
Sacramento Citizens' Climate Lobby
Past Newsletters from CCL Sacramento​
March 2021
Dear Fellow Members of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Sacramento-
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CCL anticipates that climate legislation will be proposed this spring or summer. Although there is no new carbon fee and dividend bill in the 117th Congress, CCL is hopeful that a bill will be released this spring and that it will be bipartisan. Other signs are positive: the Biden administration has indicated that it will bring forward climate legislation and the Senate has formed a bipartisan (7 Republicans and 7 Democrats) Climate Solutions Caucus. The Caucus met in February with the Business Roundtable which supports putting a price on carbon.
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There is increasing support from businesses for “a well-designed market-based mechanism” to fight climate change. Businesses do not want to experience what occurred in 2019 and 2020 with regulation roll backs, a notable example being the changes to the federal standard for vehicle miles per gallon requirements, which gave car-makers whiplash. Some of the businesses and businesspeople that are lining up to support strong climate action:
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Business Roundtable - Carbon price
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Chamber of Commerce - Market-based solution
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American Petroleum Institute – Carbon price
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Jeff Bezos, Janet Yellen, John Kerry, Bill Gates - Carbon price
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GM - will sell only zero emission vehicles by 2035
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Senator Mitt Romney, member of the Climate Solutions Caucus – carbon price
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What can you do? Email your member of the House and Senate https://citizensclimatelobby.org/write-your-representative/#/74/
There is a brief pre-filled script – but always edit to personalize your email. Suggestions include telling your Senators and Congressperson that you support putting a price on carbon because:
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It takes care of low income households by returning a dividend that is as much or more than will be expended, for over 60% of households.
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It is durable and will provide stability for business
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It will reduce emissions quickly and at the least cost
Got Questions? Ask.
Edith Thacher
CCL Sacramento Chapter Lead
edithsccl@gmail.com
EVENTS
Locally, our calendar is filling up with varied and interesting events. As part of providing information on the County and City Climate Action Plans (CAP) we are working on outreach events with other local environmental organizations, such as 350 Sacramento, Sierra Club, ECOS and Breathe.
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For your viewing pleasure, we will sponsor the Wild and Scenic Film Festival – you can watch 20 environmental films from the comfort of your own home. On Earth Day – April 22. Mark your calendar!
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March Dates & Announcements:
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Saturday March 13 - CCL Nation Call & Sacramento Chapter monthly meeting
National call at 10 am, the speaker is Jennifer Burney of UCSD. Her research focuses on achieving global food security and mitigating climate change.
Sacramento chapter meeting at 10:45 am.
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March 15–April 19 - Economic Benefits of Carbon Fee & Dividend ​​​​​​​Mondays 5-6 pm
Jerry Hinkle, CCL economist is giving this 6-week course on the economic benefits of carbon fee & dividend. Should be really good – Dana recommends it. Details here.
March 14 - En-ROADS Climate Action Simulation Game (Role Play) On-Line, 1-4 pm
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In this Simulation participants take on roles, those of climate hawks, oil companies, governments and others. Participants work to reduce emissions and explore the impact of policies that will help limit global warming to no more than 2°C (3.6°F) through 2100 with the goal of avoiding irreversible damage to the environment, global economy, and public health.
Read more about the En-ROADS simulator: https://www.climateinteractive.org/about/
Two minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9xRwhFNMyc
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Sat March 27 - Braver Angels: Bridging the Divide on Climate Solutions
While most Americans understand that climate change is real, they disagree about how to solve it. Some seek solutions that maintain the status quo, while others believe that the problem requires major systemic changes. Many agree that the topic is polarizing. This workshop, designed in collaboration with Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL), teaches communication skills that will allow people to talk more constructively with each other about solutions to climate change.
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Looking Ahead For Your Calendar – Details to come
April 22, Earth Day! – Wild and Scenic Films Fundraiser for CCL Sac
$25 per ticket gives you access to 20 terrific films for environmentalists
May 13 – Where There’s Fire, There’s Smoke. 6-8pm Themes: science of wildfires, public health and smoke, and what to do about indoor smoke
DONATIONS
Monthly Donations to Citizens’ Climate Lobby are now being matched $3 to $1 for 3 months. Learn more: http://cclusa.org/0321sms1
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Dear Fellow Members of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Sacramento-
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This newsletter contains a lot of great news, information on excellent upcoming events and a few good articles to read.
GREAT NEWS
The new bill for the 117th Congress, the Energy Innovation and Climate Dividend Act, HR 2307, was released by Congressman Deutch’s office last week. HOORAY!!!!
I hope you received a boatload of messages from CCL National encouraging you to write your member of the House -- for most of us Doris Matsui (District 06) or Dr. Ami Bera (District 07) -- asking them to co-sponsor the bill.
