Almost 1,000 citizen lobbyists met with politicians in 442 meetings to call on them to take action on climate protection.
By Flannery Winchester
On June 11, CCL 442 volunteers held town hall meetings on Capitol Hill. In the weeks since, we’ve seen an exciting amount of legislative movement—the PROVE IT Act has been introduced and is gaining co-sponsors; clean energy permitting reform has made major bipartisan progress; and our secondary bills are gaining increasing support as well.
Ben Pendergrass, CCL’s Vice President of Government Affairs, joined CCL’s monthly meeting to share details and help us understand the impact of our lobby day. Watch Ben’s remarks here or read on for the highlights:
PROVE IT Act introduced and co-signatories gained
The PROVE IT law is a bill that would direct the Department of Energy to measure the carbon intensity of certain goods produced in the United States and abroad. It is critical that we have high-quality information so that we can negotiate effectively with trading partners that begin to impose carbon border tariffs, such as the European Union. CCL has supported this bill since it was first introduced in the Senate in the summer of 2023.
This bill was one of our Primary inquiries for our Lobby Day 2024. “There was organized, well-funded opposition to the PROVE IT Act,” Ben said. He said our meetings on Capitol Hill, along with the efforts of our allies, “provided a powerful counterweight to some of that opposition.”
Thanks in part to these citizen lobby meetings and our continued support, the House version of the PROVE IT Act was introduced by Republican Rep. John Curtis of Utah on July 9, 2024, with strong bipartisan support. The bill initially had 20 co-sponsors, an even split between Republicans and Democrats.
Our CCL liaisons continued to reach out to congressional offices, reminding them of our support and urging them to co-sponsor the bill. As of this blog post, 15 additional members of Congress have signed. Co-sponsors – 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats.
Licensing reform brings major cross-party progress
Our other main demand at lobby meetings this summer was for Congress to complete clean energy permitting reform. “It is critical to accelerate the process of building America’s clean energy infrastructure,” said our materials left behind told lawmakers. “Changes must be made to the current process for approving energy projects so America can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ensure American households have access to affordable clean energy.”
We have been drumming up support for bipartisan clean energy permit reform for months, including on our Conservative Climate Leadership Conference and Lobby Day this spring. CCL conservatives held 47 meetings urging Congress to advance permitting reform and support energy technologies that would not lead to more carbon pollution, including the ADVANCE Act. The bill “will strengthen America’s leadership in nuclear energy and provide leadership on the world stage on climate action,” said Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, E&E News.
Shortly after our last round of citizen lobbying in June, the ADVANCE Act passed the Senate by a vote of 88 to 2. “That was a huge win for both parties,” Ben emphasized.
CNN reported that the ADVANCE Act “represents one of the most significant actions Congress has taken to promote clean energy since Democrats narrowly passed the Inflation Reduction Act nearly two years ago.” The bill was signed by President Biden a few weeks later and is now law.
Then, on July 22, Senators Joe Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) took a major step forward on this policy area by introducing the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024. The bill includes measures in all of the areas our volunteers raised during their June meetings. CCL endorsed it and immediately called the relevant Senators and asked for their support in a fast-approaching committee meeting and vote.
We’ll dive deeper into this bill in another blog post soon, but suffice it to say that our top request for clean energy permitting reform has been heard loud and clear in Congress and is now being taken action!
Secondary inquiries are increasing
Our lobby day in June also included several draft laws such as Secondary questions:
The bill to increase TSP access gained six new co-signers in the weeks following our lobby day. “That makes it exactly 30 Republicans and 30 Democrats,” Ben said during the July CCL meeting. As of this blog post, one more congressman has joined, bringing the total to seven new co-signers!
Early drafts of the Farm Bill include the text of this bill, a sure sign that our commitment is helping to move it forward.
Since our lobby day, the Seedlings for a Sustainable Habitat Act has also gained seven co-signatories.
“We received an email from the lead sponsor of the bill within 30 minutes of a volunteer group meeting with an office that became a co-sponsor,” Ben said. This behind-the-scenes look shows how quickly our advocacy work can have an impact!
Next stop: Lobbying in the lame-duck period
Congress is currently in recess, as it is every August. Because it is a presidential election year, much of the energy and attention in Congress between now and Election Day in early November will be focused on the campaign season. That means CCL will also be ramping up its election season activities by asking climate questions. Candidate events and mobilizing environmental voters with our Election Engagement Action Team.
When the election results are in and we know how the balance of power will shift in the new Congress, we will be ready to once again engage in citizen lobbying for the policies we support. Mark your calendars for our fall conference, taking place online from December 6-8, followed by our virtual lobbying week from December 9-13.
As our Summer Conference and Lobby Day demonstrated, when we are present, we create positive change. Let’s keep it up this year!
