Ministry for Social Justice and the Earth by Zoe Dobbs

When the local chapter leader of Citizens’ Climate Lobby reached out to our church, I am slightly ashamed to admit that I had never heard of the organization before. However, after doing a little research and exploring their website, I came to learn and appreciate their policy-focused and nonpartisan approach to addressing climate change. This is an organization that believes in harnessing the power of legislation and market forces to bend our country away from a reliance on energy practices that cause pollution and lead to climate change. This may sound like a rather clinical and impersonal strategy, but CCL is equally aware of the real human costs of climate change: environmental disruptions disproportionately harm the poorest and most marginalized members of our society. I was also surprised to learn that there already exists a UU Action Team of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, and it is the largest faith action team in CCL! In fact, a large proportion of CCL chapters are formed through UU connections.

At the end of his presentation, our CCL speaker Raymond Tarpley asked us if we were interested in starting our own UUCBV chapter. Many attendees expressed interest, including myself, and I’m now reaching out to you, our faithful Lat readers and the rest of the church. Possible CCL activities include writing letters to the editor, writing and calling our legislators in Congress, and even meeting with Congressional representatives during CCL’s annual lobbying trip to D.C. Our representative, Rep. Flores, is in an especially influential position as a member of the climate subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce committee. CCL would supply the materials and strategies, and we’d supply our names, voices, and stories.

Raymond is willing to work with us to find meeting times that fit everyone’s schedule. There is also the option of attending meetings of the local BCS chapter - they meet at 11:30am on the 2nd Saturday of every month, currently at Mounce Library but the location is subject to change. Email chapter leader Raymond Tarpley (rjtarpley@earthlink.net) for more information and to be added to the local CCL email list. Likewise, email me (zirelynd@gmail.com) if you are interested in forming a UUCBV chapter. And in case you missed Raymond speak on August 11, you can view his slides here: https://bit.ly/2zcQRMt. I learned so much just from his presentation and slides, and I hope you will as well!