We’re All in This Together
Live, Laugh, Lobby
Citizens Climate Lobby June Conference in Washington D.C.
By Allice Haidden
Recognizing our present position in human history and taking to heart the teachings of all the spiritual traditions, I boarded a train to Washington, D.C. There I joined more than 800 other volunteers to lobby Congress about upcoming climate initiatives. We came from every state, every generation, and every life situation. The robust nature of the information, support, and fellowship available in the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) conference on June 11th and 12th prepared us all for June 13th, our lobby day.
The core values of CCL are optimism, focus, relationship, integrity, diversity, non-partisanship, and personal power. Each one is a practical challenge as well as a spiritual practice. The conference itself was a clear demonstration of all these values at work. Inspiration was everywhere, in the dedication of the staff and interns, the power and passion of the presenters, and in the presence and humanity of my fellow volunteers.
We heard sobering and direct messages from Congressional climate champions from both sides of the aisle, the UN, and academia.
Time to Lobby…
Citizens Climate Lobby brings clear constituent voices directly into legislators’ offices. Well prepared by two days of intensive training we stressed the importance of reforming the permitting process to rapidly feed clean energy onto the grid; we emphasized the pivotal role of pricing carbon at the source and distributing those revenues directly back to the American people; and we reinforced the importance of leveling the international market for the cleaner and more expensive carbon produced in the US.
Because relationships move only at the speed of trust, we were trained in the principles of reflective listening. We practiced applying the advice of E. B. White to bring our minds not only to what we want to save but to what we savor. Savoring opens our hearts and strengthens our resolve.
On June 13th, our teams carried focus and inspiration into the Congressional offices. I was privileged to participate in three different well-prepared and well received lobbying teams. We brought our messages to both senate and congressional members of congress and their staffers.
We, as citizen climate lobbyists, went to Washington to offer our members of congress our support and to present to them our best solutions for a livable world. As one of the few non-partisan climate groups we were able to achieve more than four hundred meetings based on mutual respect.
June thirteenth was a good day on Capitol Hill.
Allice and her young family moved to Maine from Boston in 1979. She has maintained a busy astrological counselling practice in Portland ever since.
