Citizens' Climate Lobby

Learn the step-by-step process of scheduling a meeting with a member of Congress or their staff with CCL's Director of Operations Amy Bennett.

Audio Only: Dr. Jason Rowntree's webinar focuses on the impact of grazing management on soil carbon, and some of the approaches being implemented to monitor soil carbon and other important ecological indicators on farms and ranches. Dr. Jason Rowntree's mission is developing systems to increase the resilience of food production worldwide.  As an associate professor of Animal Science at Michigan State University, he coordinates Lake City and UPREC AgBioResearch and Extension Centers where he addresses economic, environmental and social complexity in agriculture. He studies how grazing livestock can improve land and mitigate climate change by capturing carbon and providing other ecosystem services.

Audio Only: How do we make decisions when something is uncertain? How do we communicate about the collective risks we face? What kind of participatory process is most supportive in leading to behavior change? Join Dr. Sabine Marx, a social scientist from Columbia University’s Earth Institute, on a special Citizens’ Climate University as she explores these questions in the context of climate change and CCL ’s advocacy work. Dr. Marx responds to volunteer’s submitted questions from her conversation on the January 2018 National Call and aims at helping volunteers improve their understanding of psychological barriers to information processing, increase their ability to evaluate current communication patterns and grow in their comfort in connecting and communicating with audiences.

Join author Chris Clayton, who wrote the book, "The Elephant in the Cornfield: The Politics of Agriculture and Climate Change." He decided to write this book after the 2011 American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting, where it was clear that members were dismissive of climate science and opposed to policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Clayton helps CCLers understand what topics are unifying and divisive in farm country when discussing climate change, and he also suggests positive messages consistent with the idea that farmers can be climate heroes.

Grant Samms was curious about the expansion of wind energy in Western Oklahoma, especially in the oil town of Woodward. He expected to see a lot of conflict there. Turns out there was no conflict. Because of their identity as energy producers, the citizens of Woodward found a way to weave wind energy extraction into their lives and economy.  Grant is currently at Washington College's Center for Environment and Society in Chestertown, Maryland, where he is witnessing tensions in rural Maryland over proposed windmill farms. He chats with Citizens' Climate Radio host, Peterson Toscano, about what he learned in Western Oklahoma and how it essential for climate advocates to understand how "sense of place" plays a major role in affecting how communities respond to new ideas.    Art House Chantal Bilodeau is a playwright originally from Quebec Province in Canada. Her award winning plays take on climate change. Set in the Arctic, they are beautiful, original, and are moving audiences all over the world. In her Arctic Cycle plays, she has roles for human and non-human characters. Chantal believes live theater experiences create special opportunities for audiences. In order to address the lonliness and isolation that can come with doing creative work around global warming, Chantal created Artists and Climate Change, a website that is connecting artists all over the world and making their work known to climate advocates. She is also committed to bringing original quality climate theater to many communities. She talks about Climate Change Theatre Action. Learn how you can easily and inexpensively host a reading of short climate plays.  Puzzler Question The Puzzler is BACK! Our latest question is one that often is thrown in the face of climate advocates in order to silence us.  You are at a community event talking to a neighbor, let's call him Greg. You reveal your passion about climate change and climate solutions. Greg looks you up and down and says, "So I guess you don't use any fossils fuels yourself. You don't drive a car, travel by plane, or heat and cool your home? What are you actually doing to address climate change in your life?" Greg's question sounds more like an accusation. How do you answer the question while also addressing the accusation? Send Peterson your answers. Leave your name, contact info, and where you are from. Respond by February, 15, 2018. Email radio @ citizensclimate.org or leave a voicemail of three minutes or less at 570.483.8194. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.) Listen, Rate, and Share! You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the 

Audio Only: Join the Congressional Management Foundation's Executive Director, Bradford Fitch, in a webinar highlighting research that shows that members of Congress consider visits to local facilities to be one of the most valuable ways to understand constituent views and opinions – more than any other source of information. This exclusive webinar for Citizens' Climate Lobby will show participants how to entice members of Congress to attend local events or meet with key stakeholders. As a former congressional chief of staff, Bradford Fitch will walk through the steps to invite legislators to participate in a powerful in-person experience that promises to inform them about the impact your local group has in their district or state and educate them about climate solutions.

Join the Congressional Management Foundation's Executive Director, Bradford Fitch, in a webinar highlighting research that shows that members of Congress consider visits to local facilities to be one of the most valuable ways to understand constituent views and opinions – more than any other source of information. This exclusive webinar for Citizens' Climate Lobby will show participants how to entice members of Congress to attend local events or meet with key stakeholders. As a former congressional chief of staff, Bradford Fitch will walk through the steps to invite legislators to participate in a powerful in-person experience that promises to inform them about the impact your local group has in their district or state and educate them about climate solutions.

