It’s hot. There’s not much else to say. I’m self quarantining to keep away from melting temperatures. I had hoped to get a weather reprieve (and lobster) by driving up to Maine in August, but their strict covid restrictions on visitors would mean I couldn’t see family or do anything for two weeks, so here I stay.
COMING SOON: Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions announced its annual National Clean Energy Week (NCEW), which this year will be 100 percent virtual. Save the dates September 21-25 for a week-long celebration of clean energy innovation and help solve the world’s most pressing challenges in nuclear, solar, wind, wave, hydropower, geothermal, natural gas, biomass, carbon capture, storage, and waste-to-energy technologies.
Last year, I was present (remember those days when we convened in person?) for a riveting conversation between former New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte and current Utah Senator Mitt Romney, as well as a keynote address by Florida’s Rep. Matt Gaetz.
Be sure to follow along as their agenda takes shape. You won’t want to miss a single panelist.
EcoRight Speaks, Episode six: This week we dropped episode six of the EcoRight Speaks podcast. My dream is to become your must listen, that podcast that you wake up Tuesday morning eager to hit the start button on. My other dream is to get 100 5-star reviews on Apple Podcasts, so please help me make my dreams come true. You can rate us, write a one-line review, and if it’s good, our producer Price Atkinson will read it on the air.
This week we were joined by Dr. C. Lindsay Linsky, the author of Keep It Good: Understaning Creation Care through Parables, described as “a landmark read for every Christian.” A teacher by trade, she earned her PhD in Science Education in 2012 and now focuses her scholarship on environmental education and creation care. Lindsay is a passionate writer, speaker, and advocate for creation care, especially helping “eco-hesitant” Christians understand the environment from a biblical perspective. Lindsay lives in Georgia with her husband and two children.
A giveaway: Lindsay has offered free downloads of the electronic version of her book for interested listeners. This offer is good until July 28th, so email me if you would like to access this special gift.
Coming up next week: You won’t want to miss my conversation with Martha Newall-Kinsman (📸👆) from the investor climate advocacy group Ceres.
Martha and I geek out on what it’s like to work on Capitol Hill (she’s a House side alum and I’m Senate side) and talk about why corporate engagement on carbon pricing is important. Plus, Spokesperson Tyler Gillette kicks off our episode!
Speaking of Ceres… This week, a number of signatories sent a letter to the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other financial agencies and institutions, calling on them to “immediately consider whether decisions being made right now could inadvertently exacerbate the climate crisis…[and]…implement a broader range of actions to explicitly integrate climate change across your mandates. Such actions are needed to protect the economy from any further disruptive shocks.”
Fun fact: Our Executive Director Bob Inglis was a signer of the letter.
“There will never be a vaccine for climate,” said Steven Rothstein, managing director at Ceres, who coordinated the effort.
This week’s must read: EU Climate Action: An Opportunity for U.S. Competitiveness (RealClear Energy) EcoRight allies Alex Flint and Joseph Majkut address plans by the European Union to impose a border carbon tax in 2023 in this op-ed. “The U.S. has a choice. We can continue to play checkers in the game of global competitiveness: either escalating the trade wars that have harmed American businesses and consumers, or respond with shrugging indifference to European greening. Or we could play chess,” they write. “A tepid response to the EU carbon tax on imported goods would be a missed opportunity for the U.S. The EU and the U.S. could lead a joint effort to create a large market for cleaner goods, lean into our competitive assets, and work against the continued dominance of cheap goods manufactured abroad, mostly in China, without concern for environmental impact.”
LTE of the week: Over the weekend, a carbon dividend ally from Citizens Climate Lobby was published in the Wall Street Journal with his letter to the editor. I can link it, but the WSJ has a paywall so unless you have a subscription, you can’t read it. But take it from us that it’s often hard to get pro-climate action pieces in this particular news outlet. Which is why we have a Wall Street Journal Action Team, comprised of members who do subscribe who can then help with positive comments. We were pleased to see two of our active members weighing in on this important issue. Thank you, Zaurie Zimmerman (top comment) and Spokesperson Trudy Heller (bottom comment).
🎉Celebrate the great outdoors after passage of the Great Outdoors Act 🎉: Conservationists are hailing House passage of the bipartisan Great Outdoors Act, one of the most significant conservation legislation in decades. The bill, which already passed the Senate, provides mandatory annual funding of $900 million to the Land and Water Conservation Fund and offer billions toward fixing the nation’s crumbling parks and public lands. In the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, “This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in.”
Now put your phone down and go enjoy the great outdoors! See you next week!