Go here to email them: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/write-your-representative/#/74/
There is a script you can customize for your email and the site identifies your member of Congress for you.
This bill is a great complement to the American Jobs Plan – we’d like carbon pricing to be part of it.
More GREAT NEWS:
Senator Dick Durbin has proposed a carbon pricing bill, S.685, America's Clean Future Fund Act of 2021. It starts at $25 per ton and 75% of the revenue generated would go to rebates for low and middle income households.
The American Jobs Plan (Infrastructure) reimagines our economy and pushes towards lower CO2 levels in rebuilding and in investments. It provides for an enormous investment in electric vehicles, big tax incentives for renewable energy and widespread improvements to the ailing US power grid.
GREAT local news:
Our monthly meeting is tomorrow, Saturday April 10 – Join us. (details below)
For Earth Day, April 22, CCL Sacramento is hosting the Wild and Scenic Film Festival. (see attachment)
Citizens’ Climate Lobby Sacramento is coordinating with the local chapters of 350.org, Sierra Club and the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) to provide comments on Sacramento County’s Climate Action Plan (CAP). Comments were submitted April 9 and a new draft will be available for public comment in May.
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EVENTS
April 22 – Wild and Scenic Films
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$25 per ticket gives you access to 20 terrific films for environmentalists
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Fundraiser for SacCCL (!), buy tickets !!!
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Send publicity info to your friends, family and other organizations – see attachment
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Register here: https://browercenter.org/wsff-2021/
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Use “CCLSAC” for $5 discount
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Films are available for viewing for 5 days, but the live, virtual event starts at 7 pm
Dana Nuccitelli, environmental scientist, climate journalist, and member of our chapter is giving the following talks:
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April 14, noon-1pm – Sierra College Presentation
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For Santa Clara University Earth Week:
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April 19 @6pm: wildfires, climate, and solutions (basically the same as the Sierra presentation, though there will be an artist speaking about his/her wildfire painting before me - I have a headliner).
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April 22 @9:15am: "refutational journalism", about climate myth debunking.
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Program and registration; https://www.scu.edu/turn/headliners/
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For your Calendar – Details to Follow
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April 28 – Climate Change and Public Health. 3-5 pm
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Congressman Ami Bera’s office is partnering with us on this event. It will include an En-ROADS (climate solutions simulator) presentation by Kathy Dodson and a discussion on climate change in Sacramento by Dr Tom Suchanek as well as a panel of health experts.
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Dr. Bera will speak
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Dr Bera’s Legislative Director will talk about climate legislation in the current Congress
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May 13 – Where There’s Fire, There’s Smoke. 6-8pm
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Themes: climate change and wildfires, public health and smoke, what to do about indoor smoke – Dana will speak.
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We are partnering with Breathe and the Sacramento chapters of 350, Sierra Club, ECOS, and CA Air Resources Board on this event.
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CCL NATIONAL MONTHLY MEETING
The Speaker: Rev. Franklin Ruff, Pastor of First Baptist Church, Stillwell, KS.
At a time when distrust and animosity between our political parties appears to be at an all-time high, we need to take a step back and find ways to work together so we can solve the big problems facing our nation. We hear this month from Rev. Franklin Ruff, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Stillwell, Kansas, and past president of American Baptist Churches of the Central Region. He is also the Red Co-Chair of the Braver Angels Kansas City Alliance. Rev. Ruff is a conservative who says, "One of the things we can do to make [our country] better is look and see the humanity of others and to be humble." He'll talk about how to bridge differences and listen to each other to find common ground.
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READING
Scientific American Article - Energy Companies Reluctantly Embrace Carbon Pricing
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Established prices would be easier to meet than a patchwork of regulations and mandates
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By Corbin Hiar, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/energy-companies-reluctantly-embrace-carbon-pricing/
In Axios – Energy Industry Heavyweights Boost Carbon Price Lobbying
Members as diverse as the Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, World Resources Institute, PG&E, Ford, BP, Shell, Total, Dominion Energy, DuPont, Dow, now actively lobbying for a carbon tax.
If you have been wondering about the true cost of subsidies to the fossil fuel industry…… a new paper was published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Here is an article about it. https://heated.world/p/the-true-cost-of-fossil-fuel-subsidies
April 2021
Fellow Members of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Sacramento,
What a difference a year makes! April 22, 2020 was the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day and we were diverted from celebrating to figuring out how to live during a pandemic….. and knew then there was no way to make progress on the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act in the 116th Congress. This April was very different.
Local Actions
In April of 2021, we celebrated Earth Day with:
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Picking up trash along the river (at Matsui Park!)