How do we communicate effectively with policy makers about climate change? For answers on our January call, we turn to Sabine Marx with the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED). She’s the Director of Research at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at the Earth Institute, Columbia University and the co-author of “The Psychology of Climate Change Communication.” Dr. Marx joined CRED in 2005 after two years of post-doctoral work at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) at Columbia’s Earth Institute. She received her Ph.D. in medical history from Carnegie Mellon University and holds a Masters degree in Sociology and Pedagogy, with a minor in Psychology and Art Therapy from the University of Cologne, Germany.

How do we communicate effectively with policy makers about climate change? For answers on our January call, we turn to Sabine Marx with the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED). She’s the Director of Research at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at the Earth Institute, Columbia University and the co-author of “The Psychology of Climate Change Communication.” Dr. Marx joined CRED in 2005 after two years of post-doctoral work at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) at Columbia’s Earth Institute. She received her Ph.D. in medical history from Carnegie Mellon University and holds a Masters degree in Sociology and Pedagogy, with a minor in Psychology and Art Therapy from the University of Cologne, Germany.

Audio Only: Join CCL's Action Coordinator Todd Elvins in a webinar geared at helping your chapter personalize your plan for what and how to communicate with media, grassroots, and other stakeholders if 2018 becomes the big year for a bill being introduced!

Join CCL's Action Coordinator Todd Elvins in a webinar geared at helping your chapter personalize your plan for what and how to communicate with media, grassroots, and other stakeholders if 2018 becomes the big year for a bill being introduced!

Audio Only: One of the big events CCL volunteers prepare for every year is the Spring Lobby Drive and setting up in-district lobby meetings with our members of Congress. Part of that effort might include hosting a site visit for your member of Congress. Citizens’ Climate University hosts a webinar led by CCL’s Field Director Elli Sparks and featuring in-depth case studies and best practice stories from CCL leaders like Lisa DelBuono (Rep. Bergman) and Tom Moyer (Rep. Love) about how they planned and successfully hosted site visits for their members of Congress.

One of the big events CCL volunteers prepare for every year is the Spring Lobby Drive and setting up in-district lobby meetings with our members of Congress. Part of that effort might include hosting a site visit for your member of Congress. Citizens’ Climate University hosts a webinar led by CCL’s Field Director Elli Sparks and featuring in-depth case studies and best practice stories from CCL leaders like Lisa DelBuono (Rep. Bergman) and Tom Moyer (Rep. Love) about how they planned and successfully hosted site visits for their members of Congress.

Being a climate advocate can be an emotional rollercoaster. This is especially true for millennials. From childhood they heard about the many impending dangers threatening their future happiness. How do these feelings affect each of us? How do we cope? How do we move past paralyzing despair to a place of hope and action? Podcast host, Peterson Toscano, shares a conversation he had with Marlo Firme, a Canadian CCL volunteer climate lobbyist. Marlo powerfully reveals the many ways climate change has affected him personally and professionally. From his boyhood in the Philippines to living in British Columbia, Canada, Marlo could not ignore climate change. Still he found a beautiful way forward. He shares is insights and wisdom.  The Art House Can art save the bees? Sculptor Emily Puthoff is a attempting to do just that through the Hudson Valley Bee Habitat. She along with her fellow artists are engaging their community in a large scale art project that builds bee habitats. Learn about this ambitious project and about the essential roles bees play in our everyday life.    Kingston Bee-Line from Emily Puthoff on Vimeo. Puzzler Question Do you find having a puzzler question is a helpful feature in the podcast? Tell us if you want to continue with the puzzler question section or if you think we should try something different. Contact Peterson: radio @ citizensclimate.org  Dig Deeper Climate Change and Mental Health, Psycholgists for Social Responsibility NYC is tackling a mental health crisis caused by Hurricaine Sandy, Grist Climate Changes Mental Health, American Public Health Association Climate Change and Mental Health, Union of Concerned Scientists The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison Buzzing about Climate Change, NASA article about bees A Stinging Report: Climate change a major threat to bumble bees, Science Daily Hudson Valley Bee Habitat Kingston, NY Greenline Artistic Wishes Granted, feature on Emily Puthoff Many Ways to Listen and to Share You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio,

Audio Only: One of the most powerful opportunities for common ground we as CCL volunteers can make in our discussions about the impacts of climate change is the many ways it is already negatively impacting human health. Join CCL Health Action Team co-leads​ Drs. Robert Byron, MD, and Cynthia Mahoney, MD, to learn more about the connections between our changing climate, fossil fuel air pollution and human health, how to communicate about it effectively with the public, and the many major medical organizations already supporting climate action.