right to emulate the inheritance of the ages. 135 00:32:03.690 --> 00:32:13.950 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: True patriotism protect spacious guys and purple mountains golden valleys and diamond deserts from politically mean and sea to shining sea. 136 00:32:16.020 --> 00:32:24.780 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: Your survival of the world depends on us getting our act together our survival demands it, and our children deserve it. 137 00:32:25.890 --> 00:32:27.960 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: And i'll leave it at that, thank you. 138 00:32:29.940 --> 00:32:38.970 Mark Reynolds: wow that's beautiful James Thank you so much, the link to the inside climate news piece is in the Action sheet and I recommend you all read it if you've read it read it again. 139 00:32:39.930 --> 00:32:53.280 Mark Reynolds: I just love that it starts with that we all have something to do here doesn't blame anybody else it says we've all we've all got skin in this game, you know we're all getting to do it together flannery, what are we seeing out there, that people are asking about today. 140 00:32:54.390 --> 00:33:04.680 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: Alright, so our first question is from tamra first James she says, I love your work, I have been deeply moved by a few of your films chasing ice, in particular, and she says, thank you for that. 141 00:33:05.940 --> 00:33:17.910 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: But she shares before she says, before I was a part of CCL I felt pretty helpless regarding what I could do, or what can be done to address the gravity of the problem and I avoided movies, like chasing ice. 142 00:33:18.330 --> 00:33:25.080 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: what's your perspective on people's tendency to shut down and stay inactive and overwhelmed when they see images of our changing climate. 143 00:33:26.670 --> 00:33:36.510 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: yeah you know it's it's it's one of the essential, fundamental problems, a lot of people would rather stick their head heads in the sand, I just realized that. 144 00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:53.880 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: One has to have a sort of a a willed willful determination to open the eyes and keep on i'm not going to pretend that that the the weight of this doesn't get to me, I mean I spend a lot of time feeling. 145 00:33:54.990 --> 00:34:06.480 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: frustrated or stressed and overwhelmed by the the scope of of the problem and how little we sometimes seem to be doing about it, but there is progress, and I think. 146 00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:20.820 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: That people just have to have the inner moral and ethical courage to say i'm not going to let it crush me i'm not going to curl up in despair and sit in a corner and pull a blanket over my head and ignore all this stuff. 147 00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:35.310 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: that's what I have in it and it doesn't come easily, believe me, there's days when I think i'd like to pull a blanket over my head, but I don't feel like I really have that choice, I just have to keep doing what i'm doing. 148 00:34:36.360 --> 00:34:41.400 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: Absolutely when CCL we say action is the antidote to despair, so we try to just keep moving. 149 00:34:42.630 --> 00:34:55.470 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: um we have another question here from Robert who asks how much are people connecting the extreme conditions they experienced and that you photograph to climate change, do they sense, the increase in frequency and intensity. 150 00:34:56.580 --> 00:35:07.650 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: yeah I think people do even even here in the US, including in parts of the country that are more disposed to being dismissive of these issues. 151 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:21.450 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: The the surveys, the poll numbers are showing very, very clearly that people are getting the message from nature, you know, nature has been speaking or let me say the rest of nature non human nature has been speaking. 152 00:35:21.930 --> 00:35:36.540 James Balog, Founder of the Extreme Ice Survey and Earth Vision Institute: and showing its hand and showing the consequences of the fossil fuel burning and people understand that people get that in their bones and people see it and the and the opinions about this issue have been steadily changing over the past 10 years. 153 00:35:37.380 --> 00:35:44.310 Mark Reynolds: Well, James Thank you so so much, please do feel free to stay on for the next 15 minutes or so we're going to get a quick legislative update then we'll. 154 00:35:44.700 --> 00:35:51.600 Mark Reynolds: go over some of the things that have happened and what we're going to be doing this month and it might be of interest to you, but thank you so much for that that was stunningly beautiful. 