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Showing films from the Wild and Scenic Film Festival
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Dana Nuccitelli spoke twice at Santa Clara University Earth Week
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We assisted Congressman Ami Bera’s office in putting on a climate and public health event. Rep. Bera spoke and Matt Ceccato, his District Director, provided an update on climate legislation. CCL had strong representation with Kathy Dodson and Tom Suchanek of CCL Sacramento as well as Dr. Robin Cooper and Dr. Lee Balance from CCL in the Bay Area. Kathy showed the En-ROADS climate solutions simulator and demonstrated the effectiveness of putting a price on carbon. Other participating organizations included the American Lung Association and Valley Vision.
Kudos to all who worked on this behind the scenes, too; Tom, Hal Ferber and especially Lori Morales, our chapter liaison to Congressman Bera’s office. For over a year, Lori and the Bera lobbying team have been encouraging the Congressman's office to talk to constituents about climate change. Lori and Edith Thacher worked very closely with Philip Norton, Bera’s Field Representative, to make this event happen.
We’d also like to recognize and thank the SMUD Board of Directors. They announced a plan to be zero carbon by 2030. Read the SacBee article about it for details.
~Edith Thacher
National Legislation
Progress is being made at the national level, too. The American Jobs Act has a lot in it for
climate change and a bi-partisan re-introduction of a bill to cut methane has come out of the
Senate (3 Republicans voted for it). The Growing Climate Solutions Act is also bipartisan, 21 co-
sponsors on each side of the aisle (total 42) and focuses on sequestering of carbon by farmers
and forest owners. We’ll discuss both bills at our monthly meeting May 8.
Facts you can Use – When Talking about Climate Change
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Weather-related disasters cost the United States $95 billion and killed more than 200 people last year;
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The climate is always changing but, in 4.6 billion years it has never warmed this fast, and seven of the hottest years ever occurred in the last 10 years;
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The United States is the largest historical source of planet-warming emissions, which is why we need to be leaders in reducing emissions.
What Can You Do?
Send an electronic postcard to President Biden. Tell him you want him to put a price on carbon. It is easy and fun. Select your own photo for your postcard, think of a relevant message and go to our website to assemble: https://www.sacramentoccl.org/postcard-project. We will batch them up to send on May 8 – write yours today!
Email your member of the House and Senate https://citizensclimatelobby.org/write-your-representative/#/74/
There is a brief pre-filled script – but personalizing your email is best. Suggestions include telling your Senators and Congressperson that you support putting a price on carbon because:
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It takes care of low income households by returning a dividend that is as much or more than will be expended, for over 60% of households.
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It is durable and will provide stability for business.
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It will reduce emissions quickly and at the least cost.
AND – participate in our events!
EVENTS
Saturday, May 8, 10:00 am National Call and Sacramento Chapter Monthly Meeting
Speaker: Andrés Jimenez, Executive Director of Green2.0
Agenda:
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Recap the climate change/public health event with Congressman Bera
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Prepare for lobbying our Members of Congress in June
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Discuss: Growing Climate Solution Act and American Jobs Act – there may be secondary asks related to these bills while we are lobbying this June
Thursday, May 13, 6:00-7:30pm, Where There's Fire, There's Smoke
Learn about climate change and wildfires, the dangers of smoke and how to protect your health
at home. REGISTER HERE
Program Presentations and Speakers
Climate Change and Wildfires – Dana Nuccitelli, environmental scientist and climate journalist
Health Impacts of Climate Change and Smoke – Dr. Helene Margolis, epidemiologist, UC Davis
Mitigating Smoke Impacts at Home – Jeff Williams Ph.D, air pollution Specialist, CARB
Climate Action Plans - What are they and how you can make your voice heard by the
County – Michelle Manning
Sponsoring organizations include Breathe, Citizens' Climate Lobby, Environmental
Council of Sacramento, 350 Sacramento and the Sierra Club.
Please Put These Dates on Your Future Calendar
June 12-13 - CCL virtual Conference – Register: cclusa.org/June
June 14-18 - June lobby meetings
September 10 – Speaker event with Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, a joint event with the Sac State Renaissance Society and CCL Sacramento.INTERESTING READS
A high-level summary of the climate change actions in the American Jobs Act, and a plug for
adding a carbon price in the Washington Post.
The House GOP released their 'energy innovation agenda' during Earth Week to provide a
contrast to the Biden/Democrats climate plans. In the Yale Climate Connections, Dana
compared and contrasted them. The GOP explicitly opposed carbon pricing in their agenda, for
reasons that Ted Deutch’s bill (HR 2307) already addresses (higher energy costs for low-income
households [dividend] and disadvantaging US companies [border adjustment]).
Deadly air pollutant ‘disproportionately and systematically’ harms Americans of color. A study in the WP finds that Black, Latino and Asian Americans face higher levels of exposure to fine particulate matter from traffic, construction and other sources.
May 2021
Fellow Members of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Sacramento,
Two things to do this month – write your Congress persons and attend the CCL June Conference.
