The Feminist Green New Deal Coalition released a report with Data for Progress that finds there is a strong shared belief that care should be central to climate, workforce, and infrastructure policies. In the midst of intersecting economic crises, climate crises, and the ongoing infrastructure fights, these findings reiterate that people want bold economic investments that center care for people and the planet.

Planning for a future that centers well-being for people and the planet requires an understanding of the intersectionality of the ongoing crises of care and climate, the ways in which policy can deliver intersectional solutions, and the narratives that help and hurt this cause. Join the Climate Advocacy Lab with Tamara Toles O'Laughlin (EGA), Kahea Pacheco (Women's Earth Alliance), Amanda Novello (Data for Progress), and Mara Dolan (WEDO) for a deep dive into the report's findings as well as relevant takeaways for climate advocates and their work.

In 2018, the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) campaign secured a landslide ballot measure victory in Portland, establishing a multi-million dollar municipal fund that addresses climate, economic, and racial justice by providing funding for renewable energy projects, job training and apprenticeship programs, and regenerative agriculture. Last year, we got to look “under the hood” with PCEF Steering Committee members to cover the history of the campaign, what PCEF does, and how the community-led coalition was able to win at the ballot box. 

In a follow-up webinar, we came back together to share new developments on the victory and cover topics including:

• How has PCEF been implemented, and how is it helping the community build political power? 
• What lessons have been learned since winning the legislation, and what challenges and insights does that bring? 
• What would it take to replicate this winning model in your own context and municipality?

This interactive webinar covered the process of how this collaboration between environmental justice and labor forces was facilitated, how they built a shared vision around resilience, a rundown of the report's key findings, and a guided activity for how to apply the report's insights to participants' local communities and organizing work.

Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm went live for a special 30-minute “Ask me Anything” (AMA) exclusively for the Climate Advocacy Lab community. The US Department of Energy will be critical to the fight to stop climate change. Listen as community members ask questions of USDOE Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm. Our goal with this event is to get information to the field about the priorities of the US DOE and to uncover opportunities for the field to have more impact on these issues.

In this webinar, the Lab team is joined by the Regulatory Assistance Project to explore recommendations from the new report Energy Infrastructure: Sources of Inequities and Policy Solutions for Improving Community Health and Wellbeing.

In addition to the report, participants also learn from advocates across the country fighting for an equitable clean energy future. Contributing speakers shared their reflections and lessons learned from a variety of perspectives on what it takes to achieve energy equity, including how they're financing low-income solar, how they're growing solar through state-level policy, and how to work in strong coalition.

Contributing speakers include: Donna Brutkoski, Communications Associate, Regulatory Assistance Project; Yesenia Rivera, Director of Energy Equity and Inclusion, Solar United Neighbors; and Jacqueline Hutchinson, Vice President of Operations, People’s Community Action Corporation.

The "Alarmed" is the largest "Six Americas" segment for the first time. Americans in every congressional district are willing to join a climate campaign, if asked. We still aren't having enough conversations with family and friends about climate change.

10 years of surveys from Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) and George Mason Center for Climate Change Communication (4C) have yielded thousands of data points to help us better understand “Climate Change in the American Mind” – but teasing out actionable insights as an advocate can be challenging.

This webinar helps advocates dig through the data to uncover key climate opinion trends, learn about available tools for visualizing and tracking public opinion, and share examples of how partners have applied these insights to advance campaigns.

Our speakers and contributors included:

• Joshua Low, Partnership Director at YPCCC
• John Kotcher, Research Assistant Professor at 4C
• Eric Fine, Project Manager at YPCCC
• Parrish Bergquist, Post-Doc Associate at YPCCC

How did the alliance behind the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) move a visionary idea from concept to groundbreaking reality? In this webinar, the Climate Advocacy Lab was joined in conversation with members of the PCEF Steering Committee for an "under the hood" look at the campaign's insights, challenges, and lessons learned –– also captured in a new, interview-based report that captures the "anatomy" of the campaign. This campaign secured a landslide ballot measure victory in Portland in November 2018, establishing a multi-million dollar municipal fund that will address climate, economic, and racial justice by providing funding for renewable energy projects, job training and apprenticeship programs, and regenerative agriculture.

As communities and advocates worldwide work to respond adequately to increasing climate disasters, where can climate advocates find resources to advance just, equitable, and community-based disaster recovery?

In this webinar, Climate Advocacy Lab teamed up with Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) to discuss CJA's recently released multimedia report Our Power Puerto Rico: Moving Toward a Just Recovery (a project completed with support from the Lab!). During the conversation, authors, experts, and frontline organizers who contributed to the case study and report highlight tools (including the 'Just Recovery framework'), practices, and experiential lessons learned from applying a participatory model of "Just Recovery" to disaster response in Puerto Rico following hurricane María. 

This conversation highlights findings from two reports focused on how the climate advocacy community can support equitable climate resilience (the ability of communities to adapt and thrive in the face of impacts from climate change) in climate policies and programs, as advocates nationwide are pushed to think beyond a frame of "simply" climate mitigation: Making Equity Real in Climate Adaptation and Community Resilience Policies and Programs: A Guidebook and Mapping Resilience: A Blueprint for Thriving in the Face of Climate Disasters.