155 00:35:52.440 --> 00:35:52.830 Mark Reynolds: Thank you. 156 00:35:53.070 --> 00:35:58.080 Mark Reynolds: yeah Thank you and I also just want to give out a shout out to Peter Joseph, thank you for. 157 00:35:58.530 --> 00:36:04.620 Mark Reynolds: doing the initial recruitment to get a log on our advisory board and the initial outreach to have him on the call, so thank you for doing that Peter. 158 00:36:05.010 --> 00:36:12.120 Mark Reynolds: I see Dr Danny Richter has joined us and Danny, what can you tell us about where we are and kind of the path that we might chart over the next few months. 159 00:36:13.560 --> 00:36:21.270 Danny Richter: Sure, thank you mark and thank you, James below for that wonderful presentation, really, really an honor to have you here. 160 00:36:22.350 --> 00:36:27.840 Danny Richter: So, my name is Andy Richter on your Vice President of government affairs and let's get into that legislative update. 161 00:36:28.410 --> 00:36:38.220 Danny Richter: First of all, reconciliation remains something that members of Congress are pushing for and they're pushing for a carbon price as part of it, this remains a possibility. 162 00:36:38.820 --> 00:36:49.410 Danny Richter: Since our last national call, we have heard, Joe manchin Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden all say that they believe that the climate portion so the reconciliation bill discussed so far. 163 00:36:49.860 --> 00:36:58.590 Danny Richter: Where the easiest to get agreement on so all they have said, well, someone has said that they are quote unquote starting from scratch on reconciliation. 164 00:36:59.040 --> 00:37:05.940 Danny Richter: And while we have been advised to stop calling the reconciliation build build back better for marketing purposes. 165 00:37:06.420 --> 00:37:13.440 Danny Richter: It would appear that, if anything, patches it will include a lot for the climate climate advocates, we should feel really good about that. 166 00:37:14.340 --> 00:37:21.540 Danny Richter: and President Biden was expressing this he did say that it might be good to break up the reconciliation package into quote unquote chunks. 167 00:37:21.900 --> 00:37:32.670 Danny Richter: And I know that this word, in particular, has created some confusion, so let me clarify, he was not saying that there will be multiple reconciliation bills there's still only going to be one shot. 168 00:37:33.180 --> 00:37:42.660 Danny Richter: At a reconciliation bill this Congress achieve the climate change but portions of other democratic priorities such as healthcare or investments in families. 169 00:37:43.050 --> 00:37:51.210 Danny Richter: are either going to be squeezed into other bills that might pass through regular order attempted it standalone bills are left for a future Congress. 170 00:37:51.630 --> 00:38:00.480 Danny Richter: refers climate advocates, I think this underscores how significant it is the Joe mentioned Joe Biden Nancy Pelosi all agree that climate. 171 00:38:00.780 --> 00:38:09.420 Danny Richter: is easiest to get agreement on and that is definitely part of any reconciliation bill that might move forward let's talk about timing. 172 00:38:10.050 --> 00:38:18.150 Danny Richter: Right now Congress is extraordinarily busy they need to fund the government they're trying to work on a bill about our competitiveness with China. 173 00:38:18.600 --> 00:38:26.730 Danny Richter: The state of the Union is coming up appropriations in April there's President Biden Supreme Court pick and there are many other things besides. 174 00:38:27.360 --> 00:38:37.980 Danny Richter: Here is our expectation quiet conversations are going on right now about what will be in the reconciliation bill on the sidelines as all these other priorities are being worked through. 175 00:38:38.640 --> 00:38:52.770 Danny Richter: And once a new framework has been built Congress and really talking about the Senate here well again take up reconciliation in a serious way, this is probably going to take months, meaning that our June lobby day may end up being particularly well times. 176 00:38:53.790 --> 00:39:07.830 Danny Richter: In the meantime, we have some breathing room to build our power in district in State while still keeping constituent pressure on both democrats and Republicans to act on climate, and that is what our actions with mine are about. 177 00:39:08.850 --> 00:39:18.780 Danny Richter: Beginning Republicans i'd like to talk about them for a moment, some of you have expressed concerns that by focusing on reconciliation CCL has forgotten about Republicans. 178 00:39:19.320 --> 00:39:28.710 Danny Richter: I can see how this makes sense from a CCL volunteer perspective, however i'd like to invite you to consider the perspective of Congressional Republicans. 179 00:39:29.370 --> 00:39:38.550 Danny Richter: What they have seen over the past year is CCL volunteers, supporting the growing climate solutions act which passed the Senate 92 to eight. 180 00:39:39.600 --> 00:39:47.850 Danny Richter: they've seen you push for the forest Act and the riot act in November, which are two bills and many of them can see themselves supporting likes the Green Climate solutions act. 181 00:39:48.360 --> 00:39:55.440 Danny Richter: And they're seeing us as helping them Senator braun who reads the Senate climate solutions Caucus along with Senator coons. 