Author: CCLATX

Citizens' Climate Lobby Austin Chapter @cclatx

@CCLATX in Washington, D.C., a Recap and Thanks!

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Enthusiastic and motivated members of Citizens’ Climate Lobby from across the nation met with members of Congress. The final numbers are in! During last week’s lobby day on Capitol Hill, our volunteers held an incredible 436 lobby meetings on Capitol Hill. That’s 160 House Republicans, 182 House Democrats, 45 Senate Republicans, 46 Senate Democrats, and 3 Senate Independents.

The photographs above are courtesy of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

Austin Metro Chapter volunteers and other Texas volunteers met with elected officials from all districts of Texas. Our primary ask was to get permitting reform done to expedite renewable energy projects through required process. The Inflation Reduction Act that passed in 2022 provides federal funds to invest in renewable energy, which will provide hundreds of thousands of new jobs, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and thereby lower global warming emissions. This is the first time large investments are allocated for clean energy projects in a bill to address climate change.

The photographs above are courtesy of Kalpana Sutaria and Austin Metro volunteers.

In order to combat climate change and reduce emissions, it is essential we speed up the rate at which we build electricity transmission to ensure we can connect new wind and solar to the grid. If we do not build clean energy infrastructure faster, we will only achieve about 20% of the potential carbon pollution reduction from the climate policy that is already in place.

Lawmakers recently reached a deal on the debt limit, which included some permitting reform measures, but it is just a small piece of what is needed. We still need to speed up approval of additional power lines to transmit clean energy if we are going to meet our climate targets. Austin Metro Chapter volunteers also believe strongly that communities should have their voices heard on the environmental and other impacts of proposed energy projects.

Before the lobby meetings in Washington, D.C., our volunteers attended the international 2023 Climate Lobbying Reboot June Conference, where they heard from inspirational speakers such as Dream.org Green for All National Campaign Director Jameka Hodnett; Dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University Rachel Kyte; Democratic Representative Scott Peters (CA-50); and Ambassador Francis Rooney III, who was the Republican representative for Florida’s 19th Congressional district from 2017 to 2021.

Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that brings together volunteers from across the political spectrum to advocate for legislation to help solve the climate crisis. Volunteers meet regularly with their members of Congress to ask them to support federal policy to lower the heat-trapping emissions altering and polluting our climate. Learn how to join by following this link.

Thank You

The Austin Metro Chapter would like to thank the following elected officials and their dedicated staff members for taking the time to meet with us. We deeply appreciate your time and attention.

  • Congresswoman Kay Granger | TX12
  • Congressman Randy Weber | TX14
  • Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee | TX18
  • Congressman Michael C. Burgess | TX26
  • Congressman Colin Allred | TX32

And:

Why We Do This

Citizens’ Climate Lobby volunteers from both sides of the aisle consistently contact their Representatives and Congressmen and Congresswomen to ask for climate action. Texas already sees dramatic impacts from a warming climate. Our leaders must support policy to reduce carbon emissions with the speed needed, and we deeply appreciate their efforts.

Although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported an increase in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in 2022, a clean energy transition is swiftly happening in the United States. Just three months after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, 100,000 climate-friendly jobs were created and families that take advantage of clean energy and electric vehicle tax credits from the bill are set to save more than $1,000 per year.

RISEE Act

In addition, during their meetings in Washington, D.C. the Austin Metro Chapter shared information about the RISEE Act. The Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems Act, introduced in the 118th Congress by Senators Whitehouse (D-RI), Cassidy (R-LA), Representatives Fletcher (D-TX) and Weber (R-TX), would develop dedicated funding streams for coastal infrastructure and resilience efforts to safeguard vulnerable communities and businesses most threatened by sea level rise and coastal erosion. This bipartisan legislation would establish a new revenue sharing model between the federal government and coastal and Great Lakes states for federal offshore wind money generated beyond six nautical miles from a state’s coastline. To read more about RISEE, see the downloadable document below.

risee-actDownload

Kalpana Sutaria

Project Manager, City of Austin and Member, Austin Metro Chapter

and

Susan Adams

CCL Regional Coordinator for the Third Coast

June 2023 Update from Cynthia Lesky

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Because so many Austin chapter members will be in Washington, D.C. for CCL’s National Conference and Lobby Day, there will be no local chapter meeting this month. But you can mark your calendar now for the July 8 meeting. In the meantime, here are a few things we’d like you to know about.