The Sacramento CCL June monthly meeting is cancelled (go to the Conference instead) and note that the July monthly meeting is Saturday the 10th. Recently, Sheldon Whitehouse (D. RI) was quoted as saying, “If anybody in corporate America actually wants to show up and be heard in a positive way on a climate bill, basically they better get off their rear ends right now.”
That applies to environmentalists too. Our voices need to be clear and loud now while the infrastructure bill is being reviewed and revised (the original version has two trillion dollars that are climate change related). Write (again!) or call your Senators and member of the House – CCL has made a push for contacting our elected representatives in May. We are asking our Senators to support the Growing Climate Solutions Act and our House representatives to co-sponsor the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act.
There are two excellent articles at the end of this newsletter – one that gives an over view of the conflicting views of pricing carbon and the other on the conflicting views of environmental organizations.
~Edith Thacher
TO DO
Email your member of the House and Senate:
https://citizensclimatelobby.org/write-your-representative
For information about the Growing Climate Solutions Act:
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/world-policy/article/2021/04/21/growing-
climate-solutions-act-bi
Keep your N95 Masks – Wildfire Smoke Season is Ahead
On May 13, CCL Sacramento sponsored an event in collaboration with Breathe California, the Environmental Council of Sacramento, 350 Sacramento and the Sierra Club for the Sacramento region. Participants learned how heat and smoke affect health, the negative impacts of wildfire smoke, and what you can do about it. Bottom line – Keep your N95 and KN95 masks – you may well need them late this summer.
JUNE EVENTS
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Saturday, June 6
Kat is holding a Potluck at 6 pm. IF you are vaccinated, please come and celebrate! Dinner starts at 6, an environmental film will be shown at 7 pm. Meet with some of your fellow environmentalists face-to-face. Please RSVP to her - kmcomie@comcast.net
Do you have connections to a religious group?
Tom is starting outreach to ask other organizations to sponsor or support the Katharine Hayhoe event on Sept 10 at 3 pm. Can you help by reaching out to organizations, particularly religious organizations, to sponsor the event to their members? Now is the time to warm up relationships so organizations will be open to us in August. If you can help, particularly if you have contacts in a religious organization, reach out to Tom thsuchanek@ucdavis.edu
He is developing a list of organizations and who will reach out to them. Please help.
CCL NATIONAL CONFERENCE "The Push for a Price on Carbon"
June 12 & 13 - via Zoom
Virtual and so much cheaper and easier than flying to Washington DC! Let's show up en masse!
Sat June 12, 10am to 2pm PT
Connect with others who care about climate change. There will be updates on what's happening in Washington, D.C., conversations with other supporting organizations, and training on how to be an effective grassroots advocate.
Sun June 13 10am PT
Choose one of four workshops, 1.5 – 2.5 hours long
Learn more and Register HERE
INTERESTING READS
Learn more about the current, conflicting cross currents around carbon pricing - more
businesses like it and progressives are less sure. It is a real push and pull situation.
POLITICO NEWS
From Dana: “I started writing an article about environmental groups opposing the Growing
Climate Solutions Act and carbon capture in general, and then a bunch of the same opposition
groups plus more (600+ total) came out in opposition to a clean electricity standard! That
created a bit of a panic about 'circular firing squads' and the fear that the left will torpedo our
best-ever shot at serious climate legislation. But I dove deep into it, and the good news is that
the divided groups are closer than they appear”.
YALE CLIMATE CONNECTIONS
June 2021
Dear Colleagues Currently Suffering Through Some of the Increasingly Terrible Impacts* of Climate Change,
Why are American businesses increasingly supporting a carbon price and other market based-climate solutions?
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, the American Petroleum Institute, the International Institute of Finance, the American Chemistry Council, and the National Ocean Industries Association have all issued statements of support, in addition to thousands of small and medium-sized businesses throughout the country.
BECAUSE, our biggest trading partner (Canada) and the largest foreign market available to U.S. producers (the EU single market) are seriously considering how to impose Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAMs) for imported goods. These countries have carbon prices in place and those prices are climbing rapidly. American businesses will be subject to those adjustments and their goods will be more expensive to our largest trading partners. In other words, US businesses will be paying our biggest trading partners because we do not have a price on carbon.
American business wants to be able to compete on a level playing field with the rest of the world. With CBAMs becoming reality, other large economies are incentivized to either speed the implementation of their current carbon price (China) or to consider implementing a carbon price of their own (Russia). This demonstrates that carbon prices with CBAMs are strong motivators for global cooperation on a global problem. Why? Because instead of paying Europeans, that Chinese, Russian or US money could stay at home.
Americans should capitalize on our existing competitive advantage. Our production processes are already quite clean relative to the rest of the world. However, the US is one of only two developed economies without a national carbon price.