182 00:39:55.830 --> 00:39:59.070 Danny Richter: was of course the lead republican on the growing climate solutions back. 183 00:39:59.550 --> 00:40:09.360 Danny Richter: So the Republican leader on that bill and the lead of the kind of climate solutions Caucus field very supportive icl and like we've been affected and giving him. 184 00:40:09.780 --> 00:40:18.480 Danny Richter: The climate and the climate solutions Caucus for when the same is true for representative curtis in the House who founded the conservative climate Caucus. 185 00:40:18.840 --> 00:40:27.900 Danny Richter: Thought shoot rapidly to over 70 republican members and is in the habit of thinking CCL both his constituents have built a heck of a relationship with him. 186 00:40:28.290 --> 00:40:37.260 Danny Richter: And CCL national as important supporters of the conservative climate Caucus my team here in DC has also been busy on all these fronts. 187 00:40:38.040 --> 00:40:43.770 Danny Richter: Complementing volunteer efforts and, of course, please remember three of my staff or former republican staff on the hill. 188 00:40:44.550 --> 00:40:53.160 Danny Richter: Well, you have currently is republican leadership, including leader McCarthy and Mitch mcconnell saying that they need a plan on climate for next Congress. 189 00:40:53.550 --> 00:41:01.530 Danny Richter: And they are putting themselves on the hook by saying this to deliver that I think that the people on this call should claim some credit for that. 190 00:41:02.760 --> 00:41:09.570 Danny Richter: Short, if you take the view of Congressional Republicans CCL has never been more helpful more presence. 191 00:41:09.990 --> 00:41:18.990 Danny Richter: Or, more impactful as we've been over the past year towards the goal of the Republican Party that can vote for and cast climate legislation. 192 00:41:19.890 --> 00:41:26.670 Danny Richter: As I said in my remarks that our November conference more Republicans are walking in the direction of climate action than ever before. 193 00:41:27.090 --> 00:41:39.030 Danny Richter: And it's easier to get someone to walk faster in the direction they're already heading them to get them to change directions, we are succeeding and getting them to walk faster in the direction of climate action. 194 00:41:40.110 --> 00:41:48.240 Danny Richter: Finally, I want to speak to what mark and Madeline queued up at the November conference, namely the possibility that CCL would be expanding our policy focus. 195 00:41:49.260 --> 00:41:54.660 Danny Richter: This is a process that we have begun with a sense of deep humility about what we are undertaking. 196 00:41:55.560 --> 00:42:01.500 Danny Richter: we're entering this process with truly open minds as we seek expert and stakeholder opinions. 197 00:42:02.100 --> 00:42:11.460 Danny Richter: On what are the other big things that we could spend our time trying to achieve, including scientists economists environmental justice advocates representing frontline communities. 198 00:42:11.910 --> 00:42:20.370 Danny Richter: Of course, our volunteers, as well as other stakeholders, a little about how this might work, obviously we have our primary asks and we ever supporting as. 199 00:42:21.120 --> 00:42:29.280 Danny Richter: What we are undertaking is at 123 additional primary asked level policies, and please let me set some expectations here. 200 00:42:29.850 --> 00:42:36.750 Danny Richter: First it's going to take a while before we finish our consultation process back in, even if we could finish that with lightning speed. 201 00:42:37.140 --> 00:42:45.420 Danny Richter: We don't think at this time that it would make much sense to do that before the reconciliation opportunity for which we remain hopeful is played out. 202 00:42:46.290 --> 00:42:55.410 Danny Richter: Third, carbon fee and dividend will always be a priority in a version of carbon price passes and reconciliation, we will be busy defending it in strengthening it. 203 00:42:55.800 --> 00:42:58.290 Danny Richter: And if it doesn't we will continue advocating for it. 204 00:42:59.130 --> 00:43:10.680 Danny Richter: Or, I want to point out that we have all become used to a level of knowledge and detail around carbon fee and dividend and its impact that it has after all taken us 13 years to build up to. 205 00:43:11.220 --> 00:43:22.260 Danny Richter: So when we start advocating for other policies, we will start building up our training and expertise, but please keep in mind that will take some time so that is what I wanted to share with you in this legislative update. 206 00:43:22.620 --> 00:43:34.200 Mark Reynolds: And can I ask you one question so you've been on the calls with some of the people we've been talking to outside the organization and can you just give a flavor of how those calls are going and how those people are approaching the process. 207 00:43:35.850 --> 00:43:45.240 Danny Richter: They are smart and they know a lot about the options that are are out there it's it's been interesting to try and. 208 00:43:45.720 --> 00:43:52.350 Danny Richter: extract for them, I think, I think that they're used to thinking about what is the easiest thing, and of course that's not what we're after. 