  • There will be the usual second-Saturday national call at noon, June 10. Respected long-time climate leader Bill McKibben will be featured. The link to that meeting is: cclusa.org/meeting.
  • We can all participate in the national conference via livestream this Sunday and Monday. Registration link is here. Even if you only have time for a couple of sessions, I know you’ll find it useful. And it is free.
  • Action Alert: you should have received a text and/or email action alert this week. Mine came on June 6, subject: June Action: Push on Permitting Reform. If you didn’t receive that email, let me know. Or if you prefer text for future alerts, go here:

https://citizensclimatelobby.org/text-alerts

That’s all for now, except to encourage you to take advantage of the many opportunities for personal and professional development in the training resources on CCL Community. And please let me know if there’s any way I can help you in your own climate activism or if you’d just like to know more about the Austin chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. As always, I’d love to hear from you!

Cynthia Lesky

Austin Metro Chapter Group Leader

cynthia.lesky@gmail.com

Energy efficiency SB 258 can save us money; it deserves to become law

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The Texas House must pass energy efficiency bill SB 258 by Sen. Sarah Eckhardt. It would help Texans save money on utility bills by weatherizing their homes and help Texas prevent blackouts and reduce pollution. Energy efficiency is widely known to be the most cost-effective way to improve our grid’s ability to withstand disasters.

The Senate passed this bill last week but the House may kill the effort since many electrical utilities oppose these bills because, one can assume, they are not a solution to sell more energy.

Energy efficiency goals like this can save us an enormous amount compared to building more gas plants. Texas needs to do something for people, not just corporations. This will only happen if we stand up and tell our elected officials we support SB 258.

Raphael Schwartz

Austin American-Statesman

May 14, 2023

Action Requested Today and How to Join the Texas State Lobby Team

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We had an outstanding lobby day at the Texas State Capitol two weeks ago. Please help us leverage that momentum to pass good bills and stop bad bills (or at least make them less bad), and for the next month and a half.

We ask you to:

  • Sign up to receive weekly Action Alerts, the week’s most important action to the Texas Legislature selected by our Citizens’ Climate Lobby Texas State Lobby Team (click on the link to reach the team webpage on the national website).
  • Take action this week (today) on HB 2502 on building energy efficiency.

Once you join the Texas State Lobby Team, you will receive an alert to take the most important action each week. The action alert will require little time and allows you to be fully effective. It will include a link to an Action Alert we write or one written by a partner organization. It will have instructions with a sample email for you to slightly customize.

Submit Written Online Comments to Support HB 2502 [Now Complete]

HB 2502 would establish a program to issue or guarantee loans for energy audits, upgrades, or retrofits to increase the energy efficiency of commercial buildings and residences. It would include requirements for emissions reduction cost-effectiveness criteria and utilize funds available from the U.S. Department of Energy and private capital or state resources. The comments should be sent by midnight today, April 12. Apologies for the late notice and for an extra email if you’ve already taken this action. To easily take this action, follow this link.

In addition, please ask other CCL volunteers across Texas to join the Texas State Lobby Team public group on the national community website, so that they can receive future Action Alerts for outreach to state legislators.

Thank you to Larry Howe and team for leading this effort.

Bob Hendricks
Texas State Lobby Team Co-Coordinator

Click on the photograph to reach LegisScan for the text of HB2502.

Lobby Day Volunteers

Texas Lobby Day March 28, 2023

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Enthusiastic, committed and hardworking volunteers of Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) from across Texas held 66 meetings with 47 Republican representatives and 19 Democratic representatives. They also left behind educational information at 116 other offices at the Texas State Capitol.

Texas is a leader in generating solar and wind power. But due to inadequate transmission lines, generated renewable power is wasted. In 2022, power worth 2.9 billion dollars was wasted.

Our Citizens’ Climate Lobby volunteers conveyed a primary message to representatives to take action improve the transmission lines that will generate jobs, make our grid more resilient, save money for rate payers, reduce emissions and therefore improve the environment.

You can reach out to your representatives and ask them to take action, too! Thanks again to our amazing volunteers and to our elected representatives. We deeply appreciate your taking the time to visit with us.

Additional Information

This post was generated by Kalpana Sutaria and Carolyn M. Appleton on behalf of Citizen’s Climate Lobby Austin Metro Chapter.