Right now, a carbon price is not a central part of our national climate discussion. It should be. The U.S. Congress must act to keep American business competitive. This must include a border carbon adjustment paired with a domestic carbon price. There are now several bills in the House and the Senate to implement a national carbon price. The one with the most co-sponsors is HR 2307, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act with 75 co-sponsors and climbing.
If the US does not institute a price on carbon, our exports to the EU will become more expensive because they would be subject to the EU carbon border adjustment and therefore, the money from the carbon border adjustment would go to the EU. Similarly, if the US has a rigorous carbon pricing policy and a carbon border adjustment, then a country like China, which has a narrow and ineffective price on carbon, would end up paying carbon border adjustment money to the US treasury.
Please call or email your member of the House and Senate and tell them that putting a price on carbon is important to you. CLICK HERE TO START
With your phone calls and help, a carbon price will be part of the 2021 budget reconciliation bill. ~Edith Thacher, CCL Sacramento
*Increasingly Terrible Impacts, examples:
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Heat Dome - see OR, WA, Canada and another one In the North East
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Drought - see California’s farmers who are only getting 5% (not a typo) of their historic water allotments
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Delta Salmon and other Fish – also at risk due to reduced water, and river water is warmer and salty sea water encroaches farther into the Delta
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Wildfires and Smoke - just wait.
Carbon Price – a Quick and Excellent Summary
For a quick refresher on what a carbon price is and its benefits - listen to Fareed Zacharia, of CNN and the Washington Post. It is an excellent overview (4 minutes and well worth the time). He describes why pricing carbon pollution is the simplest, most elegant way to decarbonize the global economy. Last Look: Why We Need a Carbon Tax
UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday July 10, Sacramento Chapter Monthly Meeting and National Call - 10 am to noon. There are TWO Zoom calls.
FIRST ZOOM: 10:00 – 10:40 NATIONAL CALL
The Speaker: Allie Kelly, Executive Director of The Ray, a nonprofit that is reimagining our roadways to be greener and safer. The Ray is working on a living highway test bed to develop ways to capture solar energy, charge electric vehicles and provide a drive-through tire safety station.
Sacramento Chapter Meeting Agenda
1. Introductions
2. Recap of lobby meeting with Congressman Bera and what we need to do next
3. Planning for meeting with Matsui’s aide
4. Supporting the event with Dr Katherine Hayhoe Sept 10
5. Coordination with other enviros on the County CAP and more
6. Discuss Save our Future Act, Senate Bill 2085, and insights into carbon pricing bills and issues
7. Discuss Keep America Competitive – The Border Adjustment Measures of other nations and keeping American businesses competitive
8. Shall we plan another event/presentation? What would be the goal?
September 10, 3 pm, World-renowned climate scientist, Dr Katharine Hayhoe.
CCL Sacramento is sponsoring a talk by the world-renowned climate scientist and terrific speaker,
Dr Katharine Hayhoe. One topic she will touch on is the nexus of religion and climate change.
Save the date and can you help us to publicize this event?
We are looking for people to reach out to organizations, particularly religious organizations, to sponsor the event to their members. Now is the time to warm up relationships so organizations will be open to us in August. If you can help, particularly if you have contacts in a religious organization, reach out to Tom at thsuchanek@ucdavis.edu He is developing a list of organizations and who will reach out to them.
A Save the Date poster (suitable for Facebook, email, twitter and Instagram) is attached. Please share widely on your social media.
INTERESTING READS
Essay by Dr. Michael Mann and Susan Joy Hassol in The New York Times – That Heat Dome? Yeah, It's Climate Change. This is Not Your Grandparents’ Climate.
A radical idea from the International Monetary Fund proposing an international carbon price floor.
Pressure is certainly building on the US to institute a carbon price.
July 2021
Dear Colleagues Concerned about Climate Change,
The infrastructure bill passed on a bipartisan basis in the Senate today, and it is the strongest piece of climate legislation to come out of Congress yet. It invests in clean transportation, electric vehicles and public transit. It also invests in the electricity sector. Now that it is passed, the Senate will turn its attention to the budget reconciliation package, which contains a clean energy standard and a carbon border tax. This is movement in the right direction on climate but the reduction of emissions needs to be more squarely targeted. Targeted with a price on carbon.
First, let’s celebrate accomplishments. Thanks to the many of you who reached out to Senators Padilla and Feinstein to encourage them to go big and bold on climate. There have been about 200 contacts to Senators from our chapter, over 3000 in the State and over 50,000 nationwide. Amazing. Many thanks to those of you who encouraged people in Red and Purple states to contact their senators. Our colleagues at the Sierra Club and 350.org asked their members to urge action from Senators too.
If you haven’t reached out to your Senators, or still want to ask a friend to do so, it is not too late – do it at https://cclusa.org/senate
The budget package is still under consideration and our representatives need to know that their constituents support strong climate action. To pass, the budget bill will need every Democrat to vote yes.