209 00:43:53.040 --> 00:44:00.810 Danny Richter: we're happy we're after the big things, and so we have to kind of work, some a little bit like we're needing some bread, to really get get them to. 210 00:44:01.590 --> 00:44:13.440 Danny Richter: To extend a little bit so it's been a little bit of work to get them to really get on board with the ambition that we've always had here at CCL, but I think we are getting to some very interesting thoughts. 211 00:44:14.490 --> 00:44:18.690 Danny Richter: We remain early in this process, but we are, we are we're doing the work. 212 00:44:19.200 --> 00:44:23.520 Mark Reynolds: Nice great great update Danny and thank you for that extra little piece there to appreciate it. 213 00:44:24.690 --> 00:44:37.890 Mark Reynolds: Okay So what are we doing this month, first of all, the first action we have is related to letters to the editor and op eds and our good fortune is the senior director of communications is actually on the call so she can tell us a little bit about that flattery Winchester. 214 00:44:39.090 --> 00:44:50.940 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: All right, hello, so our first action this month, as he said, is to write letters to the editor and op eds and also to start planning what media activities your. 215 00:44:51.780 --> 00:45:04.890 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: Your chapter will do throughout this year so local media is a hugely important tool for us to use, because we know that Congressional offices pay attention to it, especially when the representative or the Senator is mentioned by name in the media. 216 00:45:05.490 --> 00:45:18.840 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: And right now is a great time to write letters and op eds because we've spent the last few months, generating 10s of thousands of calls and emails about climate legislation and now local media can help us keep up that pressure in a French and even more public way. 217 00:45:19.890 --> 00:45:24.390 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: So I want to make you aware of a few resources, we have to help you write these letters and op eds. 218 00:45:24.720 --> 00:45:34.470 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: We have a document of recommended LTE topics available on CCL community which are updated on a regular basis, and you can use those ideas to start writing a letter. 219 00:45:35.340 --> 00:45:41.010 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: We also have outlines that you can use for inspiration and guidance to write op eds which are longer pieces. 220 00:45:41.640 --> 00:45:52.200 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: And all of these resources are created by our wonderful state and local media coordinator, Charlotte Ward who is available to help you in your chapter with any questions that you have about local media work. 221 00:45:52.620 --> 00:46:06.330 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: Charlotte also hosts a monthly letter writing party on zoom where you can log on from your computer get letter ideas spend some focus time actually writing your letter and then share your draft and get support from other folks on the call. 222 00:46:07.200 --> 00:46:19.620 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: So these LTE events are open to any volunteer from any chapter and they take place on the second Tuesday of every month, and you can find the information on the CCL Community event calendar, or in the Action sheet this month. 223 00:46:20.100 --> 00:46:35.280 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: And lastly, I just want to thank all the volunteers who are already writing letters and offense and your local newspapers last year just in the US alone, he published 732 op eds and 2404 letters to the editor so that's amazing let's Keep it up. 224 00:46:35.820 --> 00:46:42.060 Mark Reynolds: yeah in 135 in January flannery I mean that's just an incredible start to the year what what how did that happen. 225 00:46:42.450 --> 00:46:43.620 Flannery Winchester, Communications Director: People are rocking and rolling. 226 00:46:46.590 --> 00:46:57.060 Mark Reynolds: flattery thanks so so much and thanks for being so brilliant at your job so there's two other things that we're asking you to do is one is to start to plan a in person spring event. 227 00:46:58.620 --> 00:47:06.450 Mark Reynolds: We can do it probably outside some places might work some places it might not but begin to plan, one might be around Earth Day, but. 228 00:47:07.200 --> 00:47:17.910 Mark Reynolds: boy, the idea of getting together sounds pretty good to me, and then the other thing is, we will be having our second ever conservative Conference in March march 29 and 30th in Washington DC. 229 00:47:18.390 --> 00:47:23.550 Mark Reynolds: And for anybody that you know who's right of Center if you would please reach out to them invite them to the conference. 230 00:47:23.880 --> 00:47:31.170 Mark Reynolds: You know if we are not providing a grassroots effort to build conservative support it's not going to happen. 