Message from the Chair
September global temperatures reached historic highs, again shattering old records. Climate change is accelerating faster than predicted, with floods affecting NYC just as Climate Week drew to a close. Thousands of protestors marched in New York to demand an end to fossil fuels, as others joined in cities around the world.
This October, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a report urging governments to tax carbon pollution and ramp up private financing to help emissions reductions, adapt to guaranteed warming, and cover growing costs of loss and damage from the climate crisis. The U.N. Global Stocktake synthesis report found, in preparation for COP28, that current climate policies will see us fall short of staying below 1.5ºC. The gap between science and reality is partly a question of political will…it can still be bridged!
In the U.S. domestic arena, some good news: The Biden-Harris administration hosted the first-ever White House Summit on Building Climate Resilient Communities, including representatives from more than 25 states, territories, and Tribal Nations. It underscored the commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and better manage climate threats while recognizing locally tailored, community-driven strategies. In conjunction with the Summit, the Administration released the National Climate Resilience Framework.
This month, President Biden vetoed two resolutions to overturn protections for at-risk wildlife, S.J. Res. 24 and S.J. Res. 9, which would have undermined the Endangered Species Act. The Administration also launched the American Climate Corps, (albeit on a smaller scale than imagined). This workforce training and service initiative will put more than 20,000 young people to work in the growing fields of climate resilience, conservation, and clean energy; a sort of ‘Peace Corps’ for the environment.
Two steps forward, one step back. Let’s keep Democrats in office to continue making progress on behalf of our nation and planet. Please join us this Wednesday for our monthly Climate Café to look at clean-tech solutions to our climate woes. Also, save the date of November 14th, when we will welcome Senator Ed Markey and Michelle Deatrick of the DNC’s ECCC to discuss the road to COP28 UAE and electing Democrats in 2024.
Thank you for staying engaged, electing Democrats, and pressing our representatives to take decisive action on behalf of the environment and climate. Your voice matters. Your vote matters.
Dana Freling
Chair, DA Environment & Climate Crisis Council
Six states have elections scheduled for 2023: KENTUCKY, LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, NEW JERSEY, OHIO, VIRGINIA, and UTAH. If you live in one of these states, please register now to request your absentee ballot from Votefromabroad.org! For more information about specific races, check 2023 State Voting Information and 2023 Election Dates.
If you are a Florida voter, you can also now sign on to the Right to Clean Water Ballot Initiative. With enough signatures, it will go forward to the 2024 election ballot. Download the petition to sign and mail, and view the full text of the Amendment here.
Welcome to the ECCC’s October Climate Café, 10.18 at 4:00 pm CET, where we will examine how clean-tech solutions are developed and what exciting innovations are in the pipeline. Our special guest, Eric Burns, a clean-tech entrepreneurial scientist, will guide us through the process of identifying technical opportunities to reach desired climate outcomes.
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RSVP Here! |
Check out these news highlights from the last month!
Media articles:
🗳 Biden to Target Industrial Pollution in a 2nd Term, if He Gets One
🌳 Feds spread $1 billion for tree plantings among US cities to reduce extreme heat and benefit health
🚫 It’s time to put fossil fuels in the rearview mirror
💪 Biden is unveiling the American Climate Corps, a program with echoes of the New Deal
🚙 Biden urges striking auto workers to ‘stick with it’ in picket line visit unparalleled in history
🗾 The world’s biggest carbon capture facility is being built in Texas. Will it work?
🏛 Va. voters to decide Statehouse control, with climate on the line
💵 Ministerial shows fault lines on climate loss and damage fund
📉 UN puts climate ‘course correction’ on Cop28 negotiating table
🗾 Biden to Target Industrial Pollution in a 2nd Term, if He Gets One
Video clips
🌊 Sea Rising and Floods - Tremendous Threat Of Water
🥗José Andrés on Food Systems Amid Extreme Weather
💰World Bank Head Ajay Banga and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley on Financing a Just Transition
Volunteer with the ECCC – Contact us at eccc@democratsabroad if you’d like to get more involved. Join our working group, the Watchdogs Research Task Force or to help out with a variety of tasks including social media and communications.
Write your representative-
Guide to the IRA - This Guide Can Help You Save Money and Fight Climate Change
Guide to the IRA’s Investments in Indian Country; tax incentives and funding programs: Inflation Reduction Act Tribal Guidebook
Guide to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law - Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Guidebook
Energy Cost Resources to lower your energy costs, make your home safer and more comfortable and help the planet: Energy Savings Hub | Department of Energy
Biden-Harris Vision for a Climate Resilient Nation -guide for climate resilience investments and activities by the federal government and its partners: National Climate Resilience Framework
Sign the Petition to Declare a Climate Emergency!
🌎 Watch our September Climate Café – Can the Private Sector Help Biodiversity Conservation
🌎 Watch our July Climate Café – The Rise of Cell-cultured Meat
🌎 Watch our May Climate Café – The U.S. and China and the Race to NET ZERO
🌍 Watch our ECCC Earth Day Video 2023
🌎 Watch our April Climate Café – The U.S. and E.U.: Race to Electric Vehicles
🌎 Watch our March Climate Café – African Women Entrepreneurs: Green Energy Innovators
🌍 Watch our February Climate Café - Preserving the Lungs of the Planet: Brazil's 2nd chance!
🌍 Watch our December Climate Café – Arts and Climate Activism, with special guest Michelle Deatrick
🌍 Watch our November Climate Café - COP27 Round up: Live from Sharm El Sheik with Sam Goodman
🌍 Watch our YOUTH v GOV Voices Webinar
🌍 Did you miss our Co₂nsequences: Global Climate Rally in April? You can watch it here. We had a lot of great speakers and performers.
🌍 Want to make your lifestyle greener? Boost your knowledge. Check out our Earth Care Toolkit.