Next, we turn our focus to the House. A majority in the House is 218. There are 220 Democrats. Neither the infrastructure bill nor the budget bill will pass easily here. Please write your member of the House to encourage/support/demand strong climate action. https://cclusa.org/house You can customize the provided script. It is quick and easy to do.
BTW, YOU are a lobbyist. Together we can make our voices heard. The heat, soaring AQI, fires, drought, farmers without access to water and the latest UN report on climate change, all paint a grim picture. We citizen lobbyists must be more persuasive and passionate than corporate lobbyists. Write. Email. Text. Call. Reach out to your Senator or member of the House – encourage your friends to do the same. The earth thanks you.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Our monthly meeting is Saturday, August 14, and registration is now open for the talk by
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe on Sept 10. Details below.
Saturday, August 14, Sacramento Chapter monthly meeting - 10 am to noon. There are TWO Zoom calls.
FIRST ZOOM: 10:00 – 10:40 NATIONAL CALL
The Speaker: Pamela Benson Owen, Edge of Your Seat Consulting. Whether lobbying a member of Congress or doing grassroots outreach to enroll volunteers, the ability to really listen is a valuable asset. Ms. Owen, will coach us on constructive listening. She is the President and CEO of Edge of Your Seat Consulting, Inc., a consulting firm that is dedicated to helping for-profit, non-profit and faith-based organizations. Pam leverages humor and honest storytelling to create memorable and applicable strategies that organizations can employ to achieve their goals.
SECOND ZOOM - 10:50 am – noon Sacramento CCL Chapter monthly meeting
Sacramento Meeting Agenda
1. Introductions
2. Recap of Senate outreach campaign and what is next
3. Supporting the event with Dr Katharine Hayhoe Sept 10
4. Local initiatives
5. Climate change from the perspective of an insurance underwriter – Justin Satchwell
Note: Our September meeting will be Saturday the 11th, and the national speaker will talk
about the Border Tax. Put that in your calendar!
Friday, Sept 10, 3 pm presentation by climate scientist, Dr Katharine Hayhoe
CCL Sacramento has partnered with other environmental and faith organizations to sponsor “A Conversation with Climate Scientist, Dr Katharine Hayhoe”. This webinar will be on Friday, September 10, from 3 to 4:14 pm. Dr. Hayhoe is a world renown climate scientist who happens to be a terrific speaker as well. She encourages members of all faiths to participate in stewarding our urgency of climate change and how we can make a difference, including through open discussions. She’s also a founder of Science Moms. The event is hosted by the Renaissance Society of the California State University in Sacramento.
REGISTER for the presentation HERE
Learn more about Dr. Hayhoe and the Renaissance Society of Sacramento HERE
INTERESTING READS
Google search: latest “UN report on climate change” or “code red for humanity”
Reading any of these articles will make you want to write your member of the House and your Senator.
Article on the Infrastructure Bill and Climate Change in The New York Times
Carbon Price Refresher – a Quick and Excellent Summary
Fareed Zacharia, of CNN and the Washington Post provides a 4 minute overview of carbon pricing. Last Look: Why We Need a Carbon Tax. He describes why pricing carbon pollution is the simplest, most elegant way to decarbonize the global economy.
September 2021
Message from the CA Sacramento group on Community:
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Are you registered to hear Dr Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist extraordinaire, speak on Zoom, this Friday, Sept 10 at 3pm?
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Did you write your Senators and Representative in the House in July or August asking them to go Big and go Bold on climate legislation?
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Do you have Sept 11, 10 am – 12 on your calendar so you can join our monthly meeting?
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Did you know that Biden is asking for a financial assessment of the impact of climate change over the next 75 days?
Join us Friday, September 10, from 3 to 4:15 pm.
Dr. Hayhoe is a world renown climate scientist who happens to be a terrific speaker as well. She encourages members of all faiths to participate in stewarding our planet. The event will bring attention to the urgency of climate change and how we can make a difference, including through open discussions. She’s also a founder of Science Moms https://sciencemoms.com/ CCL Sacramento is a sponsor and the event is hosted by the Renaissance Society of the California State University in Sacramento.
Learn more about Dr Hayhoe and the Renaissance Society of Sacramento: https://www.tomsuchanek.net/hayhoe
Write your Senators and Member of the House
It’s a competition!
Will Bera’s constituents call and email more or will Matsui’s?
It is up to you to make sure your representative has been contacted the most! Matsui (on 9/1) 29 contacts and Bera only 18!
Please write your member of the House to encourage/support/demand strong climate action in the budget package. https://cclusa.org/house
The link identifies your member of the House and provides a script for your email.
To write your senators, go here: https://cclusa.org/senate
The budget package will be made public about September 15, so write your representatives ASAP.