Carbon fee and dividend still needed in the climate war 

On By CCLATXIn Inflation Reduction ActLeave a comment

Published as, “Opinion: More legislation needed in the global warming fight”

Climate activists celebrated the August 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction Act for its many provisions dealing with climate. True, those provisions were watered down in order to secure passage, and they are far less than what is needed. But that it passed at all was a big surprise, after previous hopes for legislative climate action had been dashed.

However, more comprehensive climate legislation is still much needed, as we are badly losing the war on global warming. In the Paris Accords of 2015-16, 196 nations pledged to pursue efforts to limit earth’s temperature increase to no more than 2.7°F (=1.5°C) above pre-industrial levels — with a fallback ‘in case we fail’ goal to limit warming to less than 3.6°F (2°C). Worldwide greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) are at their highest atmospheric concentrations and emissions levels ever recorded, and they are projected to continue rising for at least several years. Virtually no climate science expert believes we will achieve the Paris 2.7°F goal.

There is no question that the U.S. cannot resolve the global warming problem by itself. All nations (especially China) need to take immediate action to slash their greenhouse gas emissions. But this should not dissuade the U.S. from taking responsibility to deal with our own emissions. As leader of the free world and historically the highest emitter of greenhouse gases, we bear a special responsibility to lead by example.

Granted, compared to previous decades, recent U.S. progress in switching away from fossil fuels seems impressive. It is simply not fast enough. U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (all greenhouse gases, not just CO2) decreased by only 2 percent from 1990 to 2021. We need additional federal policy to accelerate reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions.

What is needed is a ‘carbon fee and dividend’ policy, which places a fee on greenhouse gas emissions and returns those fees to taxpayers. This approach has been endorsed by a large number of businesses (including Exxon-Mobil), prominent individuals and organizations (e.g., the Climate Leadership Council, whose members include 27 Nobel Laureate economists, and over 3,000 U.S. economists). Carbon fee and dividend has the benefits of being the climate policy that involves least government intrusion in the affairs of business and brings a positive cash flow to most taxpayers (both of which should make it the least objectionable option to members of Congress), and it will have a net positive long-term impact on the economy and jobs creation. The most important benefit is that, if crafted properly, it can be effective enough to achieve U.S. climate goals.

The wise man Yogi Berra purportedly said ‘It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.’ It is indeed tough to determine precisely how hot earth will end up getting because the answer depends almost entirely upon decisions we humans might or might not make: take immediate drastic action; do little or nothing; do something lukewarm in between. It is still possible we could limit warming to 2.7°F – but extremely improbable. All nations would have to take the immediate drastic action path; it won’t happen. The world is now on the ‘lukewarm’ path, one expected to lead to a 4.5-7.2°F rise by century’s end.

Yes, this is a wide range of uncertainty. But even if warming ends up at the low end of this range, it will be disastrous for humans and many other of earth’s plant and animal residents. There is zero uncertainty that we need to take more powerful action now to halt the warming. A carbon fee and dividend policy is the best option for the U.S. to address our greenhouse gas emissions problem.

Mark Warren

Member, Citizens Climate Lobby Austin Chapter

Austin American-Statesman

March 2023

LTE Under Consideration: Support the Bi-partisan RISEE Act

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Re:  Dear Senator Cornyn and Cruz – Please support the bi-partisan RISEE Act

The Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems (RISEE) Act was introduced in the 118th Congress by Senators Whitehouse (D-RI) and Cassidy (R-LA). Sea level rise, storm surge, increase in ocean temperatures and acidification from climate change are harming coastal communities and will continue to do so unless emissions are dramatically reduced. 25 million Americans including Texans are vulnerable to coastal flooding.

The RISEE act would create an offshore revenue sharing model and would direct portion of revenue generated by off-shore wind projects toward vulnerable coastal communities who must use it for coastal restoration, conservation or infrastructure. The RISEE act ensures that National Offshore Coastal Security Fund and Gulf of Mexico energy Security Act funding are protected from sequestration.

Future is bright for offshore wind energy which grew 24% from early 2020 through early 2021. Ask our senators to support this bi-partisan RISEE Act and help coastal communities of our state.