231 00:47:31.530 --> 00:47:37.170 Mark Reynolds: So it's really important for any of you who have people are right of Center in your chapter, you know people are right of Center. 232 00:47:37.680 --> 00:47:41.820 Mark Reynolds: Please make sure to invite them to the event last time was wildly successful. 233 00:47:42.120 --> 00:47:58.020 Mark Reynolds: And we'd like to get as many people are right of Center and showing particularly republican members of Congress that there is support from people who have the same political persuasion as they have so please reach out to those people we can Okay, a couple of things to report on. 234 00:47:59.250 --> 00:48:10.860 Mark Reynolds: Since last month's call so in the November conference there to the live event I don't have the recorded numbers, yet, but the live event 2009 2393 people attended. 235 00:48:11.280 --> 00:48:22.800 Mark Reynolds: And that included every single US State, so we had people from all 50 states and the district attending the November Conference also for countries outside of the US who attended. 236 00:48:23.610 --> 00:48:29.040 Mark Reynolds: included Australia Bangladesh Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo. 237 00:48:29.460 --> 00:48:49.290 Mark Reynolds: France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom so of the 2393 people all 50 States and those countries outside and I again do not have the information on the. 238 00:48:50.820 --> 00:48:51.870 Mark Reynolds: On the recordings yet. 239 00:48:53.070 --> 00:48:55.020 Mark Reynolds: Also, the. 240 00:48:56.190 --> 00:49:03.630 Mark Reynolds: Virginia economists statement come out so we've got another state where 25 economists signed a letter essentially supporting our proposal. 241 00:49:03.930 --> 00:49:11.790 Mark Reynolds: Those local economists are so important to that particular community so for everybody who was involved in that, thank you for that really extraordinary work. 242 00:49:12.180 --> 00:49:19.500 Mark Reynolds: And I also want to just reference back to the mid Atlantic conference that happened last weekend so that's the first regional conference we've had in a while. 243 00:49:19.950 --> 00:49:31.620 Mark Reynolds: And there were speakers from the naacp from audubon and it was a really interesting event because it was a combination of both some virtual and some in person and Sabrina and everybody who was involved with. 244 00:49:32.910 --> 00:49:34.080 Mark Reynolds: That regional conference. 245 00:49:35.190 --> 00:49:38.760 Mark Reynolds: Thank you for putting that on and for getting so many great speakers. 246 00:49:39.420 --> 00:49:47.580 Mark Reynolds: Okay last thing I mentioned, is this, so we will be having our June conference June 11 through the 13th registration will open up soon and for the first time ever. 247 00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:54.240 Mark Reynolds: we're going to be inviting our hundred and 46 chapters around the world to lobby the same work week that we're loving. 248 00:49:54.540 --> 00:50:01.410 Mark Reynolds: So, usually this has just been a US lobbying effort we've usually had a lot of Canadians of the Conference, and we were live in DC they've done things like. 249 00:50:01.920 --> 00:50:03.270 Mark Reynolds: lobby, the World Bank and stuff. 250 00:50:03.600 --> 00:50:14.280 Mark Reynolds: But this is something where we'll be doing a worldwide effort in some cases will happen before, because the Canadian conferences in May and they'll be doing the lobbying right after that the willingly inviting the rest of the world. 251 00:50:14.640 --> 00:50:20.580 Mark Reynolds: to join us, so what are some of them going to be doing in Mexico they're going to be lobbying on their countries carbon pricing. 252 00:50:20.940 --> 00:50:29.640 Mark Reynolds: they're going to be asking for it to be more transparent and that they're going to ask them to show how to have money distributed back to the people and to have the carbon price be more stringent. 253 00:50:30.360 --> 00:50:39.450 Mark Reynolds: and Canada they're going to be asking for improvements on the greenhouse gas Pollution Act of 2018 which is their climate income policy in Nigeria. 254 00:50:39.780 --> 00:50:50.160 Mark Reynolds: they'll ask you that their country's carbon pricing policy be a climate income and also enshrine evidence based climate policy into Nigerian laws and in Europe there'll be. 255 00:50:50.730 --> 00:50:54.780 Mark Reynolds: Lobbying Brussels on the carbon pricing in Europe to include a significant climate. 256 00:50:55.260 --> 00:51:04.380 Mark Reynolds: Income component and Australia will be asking their employees to adopt an efficient carbon price and their government to legislate their promises for net zero by 2050 so. 257 00:51:04.590 --> 00:51:13.680 Mark Reynolds: A lot of our friends around the world would be doing, making very similar as to what will be making in the US and it'll be really exciting be making a worldwide push during that time. 258 00:51:14.010 --> 00:51:25.440 Mark Reynolds: So, again I want to thank our guest James Bay logs Thank you so much for making yourself available for making a beautiful presentation, for your life's work being so extraordinary and such a gift to all of us, thanks everybody we'll see you next month bye now.