Climate Working Group

Review the "Keep NH Green" climate group findings and plan next steps.  Use this working group as a home going forward?

An En-ROADS climate policy simulator demonstration to help our group gain a shared perspective of what policy changes are required at a global level to achieve our 1.5˚C warming limit.  Discuss why the IPCC says carbon pricing must be included in any effective solution set and why Carbon Cash-Back is the most equitable way to do it.  Send Congress an email asking them to legislate it via this web action page:  cclusa.org/write-cfd.

Discuss potential NH State climate bills for the 2023-2023 legislative session:

1. 1. Require proxy carbon pricing be used by PUC/SEC/Energy Dept. to avoid costly short-sighted decisions

   2. End ratepayer funding of power company lobbying activities to avoid working against citizen's interests

   3. A resolution (Senate first) calling for the US government to take steps to prepare for the carbon tariff that is coming to us (EU CBAM January 2026, Canada and the UK likely to follow shortly after).  The PROVE IT Act is a good first step.  A matching federal carbon price would let us avoid paying other countries' carbon tariffs.

   4. Require NASA-based climate science be added to the required curriculum in public schools

A climate science intervention is needed in Concord!  Discuss a response to the climate science denial of some leadership in the NH House Science, Technology, and Energy (STE) Committee by asking the Chairman to hold an information gathering hearing with our state's climate science experts, to include a review by the authors of the state's 2022 Climate Assessment Report and evaluation by state experts of the co-sponsors' HR17 testimony.  Let's help clear up the misunderstandings so the STE can make better informed decisions for all of us!  A request sent to the legislature: Request for a climate science intervention in the STE.

What are NH Network member groups doing on climate:  major initiatives, events, how can others help?

We'll focus on making climate a top-level issue in the upcoming election cycle, and look at how AI can help us do it.  The NH Network is a nonpartisan group, but our elected leaders' priorities are the single biggest factor in how effective all our efforts are to address climate issues in our towns, the state, and beyond.  The vast majority of NH voters want climate change addressed (see the Yale Climate Communications report at bit.ly/ccb-resources).  Helping them learn candidates' positions will help them choose wisely, and motivate candidates to care too.

Agenda:

1.  NHPR is asking what listeners want to hear candidates talk about.  We can each let NHPR know we want to hear candidates' positions on climate change and Carbon Cash-Back!  Tell NHPR you want this here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdoSGnepE958a9NqBVOEwHvVRcTlZAXBeeCVu96Y7ATzL4LPQ/viewform?pli=1.

2.  Help get our local media more involved in informing the state about climate solutions:  CCL's media expert offers some suggestions and actions to take:  https://community.citizensclimate.org/discuss/viewtopic/2792/31110

3.  Engaging in 2024 campaign town halls and house parties:  raising fossil fuel pollution-caused global heating to a top-level issue - Engaging Candidates in Climate.

4.  Send a quick email to Congress via cclusa.org/prove about the PROVE IT Act - a no-brainer, bipartisan bill everyone loves!

5.  We'll explore how we can use AI (ChatGPT) to help write LTEs, op-eds, and even plan presentations (openai.com).

I hope to see you there,

John Gage

Windham, NH

Discuss potential legislation to propose for the fall.

Please also see below for an action for everyone to take whether you can attend the meeting or not.  We'll start off our meeting with a discussion about the big climate picture:

• This amazing podcast puts the whole climate mess into perspective and offers suggestions about how we might make bipartisan policy progress here in the US as is being done in other countries:  Outrage and Optimism podcast, "Lifelines VS Deadlines: The Need For Science-Based Policy" podcast:  Naomi Oreskes, Senator Whitehouse, and other experts on the climate crisis - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9vdXRyYWdlYW5kb3B0aW1pc20ubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M/episode/MzlkYWZhNjctZGIxYy00MzNlLWJkOTItYzU3NTE2YTU0NmNm?ep=14

• This video tells the American story of how one man played a pivotal role in our failure to address climate change decades ago when there was strong bipartisan support to do so (John Sununu) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvGQMZFP9IA.

