Lobbying

Lobbying

Lobby means to “lawfully influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials.”  Lobbying members of Congress is at the heart of what we do at Citizens’ Climate Lobby. We meet with our Members of Congress at least four times a year, and we let them know what we’re wanting in many different ways all year long.

Lobbying Your Members of Congress

Are you interested in personally participating in democracy? Do you want to learn more about how our federal government actually works? If so, then Lobbying Congress is for you!

Your voice as a youth is strategically important in lobbying. Our experience is that Members of Congress and their staff really pay attention when young people speak their truth.

Here are ways to get involved with lobbying, with links to trainings on CCL’s Community Website. Be sure to connect with your local chapter to coordinate with their lobbying team.

  • Call or Tweet Members of Congress on a regular basis, identifying yourself as a student or young person
  • Write letters/emails to Members of Congress, identifying yourself as a youth
  • Join a chapter lobby team and do research on a Member of Congress
  • Work with a lobby team to write a lobby meeting plan to include a youth perspective
  • Attend a local in-district lobby meeting as part of a lobby team
  • Meet with Members of Congress or their staff during CCL Lobby Days in Washington, DC or virtually

SPOTLIGHT: Shae Reinberg, 17, North Carolina

“I went to Washington DC to lobby my representatives a few months after joining Citizens' Climate Lobby. Even though I did not feel qualified to lobby, CCL trained me so that I felt prepared and encouraged to go to Capitol Hill. For each of my lobby teams, I took on roles that empowered me to share my voice. It was an empowering experience to be able to participate in our democracy in this way, and I would recommend lobbying to anyone, as anyone can lobby with CCL.

After the CCL National November Conference, I shared with others about lobbying and the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend act through presentation webinars and workshops. I have also grown an interest in environmental policy from lobbying and I plan to study environmental science and policy in college."

SPOTLIGHT: Annika Gaglani

“On August 12th, 2020, youth climate advocates flooded the #ClimateThunderclap hashtag on Twitter with tweets voicing their concern for climate change and demanding that Congress take action. The efforts for this “thunderclap” were organized by Youth Action Team members of the Silicon Valley North CCL Chapter, and garnered roughly 60,590 views within the first 12 hours! We were amazed by our unanticipated success on Twitter when our message was promoted by other CCL chapters, Fridays for Future, 350 Dallas, The Media Fund, and Congresswoman Eshoo! Using social media to advocate important issues like climate change was empowering. I hope youth will continue to use the power of social media to convey the urgency for us all to act on change now."

Are you ready to solve climate change?