On Saturday, December 5th, during the first day of the Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL) December Conference, Paul Thompson, Dylan Hinson and Brady Fergusson staffed the RPCV4EA Peace Corps Action Team (PCAT) virtual table during two tabling sessions. They spoke with conference attendees about PCAT's target Congressional Districts in 2021 and the upcoming Kiss the Ground screening. Ten people showed interest in joining the team and most of them were RPCVs!
Through CCL, PCAT has been advocating for the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R.763) and will also look for other climate change legislation (e.g. legislation like the Climate Displaced Person's Act) to include in advocacy efforts.
PCAT has selected the following districts (see below) to target in 2021, based on encouraging bipartisan support of climate change legislation. If you live in any of these districts please email Brady Fergusson to get involved.
|
Congressional District |
Member's Name (Last, First) |
|
KY-06 |
Barr, Andy |
|
OH-01 |
Chabot, Steven |
|
PR-01 |
González-Colón, Jennifer |
|
LA-06 |
Graves, Garret |
|
AS-01 |
Radewagen, Aumua Amata Coleman |
|
FL-04 |
Rutherford, John |
|
IN |
Braun, Mike |
|
MS |
Wicker, Roger |
|
MS |
Hyde-Smith, Cindy |
|
LA |
Cassidy, Bill |
|
TX |
Cornyn, John |
PCAT members also participated in CCL lobby meetings the week following the conference. In addition to meeting with their own Representatives, Brady Fergusson and Dylan Hinson met with staff of the Congressional Offices of American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It was especially beneficial to have two RPCVs in the American Samoa meeting, as Congresswoman Radewagen is a strong Peace Corps supporter and the legislative aide we spoke to is an RPCV. We hope to build on that common ground to move climate change legislation forward. And we hope to get more RPCVs involved with lobbying in the new year!
Missed the conference? Don’t worry! You can view videos from the conference online here. Our PCAT team leaders suggest viewing the opening plenary session and CCL’s Legislative Strategy & Lobby Day Prep.
Below Mike Roman shares memorable moments gathered during some of the sessions:
Motivational Climate Presentations: How do we talk about climate change without the doom and gloom of statistics and facts? How do we bring people into our narrative? How do we inspire action? All of these questions and more were answered in the workshop. Key in doing all three were highlighting your personal narrative with humor and direct action. YiFei Huang presented, explaining her awakening to the climate crisis, involvement with CCL, and finishing with a call to her representative’s voicemail - encouraging him to support the Energy innovation Carbon Dividend Act. Easy as 1, 2,3.
Creating a Welcoming Space for Diverse Members: 2020 provided many pivotal moments of diversity awareness and need for action within CCL. In 2017, Karina Ramirez began volunteering with the organization. Not seeing any Spanish language materials or outreach, she inquired about other populations. Today, she is the Diversity Outreach Manager, assisting new groups of diversity have a voice, including LGBTQ, Black, Indigenous, Asian, and People of Color. CCL, as an organization, recognizes the strength of the organization comes from an inclusive and diverse participation. Leaders of the diverse communities spoke and shared what their groups were doing.
State Break Out Meeting: All states held break out meetings. Highlighting congressional member’s stances, backgrounds, and recent moves - many meetings used this time to strategize and talk about their upcoming congressional meetings.
You’re invited to learn more and join the PCAT team here.