Let's talk about the different aspects of the problem, why New Hampshire continues to play a pivotal role in the whole global mess, and how we can help turn things around.

Matt wrote this excellent op-ed to help the public become more aware of the forces that are stymying decarbonization of the New Hampshire economy:  How to move beyond climate disinformation in the N.H. State House.  How can we amplify this message?

We'll then take some climate actions to help prepare Congress for CCL's in-person lobbying on Capitol Hill on June 13th. Four people from NH will join 900 others from around the country to lobby hundreds of Congressional offices for bipartisan clean energy permitting reform and introduction of the federal Carbon Cash-Back bill in the new session of Congress.

The more emails and calls from constituents that precede those June 13th lobby meetings, and the more constituent postcards we deliver in person, the more attention Congress will give us. If you can't make our meeting tomorrow, please help prepare Congress for our lobby meetings by doing one or more of the following:

1. Ask Congress to support Carbon Fee and Dividend legislation:  (email via this webform) cclusa.org/write-cfd or (call) cclusa.org/call.  (If you call, start with the suggested script and then finish by asking your Representative to become a co-sponsor of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act and ask your Senators to talk about the Carbon Fee and Dividend policy with their colleagues and prepare to introduce a bipartisan bill to do it in their chamber too).

2. Or, if you prefer, write a quick note we can hand-deliver. Using the attached Postcard PDF, update the document and send me a PDF that I will print three copies of to bring to Washington.  We'll hand-deliver your message to your Congressional delegation when we meet with them!  Each page has 4 postcards - ask your family and friends to fill out one card each on the page too, and share the PDF via email.  It's possible to use a PDF editor to update the document directly, or you can print it, fill it out, and scan it back in. Return filled-in PDFs to me via email, or mail printed copies to me at "John Gage, 12 Fordway Extension, Windham, NH. 03087").

3. If you know (or are) a community leader, state representative, business owner, or another prominent individual (or you are one), please use the second attached PDF to generate an endorsement of the Carbon Fee Dividend policy.  Or you can use the online form to do this at cclusa.org/endorse.  Endorsements are another important part of demonstrating the political will in NH for a federal Carbon Fee and Dividend legislation.  See the NH endorsement map for a (partial) list we'll be delivering (near the bottom of carboncashback.org).

All these messages will amplify our impact when we meet Congress on June 13th.

Thank you for all you do.  I hope you can make it Wednesday at 5:00 pm!

Best Regards,

John Gage

NH Network Climate Working Group co-leader

CCL NH state coordinator

Windham, NH

Agenda and Notes from the April 5th, 2023 Climate Working Group Meeting

From Chat in the November 2, 2022 Climate Working Group Meeting

• NH Network Climate Working Group interest form:  https://forms.gle/reaNRxP4cdK7gZZq8

• Nat Geo’s Years of Living Dangerously "Safe Passage" episode (on Citizens’ Climate Lobby): https://youtu.be/bW-TDUZOTRo

• From John Gage: Topics to discuss with our legislators

1. Do you accept the scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is an urgent threat? 

2. Do you accept the expert consensus of climate scientists and economists that effective government action to reduce climate pollution much faster than the current rate is critical for the safety of our economy, health, and life on Earth?

3. Are you committed to work with members of both parties and Independents on legislative solutions to address the issue?

4. Did you know the most well-supported solution by economists from across the political spectrum - a border-adjusted, cash-back carbon fee on fossil fuel production - is the most cost-effective and equitable policy approach?

• Carbon Cash-Back Resources:  http://bit.ly/ccb-resources

• From Phil Browne to Everyone: Blend as many of the organizations that are involved in issues related to human and biosphere survival as possible with a common goal of creating a lobbying group of NH college students who will get college credit for their efforts as well as as a stipend/salary for their time.  We can then use our common knowledge to train them to address our multi-group common goals.  They will then reach out to: Town Meetings, Conservation commissions, School Boards, K-12 Faculty Meetings, Rotary and other clubs, NH Science Teachers, Promote “Survival Days” at colleges and universities in order to get students involved “Act Out” to get their message picked up by media ( like protestors in Iran).  This will then filter down to High School students and through them their families to get the message out.