Kalpana Sutaria

Project Manager, City of Austin and Member, Citizens’ Climate Lobby Austin Chapter

Submitted to the Austin American-Statesman

March 2023

CCL hosts valuable conferences

Opinion: Republican-controlled House Blows the Doors Open for Conservative Climate Action | March 28 and 29, 2023

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With many years of hands-on work experience with nonprofit organizations focused on protecting the environment – many of those groups having influential conservative backers – I know there is conservative interest in protecting our shared natural resources. The way conservatives choose to accomplish that goal differs from some of our more progressive advocates for environmental protection, however.

Without an alternative approach to environmental policy, conservatives can feel boxed in, forced to claim environmental problems either are a “hoax” or not as serious as environmentalists claim. This is, indeed, sometimes the case. But where there is real pollution or other problems of environmental degradation, the standard conservative line of defense is untenable. Lacking effective policy alternatives, each fight over environmental issues that conservatives lose necessarily means more government expansion. For those who believe in the American ideals of freedom and free enterprise, the path ahead is one of slow but inevitable retreat.

A conservative approach to environmental principles, R Street Institute

Citizens’ Climate Lobby understands this well.

How is the fight against climate change conservative? Through policies that avoid big government overreach, CCL advocates for legislation that spurs the economy, makes the country economically competitive, aids the military, provides resources to agriculture, and preserves the great American outdoors.

Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Citizen’s Climate Lobby supporters are organized into local chapters like ours, and each chapter works with their members of Congress to enact climate change solutions. Conservative CCL supporters hail from all over the country and from different religious backgrounds, but all share Conservative principles. If you are so-inclined, you might consider joining the CCL national Conservative Caucus Action Team, and attend its online meetings!

And consider attending the March 28 and 29, 2023 conference in Washington, D.C., which is focused specifically on conservative solutions to alleviate the negative effects of climate change.

Be in the room where conservative climate action happens. Come to the Conservative Climate Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. (yes, in person), to connect with right-leaning CCLers, eco-right orgs, and members of Congress to discuss solutions that address climate, the economy, and U.S. competitiveness. You’ll become an expert on the conservative merits of CCL’s policy agenda and be ready to talk to House Representatives and Senators on day two, our lobby day on the Hill. This conference is designed for politically right-leaning attendees.

Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Carolyn M. Appleton

Member, Citizens’ Climate Lobby Austin Chapter

LTE Under Consideration: Fix the Grid

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We in Central Texas got another gut punch from wintry weather. Although the grid provided enough gas and electricity, many of us jacked up our bills. Some have trouble paying those bills. There is a simple, cost-effective way to lower bills and to make the grid more resilient: make buildings more energy efficient such as with more insulation.

Better insulation helps the most when the weather is hottest or coldest. During those extreme periods, electricity demand is highest. Increasing insulation will lower demand for energy. That will save people money. It also means in a really extreme even, less energy will be needed. Also, strong insulation will keep people warmer during extreme winter storm and cooler during a summer heat wave. A colleague’s well-insulated home only dropped 10 degrees during winter storm Uri while in my house, it dropped 30 degrees.

Texas isn’t ready for another Uri. We haven’t fully winterized the grid. We need to fix the grid, and we can by insulating our homes better, taking advantage of tax credits and rebates, and urging the Texas legislature to pass several of the bills already introduced to improve energy efficiency all over the state. For our good.

Bob Hendricks

Member, Citizens’ Climate Lobby Austin Chapter

Submitted to the Waco Tribune-Herald

February 2023

LTE Under Consideration: Beyond Texas Hospitality

On By CCLATXIn Inflation Reduction ActLeave a comment

The lights and heat in my house are on tonight. I long took these services for granted. When Winter Sorm Uri struck, I learned that I can’t count on the infrastructure to keep me safe. This week, during an ice storm that left 171,000 Austin households without power, that lesson was reenforced.

How can we protect ourselves? We can’t tame Mother Nature, but we can take action. The Inflation Reduction Act provides incentives to make our homes, businesses and appliances more energy efficient. When more of our homes and businesses use less energy, our homes will be a smaller drain on the grid and our energy will go further. As Texans always have, we can be good neighbors in crisis, but we can do more. We can reduce the impact of severe weather by taking advantage of the IRA and weatherizing our homes and businesses.

Victoria Hendricks

Member, Citizens’ Climate Lobby Austin Chapter

Submitted to the Austin American-Statesman

February 2023