Monthly Meeting, Saturday September 11, 10 am til noon
FIRST ZOOM: 10:00 – 10:40 NATIONAL CALL
To connect by video conference, go to http://cclusa.org/meeting
Note: To improve audio/video quality, close all applications and other browser windows
Border Carbon Adjustments:
The Speaker: Aaron Coseby with the International Institute of Sustainable Development.
Border carbon adjustments, a mechanism to shield businesses in nations with robust climate ambition, have been a hot topic recently. The European Union has announced it will impose such taxes starting in 2023, and Senate Democrats in the U.S. have included it in the budget reconciliation resolution. Aaron Coseby with the International Institute for Sustainable Development, is an economist with 30 years of experience in the areas of trade, investment and sustainable development. He has served on the Deputy Minister for International Trade’s Academic Advisory Council on Canadian Trade Policy and recently wrote a report on the need for Canada to adopt a border carbon adjustment.
SECOND ZOOM - 10:50 am – noon Sacramento CCL Chapter monthly meeting
Agenda
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Introductions
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What’s in the IPCC Report – Dana
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Summary of August Activities, Discuss & volunteer for September Activities
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Sept 10 talk by Dr Katharine Hayhoe. Debrief and what's next.
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We need volunteer help with – Media, New Volunteers, Take Notes, Write Articles, Outreach and more
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Communications exercise
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Practice describing the 3 legs of the carbon pricing bill (HR 2307) with a friendly and encouraging partner
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Carbon Fee - This policy puts a fee on fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. It starts low, and grows
over time.
Carbon Dividend - The money collected from the carbon fee is allocated in equal shares every month to the American people to spend as they see fit.
Border Carbon Adjustment - To protect U.S. manufacturers and jobs, imported goods will pay a border carbon
adjustment, and goods exported from the United States will receive a refund under this policy.
Financial Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change – Interesting Read
Climate change and financial markets - Biden wants to know the impacts
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/biden-climate-change-risks-financial-markets-79745522
Putting a price on carbon is on this list of things to do to fight climate change. As is doing something/anything!
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/04/how-to-fight-climate-change-six-actions-that-really-matter.html
Three Letters to the Editor about climate change were published in the Bee, Sunday Aug 29 - they were responses to the Bee's Climate Nightmare Article which was front page on Sunday Aug 22.
LTEs: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article253769588.html
Front page article: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article253429894.html
Carbon Price Refresher – a Quick and Excellent Summary
Fareed Zacharia, of CNN and the Washington Post provides a 4 minute overview of carbon pricing. Last Look: Why we need a carbon tax
He describes why pricing carbon pollution is the simplest, most elegant way to decarbonize the global economy.
October 2021
What can you do NOW? This is an important time for legislative progress.
Keep talking and writing about climate change, the need to reduce fossil fuel emissions and the power of a carbon price to fight climate change. If you feel inspired to write – focus on our members of the House. Click HERE to contact your representative. There will be another big push to contact them again, once the Senate budget bill is completed in another month+.Write letters to the editor – of any paper. Small town papers are really good. Express your desire for politicians to do something big, now (!) on climate change. The Sacramento Bee has had some excellent articles recently – write the BEE to say thanks and keep up the good coverage.
~Edith Thacher
President Sacramento Chapter CCL
UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday, October 9, Sacramento Chapter monthly meeting - 10 am to noon.
There are TWO Zoom calls.
FIRST ZOOM: 10:00 – 10:40 NATIONAL CALL
The Speaker: Ray Ward, Utah State Representative
Is carbon fee and dividend really the policy that can bridge the divide between Republicans and Democrats? On this month’s call we’ll talk to Ray Ward, a Republican state representative in Utah, about why he likes the policy. When he’s not working in the legislature, Ward is a family physician in Bountiful, Utah. Earlier this year, he signed on to an op-ed in the Deseret News with two dozen other Utah Republicans endorsing carbon fee and dividend.
SECOND ZOOM - 10:50 am – noon Sacramento CCL Chapter monthly meeting
CCL FALL CONFERENCE - NOVEMBER 13-14 **FREE TO REGISTER**
Grit & Gratitude, Celebrating a Banner Year and Rising to the Next Challenge
We’ve been preparing for this moment and mobilized like never before to get carbon pricing legislation enacted this year. We rallied our friends and family to make over 60,000 contacts to Congress and the President expressing the need for carbon pricing in budget reconciliation. And now carbon pricing legislation is under consideration in the U.S. Senate. Let’s celebrate what we accomplished this year, and look to what’s next as we continue on full steam ahead.
INFORMATIONAL VIDEOS
Carbon Price Refresher – a Quick and Excellent Summary
Fareed Zacharia, of CNN and the Washington Post provides a 4 minute overview of carbon pricing.
