Can’t Trick or Treat?? Do something sweet, take on a task for CCL!!

Sometimes I get questions from folks, what can I do, how can I make a difference?  There are lots of mundane tasks that need doing, though occasionally there is the higher drama of actual lobbying or working at an event.  But mostly – there are administrative or research tasks.  Here are a few tasks – can you help now?

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1. A quick, focused task – can you use Excel or Word and type about 80 names to do a cross comparison of two lists of co-sponsors?  Lori Morales would like your help.  Please email her and she’ll tell you what she needs and how to do it. lmorales@winfirst.com   This is a great task if you are new to CCL!​

2. On going task – It would be nice to have VERY BRIEF notes on meetings.  We have two meetings a month. Our monthly chapter meeting is every second Saturday from 10 – 12 and on a Wednesday evening from 5 - 6, about 10 days prior is our Advisory Committee Meeting (all are welcome to participate). This can be a shared task – two or three people can take turns.  Let me know if you are willing egthacher@gmail.com

3. Letters to the Editor – Writing LTEs is critical right now as details for the Senate and House bills take shape – we’ll be making a big push to keep letters flowing to the Bee or any other paper you choose.  We have several people working to identify articles to respond to and letter writers that help draft an LTE that you can edit and submit.  It’s fun to see your name in print! Please let me know if you can help with this egthacher@gmail.com

4. Occasional writing/research – Around the time of lobby meetings, we need research to help prepare for a meeting or write a follow up email.  Often  someone can direct you to the material – but we need someone to do the analysis and writing. egthacher@gmail.com

5. Work on local issues – Several local jurisdictions are working climate action plans including the Cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento as well as the County of Sacramento.  If you want to get involved, let me know and I’ll point you in the direction of meetings to attend/letters to write/calls to make.  egthacher@gmail.com

Very Important – Sign Up for the CCL Conference November 13 and 14
Normally we would have a monthly chapter meeting on  Saturday, November 13, but it is also the date of the virtual CCL national conference.  Our next monthly chapter meeting will be Saturday, December 11.

Conference registration and details here: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/climate-change-conferences/fall/ 

Saturday the 13th, from 10 – 2pm Pacific Time, is short sessions, updates, and key note speakers. 
On Sunday the 14th, choose from one of several seminars offered, starting at 10 am Pacific.  There are seminars which are specific to new volunteers as well as seasoned ones. Note some of the times listed on the website are Eastern Standard Time.

Write Biden and your Member of the HOUSE AGAIN!
https://citizensclimatelobby.org/white-house/.
And
https://citizensclimatelobby.org/house/
The White House has put forward a framework for climate policies worth $555 billion. They have also acknowledged it will not get the US to their goal of 50% of 2005 emissions by 2030.  A carbon tax is needed and still under consideration but also under the radar. Expect the wild ride to continue next week. That’s why we need to reach out to our member of the House (AGAIN) and advocate strongly that reconciliation needs to include policies that get us to 50% emissions reductions by 2030, and to advocate for a carbon price to be a key part of that package.

Here is a perspective, written on Thursday, by Tony Sirna, Data and Strategy Coordinator for CCL.

Today President Biden released a framework for the reconciliation bill that he hopes will work for Democrats in Congress. It includes $550 Billion in climate spending.

• $320 billion for clean energy tax credits. This includes 10-year expanded tax credits for utility-scale and residential clean energy, transmission and storage, clean passenger and commercial vehicles and clean energy manufacturing.

• $105 billion to address extreme weather, pollution in communities and the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps to conserve public lands and bolster community resilience.

• $110 in investments and incentives for clean energy technology, manufacturing and supply chains.

• $20 billion to provide incentives for the government to purchase next generation technologies, including clean construction materials.

If passed this would be an historic investment in climate and deserves to be celebrated. Models show these provisions would reduce emissions by 800-1000 Million tons in 2030. That is a big deal!

Models also show that this would not be enough to get to the target of 50% emission reductions by 2030 without additional action (it’s closer to 40-43%). Biden has been saying they can make up the rest based on executive action and state action based on a study from the Rhodium Group, but even that study highlights the risks regulations face in the courts and from elections. Much better to add a carbon fee to the bill now so we can make hitting that target a solid bet.

It is also worth noting that this framework comes from Biden but it is not clear that it has full approval from all the key actors in Congress. We may see a framework released from the Senate soon that differs from Bidens’.
You are probably worrying about not seeing carbon pricing in that framework, but we did not actually expect to see one at this time. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has been saying:

“Once Democrats agreed on an overall framework for the bill, they would then craft a companion “emissions framework.” Mr. Whitehouse described a plan in which Democrats would commit to a top-line level of emissions reductions in the bill and then add policies to the legislation to achieve those cuts.

“Once we sort out the spending and pay-fors, and then once we know what we need to do for emissions reductions, that’s when the work on a carbon fee begins in earnest,” Mr. Whitehouse said.

So, do not give up hope -- the carbon pollution fee is definitely still in play. We do not yet know the timing of when this emissions framework will be discussed. Nor do we know what that process will look like, but we will certainly be advocating for carbon pricing up to and during that time.

It seems clear that this framework announcement was primarily for the purpose of giving Biden something to take to the climate conference in Glasgow, a worthy goal. It does not appear to have convinced House progressives to vote for the infrastructure bill and it’s clear that negotiations in the Senate are continuing.

So my (Tony's) advice for today is to add a cheer to the celebration for the climate provisions in this framework, and keep focused on asking people to write to the President in support of a price on carbon so we can hit our goal of 50% by 2030.