Action Sheet, May 2017
Monthly Meeting, Saturday, May 13, 2017
at 10:00 a.m. Pacific / 1:00 p.m. Eastern
Two Join Options
1. To connect by video conference, go to zoom.us, select “Join A Meeting” and enter
2017201717 for the meeting ID, OR use this URL: http://cclusa.org/meeting
2. To connect by phone: For either phone option, you’ll enter 2017201717 as the
meeting ID. 1-646-558-8656 or toll-free 1-877-369-0926.
Note: To improve video quality, close open applications (and browser windows). If your
Internet connection is poor, you can connect by phone. If you have problems connecting,
please contact Zoom’s 24/7 support at 888.799.9666.
CONFERENCE CALL GUEST:
Dr. Natasha DeJarnett, American Public
Health Association
The burning of fossil fuels takes a tremendous toll on public health, not only
from the impact of climate change, but also from the pollution that leads to
heart and respiratory problems. To learn more about this, we’re joined this
month by Dr. Natasha DeJarnett, policy analyst in the American Public
Health Association’s Center for Public Health Policy. Her specialty areas
within the Policy Center include climate change and environmental
exposures. Dr. DeJarnett received her PhD in Public Health from the University of Louisville in
2013. As a postdoc at the University, she was awarded a fellowship by the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences to investigate cardiovascular risks of air pollution exposures.
Download Dr. DeJarnett’s presentation: cclusa.org/maymeeting
Actions
1. Make plans for June 9th congressional call-in.
2. Make plans for DC lobby day meetings.
3. Review laser talks in preparation for Hill visits.
ACTION
Make plans for June 9 congressional call-in
Imagine that the first thing that the lobby team for your member of Congress hears from
staff when their meeting starts is: “We got so many calls in support of carbon fee and
dividend on Friday!” Wouldn’t that be helpful!
That’s why we are asking you to organize your group and your friends/family to call
Congress on Friday June 9th and ask their representative and senators to support carbon
fee and dividend. If they don’t get through on Friday they can try leaving a message over
the weekend and try again on Monday.
This year we’d like to take the call-in day to new levels. We will send a text action alert
(sign up here) to everyone signed up to receive them, and an email to every one of our
supporters early on 6/9. But it’s your personal outreach that will make the most difference.
Set a group goal and a personal goal: how many calls will your member of Congress get?
To make it easy and to track the number of calls we’re generating, we encourage using the
online action tool on CCL’s website that is specifically set up for the June 9th call-in. But
you may find it helpful to also request that your members/friends let you know when they
have called.
At your meeting:
1. Set a group goal and a personal goal for how many calls you’ll generate.
2. Ask everyone present to take out their calendar and put in when they will call
Congress on June 9th, taking into account the time zone difference in Washington
D.C. Go to the “Call Congress” page on CCL’s website for the script, phone numbers
and to log your call.
3. Ask everyone present to write down other people they will ask to do the same thing,
and who they will personally remind on June 8th. Ask callers to tell you personally
when they’ve called.
4. Set up a system for people to report how many calls were made. It could be via
Facebook or a shared spreadsheet or a central email address. This will help you
measure your progress.
5. Assign someone to send an email to your group roster on June 8thth asking them to
call the next day. You might also send an advance notice to your group right away,
and then remind them on the 8th.
6. Consider inviting other local groups to promote the Call-in day also.
Additional resources:
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On Facebook: We’ve created an event page that you can share with friends. Sign up
for the event and start inviting now!
On CCL Community: We have a resources page on Community where you’ll find
the suggested script for phone calls, a graphic to share with others, and a suggested
email to enroll other organizations to participate in the call-in.
ACTION
Make plans for DC lobby day meetings
What does your group think should happen in the lobby meetings with your members of
Congress? Draft your thoughts and send them to the liaison for that member of Congress.
Contact your regional coordinator if you aren’t sure who the liaison is. Don’t forget your
Senators!
Deadline: May 20th.
The liaisons will consolidate all the input they get into a meeting plan which will be given to
the lobby teams to use in the June 13th lobby day meetings in DC. The liaisons have to
submit the plan by May 26th, so get your plans to them as soon as possible. Please see the
Lobby Meeting Plan template (following pages) for the questions that liaisons are asked to
address for the DC lobby teams, and send them your ideas.
Resources for meeting planning from the Lobbying Toolkit on CCL Community:
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Sample Meeting Outline for Initial Meeting – A sample outline for meeting with a
member of Congress for the first time.
Sample Meeting Outline (After Initial Meeting) – Adjust as necessary depending
on the situation.
2017 June Supporting Asks — Ideas for what to ask your MoC in your meeting.
This is a draft to get you started thinking and will be finalized in June.*
June Action Logic - How to follow up or respond to certain situations in your lobby
meeting.*
Congressional Bios – Profiles of MoCs that provide background information useful
in meeting planning. Senate or House Bios.
* Draft documents that will be updated in June.
Lobby Meeting Plan for [Member of Congress, District]
Submitter Name and Email:
Has this MoC co-sponsored the Republican Climate Resolution?
o
o
o
o
Yes
No, we did not ask or they were not ready to sign on yet.
No, we asked and they said no.
Not applicable (e.g. Democratic MoC; this is a Senator, not a Rep.)
Has this MOC joined the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus?
o
o
o
o
o
Yes
No, we did not ask or they were not ready to sign on yet.
No, we asked and they said no.
Waiting/wants to join
Not applicable (e.g. Democratic MoC; this is a Senator, not a Rep.)
What is the Primary Goal for this meeting? Examples could include:
 Understand MoC's views on climate change and/or impacts
 Learn about MoC's concerns with our policy/climate policy in general
 Build relationships with office staffers/MoC
 Work on building a partnership with your MoC's office
 Respond to a previously raised issue
 Get help reaching across the aisle
 Share details of REMI report
 Share details of the Household Impact study
 Talk about recent endorsements
 Highlight a local impact or recent poll
 Ask Republicans to sign the Republican Climate Resolution
 Ask MOC to join the Climate Solutions Caucus
 Inform them of growing Republican support on climate
 Ask Democrats to support revenue neutrality
Suggested appreciation(s) of the MOC or staffer.
What is our supporting ask? (Aside from introducing/sponsoring carbon fee and
dividend.) See Supporting Asks for some ideas. Feel free to formulate your own,
based on your knowledge of the office.
What have CCL groups been doing in the district lately that would be of interest to
the MoC?
What challenging things might come up that we should be ready to respond to?
What questions could be asked during the meeting to learn more about the
MoC/staffer's viewpoints?
What do we need to do or bring to get ready for this meeting and who will/should do
that?
What materials (if any) do you intend to leave behind or send ahead of time? (e.g.
part of the congressional district reports or polling data we send monthly to Liaisons
and Group Leaders)
Other goals, things to say, questions to ask, or things to know for this meeting.
Preparation Questions
What local effects of climate change might you share with the MoC? Stories of specific
people are good.
What are the MoC's recent positions on climate/energy, jobs/economy and national
debt?
What are the major employers or industries in the district?
LASER TALKS
Review talks for June lobby meetings
As volunteers prepare for our lobby day in Washington, we offer a selection of laser talks
that will be most useful in meetings with members of Congress and staff. Download the
talks and review them to see which ones you may need to practice. Even if you are not
coming to Washington, familiarizing yourself with these talks will help when you attend
district meetings, write letters to the editor or conduct outreach in your community.
The purpose of the talks is not necessarily to deliver a monologue on a particular topic, but
to become comfortable enough with the information the talks contain so that you can share
that information in the give and take of conversations with decision makers.