Last Look: Why we need a carbon tax He describes why pricing carbon pollution is the simplest, most elegant way to decarbonize the global economy.
IPCC Report
The Sixth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the sixth in a series of reports which assess scientific, technical, and socio-economic information concerning climate change.
Link to Dana Nuccitelli's recorded talk to the CCL presenters group on the IPCC report
INTERESTING READS
Here are 3 articles in major media that mention putting a price on carbon as part of the senate budget package - so yes - our efforts are being taken seriously.
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NBC News: Senate Democrats float tax options to pay for Biden's multi-trillion dollar plan
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The Hill: Senate Democrats float taxes on stock buybacks, plastics to pay for spending plan
Bloomberg: Senate Democrats Eye Taxes on Stock Buybacks, Excess CEO Pay
This article gives a great view of the "sausage making" / ie the many ideas being bandied about in the Senate.
Environmental proposals on the table include:
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A potential tax on the carbon content of fossil fuels starting at $15 per ton
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A carbon tax on major industrial emitters like steel, cement and chemicals
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A per-barrel tax on crude oil
Each option would be paired with rebates for low-income taxpayers and a border-adjustment tax aimed at ensuring foreign companies don’t get an advantage.
Fossil-fuel companies could lose assorted tax breaks. The set of proposals under consideration includes a 20-cents a pound fee on the sale of so-called virgin plastics, which aren’t derived from recycled feedstocks.
November 2021
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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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!​
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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$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.
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$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.
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$110 in investments and incentives for clean energy technology, manufacturing and supply chains.
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$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.
December 2021
Colleagues in the Fight Against Climate Change,
Thanks for your efforts, since early August, when CCL started the outreach campaign to our Members of Congress (MOCs) and President Biden. 150 people from our chapter reached out to our members of the House and our Senators, urging them include a price on carbon in the Build Back Better bill. It is critically important that the US meets Biden’s goal of achieving a 50% reduction to 2005 emissions levels by 2030. The current version of the debt ceiling, funding government and passing the military budget. Carbon fee and dividend still appears to be on the table to be negotiated. Discussion of a carbon price is not in the press much but seems to be occurring. Two articles are included in the Interesting Reads section at the end of this newsletter.
What can you do?
Ask West Virginians to contact Senator Joe Manchin. If you have friends, family, people on your Christmas list in West Virginia, please ask them to write, email, or call Joe Manchin and ask him to support a price on carbon. https://citizensclimatelobby.org/senate/
Participate in a book discussion. Our chapter is organizing a group discussion of Dr. Katharine Hayhoe’s newest book, "Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World". Join our chapter meeting Dec 11 to help us organize the event.
Watch Conference Presentations. If you missed some of the presentations at the CCL National Conference in November, catch them on YouTube. There was a lot of good information on fascinating topics – among them –Legislative Strategy, Exploring Effective Climate Solutions, Mitigation Strategies in Ag, Methane, Ocean Based Solutions. And there are training sessions too – Exploring the CCL Community Website, Climate Advocate Training
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWp2iwPcJiY
Contribute to the what’s next for CCL strategy. Thinking about what CCL should do after the Build Back Better bill? Provide input to CCL on what to do next whether a carbon price is included or not.
https://community.citizensclimate.org/discuss/viewtopic/928/21263
Join us at our Monthly Meeting
Saturday, December 11, 2021 from 10:00 – 12:00
FIRST ZOOM: 10:00 – 10:40 NATIONAL CALL
Citizens' Climate International had a major presence at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, and Isatis Cintrón Rodriguez was a big part of that presence. The Latin America Regional Coordinator for CCI and a CCI founding board member, Isatis addressed the High-Level Segment of the COP26 negotiations in Glasgow on the value of stakeholders’ active participation in the design and implementation of climate policy. She'll talk about her work at COP26 and how people affected by climate change can have input into solving the problem. In addition to her work with CCI, Isatis is a doctoral candidate in cryospheric science at Rutgers University.
SECOND ZOOM - 10:50 am – noon Sacramento CCL Chapter monthly meeting
Agenda
1. Introductions
2. COP26, Infrastructure and Reconciliation Rollercoaster re-cap, where are we?
3. Lobbying Bera & Matsui
4. Organize a discussion of Dr. Katharine Hayhoe’s book, Saving Us.
5. Year in Review
6. Year Ahead
7. Volunteer opportunities
8. Break outs – small group discussions
Interesting Reads
From December 1, the last 3 paragraphs of this article in The Hill mention carbon pricing.
In a blog post, the National Wildlife Federation, which has 6 million members, shared an excellent description of carbon pricing, use of the dividend, border adjustment and suggested $15 per ton as a starting price.
Dana Nuccitelli recently wrote a blog post for CCL that asks how a carbon price will impact inflation. This makes for excellent conversation at holiday social events!