CCL Update: 5.20.10
WELCOME MINNESOTA!
CCL chapters now number 22: Citizens Climate Lobby extends a warm welcome to our newest chapter in the Minneapolis area. The group will cover the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Congressional districts in Minnesota.
ON CAPITAL HILL
Kerry and Lieberman unveil climate/energy proposal. Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman rolled out their climate and energy bill last week, the American Power Act. The proposal aims to cut U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 17 percent by the end of the decade. It would place a cap on emissions from utilities, which would purchase and trade carbon allowances. Caps on manufacturers would be phased in later. While the proposal has the support of several mainstream environmental organizations – Environmental Defense Fund and Natural Resources Defense Council – other groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth criticized it harshly for its reliance on offsets, expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling, and subsidies to coal and nuclear power. James Handley of the Carbon Tax Center offers this critique. Citizens Climate Lobby, as part of the Price Carbon Campaign, issued this press release. Absent from the podium when the bill was released was Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who had worked many months with Kerry and Lieberman to draft the proposal. Graham backed out when it looked like Democrats might move immigration reform in front of climate and energy legislation, and he said the oil spill in the Gulf made it politically difficult to pass any legislation that included more offshore drilling. The Kerry-Lieberman proposal faces an uphill battle to gain the 60 votes needed to bring the bill to the Senate floor. No Republicans are supporting the bill and several Democrats have stated they won’t support the bill because of offshore drilling provisions.
TAKE ACTION
Build a coalition to price carbon: CCL groups are encouraged to reach out to people of influence in their communities and ask them to write to their members of Congress, indicating their support to enact legislation that places a fee on carbon and returns the revenue to all households. A step-by-step action page, with links to sample letters, is available here.
Defeat Murkowski’s resolution. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who previously introduced a resolution of disapproval to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases, plans to bring her resolution to the Senate floor for a vote before June 7th. Call your senators and urge them to vote against this resolution when it comes up. More details available here.
COMING UP
CCL National Conference in Washington: Citizens Climate Lobby will hold it’s first National Conference in Washington June 20-22. Keynote speaker will be Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute and author of “Plan B: 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.” Join us in Washington to meet other climate activists from around the nation, learn the skills to be a successful climate activist and lobby on Capitol Hill for effective legislation to stop climate change. Register online now!
National conference call June 5th. Our guest speaker will be Richard Littlemore, co-author "Climate Cover Up." Democracy is utterly dependent upon an electorate that is accurately informed. In promoting climate change denial (and often denying their responsibility for doing so) industry has done more than endanger the environment. It has undermined democracy. Read more here.
Lobby prep conference call: We’re opening up our next group leader conference call (Tuesday, May 25, 8 ET, 5 PT) to volunteers who have scheduled meetings with Congressional offices in Washington next month or for any volunteers who want to get training for meetings in their districts. The conference call line is 866-642-1665; pass code 440699#.
CCL MEDIA
Latest blog on Huffington Post: CCL communications director, Steve Valk, had a piece published on Huffington Post about the Kerry-Lieberman bill, “350 Goal Will Never be Achieved With Kerry-Lieberman.”
Letter in Atlanta Journal-Constitution: CCL Atlanta volunteer Ben Herr published a letter responding to Tom Friedman’s column, “For Green Advice, Ask a Red/Blue Couple.”
Oped in Contra Costa: CCL volunteer Mark Altgelt had an oped published in the Contra Costa Times, “We Must Act to Counter Greenhouse Gases Warming the Earth’s Atmosphere.”
CCL IN ACTION
Atlanta: CCL volunteers are meeting in June with the office of the Catholic Archdiocese in Atlanta to talk about having the Archbishop of Atlanta supporting CCL’s climate proposal. Volunteers have sent letters to the mayor of Atlanta, CEO of Coca-Cola, and the CEO of solar cell manufacturer Suniva.
San Diego: CCL members met with aides from Sen. Diane Feinstein’s office. CCL’s Amy Bennett talked to the deputy mayor of Encino about writing to members of Congress about our climate proposal.
San Diego: CCL founder Marshall Saunders got Judge Robert Coats to write to Congressmen Henry Waxman and Bob Filner.
Riverside: Volunteer Matt Cappiello met with California Interfaith Power and Light to see how CCL could work more closely with the faith community.
Minneapolis: CCL volunteers met with the state director for Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
La Jolla: CCL volunteer Sandra Kirtland spoke to the Naval Academy Alumni Association.
ARTICLES WORTH READING
“National Acacemy of Sciences Urges Strong Action to Cut Greenhouse Gases.” The 'most comprehensive report ever on climate change' suggests taxing carbon emissions.
“Big Green and Little Green Clash Over the American Power Act.” Article from Grist examines the split in the environmental community over the Kerry-Lieberman bill.
“Obama and the Oil Spill.” New York Times columnist says the Gulf spill is the 9/11 moment for climate and energy, but the President is failing to seize it.
