Yesterday was the first day of summer, but this heat wave is anything but normal popsicle weather with 94 million Americans under a heat advisory. The Capital Weather Gang is telling those of us in the DC area to limit outdoor activities after 11am this weekend, if possible. But at least I do not live in New Delhi, India, which just hit their 37th day in a row of temperatures 104 degrees or higher. How many days until fall?
Drink fluids. Seek shade. Check on your older neighbors. Be careful out there!
This week’s must read: Climate crisis isn’t imagined; just ask Mitt Romney (Palm Beach Post)
“[Senator Mitt] Romney deserves credit for having the integrity to acknowledge and act on the threat of climate change, an issue he has led on since his days as governor of Massachusetts, where he oversaw enactment of the nation’s first statewide climate change bill,” writes EcoRight Leadership Council member Mary Anna Mancuso. “As a traditional conservative, Romney understands that ignoring major risks and kicking the can down the road is the height of irresponsibility. He doesn’t deny basic scientific facts, which are increasingly visible in the form of stronger hurricanes, floods, wildfires and other climate-driven disasters, the very disasters that risk leaving the entire nation’s home insurance industry in peril.”
EcoRight Speaks, Season 8, Episode 15: Conservative Climate Activist Alina Clough
This week, we feature EcoRight networking queen and activist, Alina Clough. With experience with the American Conservation Coalition and ConserveAmerica, she is an EcoRight connector and freelance writer, working to bring together more people into the EcoRight fold. She’s had many op-eds published and has interesting perspectives on history as well as a positive outlook for the future.
Coming up next week, regenerative ocean expert, author, and former fisherman Bren Smith, who co-founded GreenWave, a non-profit committed to the planting of regenerative ocean crops to yield meaningful economic and climate impacts.
And in two weeks, our season finale, the Best of Season Eight, will hit your ears just in time to entertain you during any Fourth of July travel!
Another must read: Science, not stridence, solves our water problems (The Invading Sea) Friend of the podcast and Florida EcoRighter Dr. Nicole Kirchhoff recently published this thoughtful piece on water quality in Florida. I had a hard time picking one portion to quote, so you’re just going to have to read her entire piece.
Who funds conservative green groups?
E&E Daily’s Timothy Cama and Kelsey Brugger recently analyzed where and how EcoRight groups like ours are funded. While republicEn.org was not mentioned in the article, several of our allies and friends were. Debunking the pressumption that it’s taboo to get funding from groups that fund left-leaning groups:
- American Conservation Coalition’s Karly Matthews, who said said that they will “work with anyone who shares our mission of building the conservative environmental movement.”
- Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions CEO Heather Reams noted: “There’s a very limited amount of money for right-of-center organizations in the climate and energy space. But I think we’re packing a pretty decent punch for the budget that we have.”
- Alliance for Market Solutions’ Alex Flint explained “We needed to raise funds for our work, but there were not sufficient right-of-center donors. And the Republican conversation about climate was so challenging that you couldn’t find the donors to build the right conversation, to demonstrate to the donors that you were being successful….And so the group of donors that finally stepped forward were ones who, even uncertain that there would be near-term progress, believe that eventually, durable climate policy requires bipartisan support.”
Efforts have been underway for years to increase the philanthropy from right of center donors for our work, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Check out the full article on this important topic here.
See you next week, readers!