| Welcome to 2023! I hope that at the top of your list of New Year’s resolutions was a commitment to do more to stop climate change. We made substantial progress last year, but the task before us is still large. Please join CCL to act with others to promote effective and practical solutions. It is only by working together that genuine and lasting change will come. The next meeting of the State College chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 5:30. We will report on our lobby meeting and share what we learned at the December conference (see below). To accommodate people in the area who may find it difficult to travel during winter weather, this meeting will be held via zoom. Please note that although our group name is State College, we have active members from throughout central Pennsylvania. We welcome your participation wherever you reside and look forward to seeing you soon. Sylvia Neely Monthly Meeting Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 5:30 Via Zoom Email us at PaStateCollege@citizensclimatelobby.org for more information CCL December Conference The CCL December Conference featured political leaders and experts on climate policy, as well as a preview of CCL action during the coming year. Here is a description of the program. Videos of the sessions are available at this link. At our January monthly meeting, members of the State College group who attended this virtual conference will report on what they learned and how the new initiatives will have an impact on our work. CCL members in action Meeting with Congressman Thompson’s office After the CCL December conference, members arranged meetings with our elected officials in Congress. CCL members from the State College and Susquehanna Valley chapters were fortunate to meet with Adele Borne, an aide to Congressman Glenn Thompson on the Agriculture Committee. We had a productive conversation and learned a great deal about the progress of the Farm Bill which is scheduled to be renewed in September of this year. We appreciate having the opportunity to discuss climate issues with the Congressman’s staff. Pictured below are Joseph Haloua, Kay Cramer, Sylvia Neely, Michele Mitchell, Kathy Pollard, Harlea Hoelscher (intern with the Ag Committee), and Adele Borne.  December OpEd reviews climate developments Sylvia Neely’s OpEd appeared in the Centre Daily Times on Dec. 11. Entitled “Climate Record: Much Progress But More Needed,” it provided an assessment of developments in climate policy and action over the last year. Monthly Calling Campaign Participants: Attention The CCL monthly calling campaign is morphing into something new in 2023. It will now be called “CCL Climate Actions.” The good news is that it will still be easy for you to participate, and it will still require your attention only about once a month. The biggest change is that all participants will now have to be official members of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. This should not be a burden. It doesn’t cost anything to join and there are no dues. If you are one of our callers but are not a CCL member, just go to this link, fill out the form, and “voila” you’re a member! Beginning this month, all active CCL supporters who have opted for email or text messages will be alerted by CCL via text message or email about once per month. Unlike the calling campaign, however, you will not have an assigned day on which you are expected to make your contact. One feature of the new system is that new CCL members will have to wait 60 days until they start getting their monthly reminders to take action. The theory is that new members will spend about two months learning about the organization before diving into lobbying. CCL Climate Actions will offer a “suite” of possible activities for participants. Phone calling will still be one of them. Others will include emails, text messages and social media posts. You will still be provided by CCL with scripts and prompts that indicate what the organization’s priorities are at that moment. Why the change? Basically, CCL has determined that a variety of communications techniques are most effective when lobbying Congress. Also, they recognize that some people are more comfortable with communications options other than phoning. Finally, lobbying actions can be quickly and strategically timed to the movement of legislation in Congress. The hope is that the number of lobbying contacts will increase with this new system. That said, CCL is grateful for the benefits of the monthly calling campaign which included more than 5,500 callers nationally and resulted in 62,918 documented calls to senators and representatives. We have made a difference. Let’s make even more of a difference in 2023! – Dick Jones Community News Information on Buying an Electric Car CCL member Kelly Forest, who is also a member of the Sierra Club, has written an article for the newsletter of the Moshannon Group on her experiences purchasing an electric car: “How to Buy an Electric Vehicle.” This issue also provides important information on the types of electric vehicles on the market and a list of charging stations in this area. Webinar on Local Sustainability Planning The public is invited to learn more about the numerous sustainability plans underway by Penn State and the Centre Region Council of Governments. You can hear from top leaders about how you can get involved in these efforts. Participating will be Pam Adams (COG Sustainability Planner), Lara Fowler (Interim Director of the Penn State Sustainability Institute), Brandi Robinson (Assistant Teaching Professor for Energy and Sustainability Policy), and Andrew Gutberlet (Manager, Engineering Services, Penn State) January 19, 2023 6:30-8:00 PM via Zoom Click here to see a flyer on the webinar. To register click here |
| ICYMI – In Case You Missed It European CBAM “The World in Brief” of Dec. 13 (the daily news feed from The Economist magazine) reported that European authorities continue their plans to impose a carbon border tax that will have a notable effect on American industry, unless we also price carbon. Members of the European Parliament in Brussels agreed to enforce the world’s first carbon border tax. The carbon border adjustment mechanism imposes tariffs on the imports of goods, such as cement and steel, to account for the carbon-dioxide emissions they generate. It seeks to prevent European firms outsourcing production to parts of the world with weaker environmental standards. How bad are your neighborhood’s emissions? The New York Times has an interactive map of emissions by neighborhood. You can find out whether your area is above or below the national average. Among the findings: wealthier neighbors emit more greenhouse gasses and urban areas emit less than suburban areas. Carbon Brief has a report on a study with a similar theme. The headline makes the point: “Richest people in UK ‘use more energy flying’ than poorest do overall.” Elizabeth Kolbert article in The New Yorker Elizabeth Kolbert has written books on climate change and species extinction that are justifiably famous. We can highly recommend the most recent article from this great science writer with its many important insights on the climate crisis: “Climate Change from A to Z.” If you have ideas, comments, or just want to talk about climate, please feel free to contact Sylvia Neely (PaStateCollege@citizensclimatelobby.org) or Lisa Richardson (twitter@statecollegeccl.org). We would love to hear from you. |