Las Vegas Training - what happens in Vegas will definitely not stay there!

Congratulations to the CRBA members selected to be trained or mentor in the upcoming Climate Reality Leadership Training, June 11-13 in Las Vegas! This will be the 49th training conducted by founder and chairman, Al Gore, since he founded the organization in 2007, and the first live training since 2019. 

The focus for this event will be on the desert Southwest, but the Bay Area will be well represented with over 40 community members in attendance.  We look forward to welcoming all of these leaders back here after training, ready to share all that happened in Vegas and to help our communities continue to show climate progress and climate justice! 

Climate Reality Project welcomes new CEO

On June 1, the Climate Reality Project ushered in a new era of leadership with the announcement that Phyllis Cuttino has taken the helm as CEO. According to Climate Reality Project Chairman Al Gore, 
 
"Phyllis has a strong track record of bringing together diverse voices across the climate movement to drive change and deliver important progress to move us away from fossil fuels and toward a cleaner and more equitable future.

She is not only fluent in climate policy, she has demonstrated a deep commitment to building broad coalitions of climate activists dedicated to equitable and ambitious climate action.”  

Most recently, Cuttino served as Executive Director of the Climate Action Campaign, a coalition of 14 of the leading national climate and health organizations representing more than 12 million Americans, building momentum around federal climate, clean air, and clean energy policy. Phyllis succeeds former CEO, Ken Berlin, who retired earlier in May.

Thanks to all who contacted their legislators to help pass our Climate Reality Bay Area endorsed CA Climate Bills from their house of origin. All are moving on! Below are the bills and their status. 

AB 2419 (Bryan) California Justice40 Act - Passed the Assembly. In Senate.
AB 2649 (Garcia) The Natural Carbon Sequestration and Resilience Act of 2022 - Passed the Assembly. In Senate.
SB 260 (Wiener) Climate Corporate Accountability Act - Passed the Senate. In Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
SB 833 (Dodd) Community Energy Resilience Act - Passed the Senate. In Assembly.
SB 917 (Becker) Seamless Transit Act - Passed the Senate. In Assembly Transportation Committee.
SB 1010 (Skinner) Transition state vehicle purchases to ZEVs - Passed the Senate. In Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee.
SB1078 (Allen) Financing Sea Level Rise Resilience - Passed the Senate. In Assembly.
SB 1173 (Gonzalez) CalPERS/CalSTRS divestment - Passed the Senate. In Assembly.
SB 1203 (Becker) State agency plans for net zero emissions - Passed the Senate. In Assembly.
SB 1328 (McGuire) Prohibited investments and contracts: Russia and Belarus - Passed the Senate. In Assembly.
SB 1482 (Allen) EV charging in multifamily buildings - Passed the Senate. In Assembly.

Have you experienced great workshops, speaker engagements or other events that inspire you to bring such opportunities to others? Are you handy at running Zoom Meetings, editing videos and/or coordinating event logistics and communications?  We can train you even if you haven’t done this before…the events team needs you!  
 
With a commitment of as little as an hour or two per month, you can be a part of the team that is impacting climate progress by informing, educating, and mobilizing our membership and greater community to climate action!  Want to learn more, share ideas, or dive in?  Contact co-chairs, Harriet Harvey-Horn and Bonnie Hamilton at CRBAchairs@gmail.com.

Check out these stats based on a May 27 Green Car Reports article reporting on a J.D.Power study on EV consideration:

• Among study respondents who had no experience with EVs, only 11% said they were “very likely” to consider one.
• That number more than doubled to 24% for those who had been a passenger, and jumped to 34% for those who had gotten behind the wheel.
• About 1/3 of people who reject EVs cite that they simply lack information about them. 

So, have a conversation, take a friend for a spin, or go with them for a test drive!  See how easy and fun climate action can be!

Events Co-Chair, Carolyn Guggemos, is stepping down from her post so that she can prepare to welcome a new addition to her family.  Congratulations and the best wishes to Carolyn and husband, Leigh and big-brother-in-waiting, Aaron, on this exciting news.  And, many, many thanks to Carolyn for lending her leadership and considerable talents to our events efforts over the past 16 months.  You will be missed!
 
Lianne Imamoto is returning to her role as Treasurer later in June, after a 2-month leave to wrap up her Masters in Environmental Science and Policy from Johns Hopkins University and tend to pressing work demands.  Heartfelt congratulations to Lianne on this great achievement, and deepest appreciation for her commitment to advancing climate progress in this impactful way!

For the third year in a row, the Climate Reality Bay Area Chapter was fortunate to be selected by a team of 7th grade Brandeis School students as the subject of a year-long research and advocacy project, known as the “Tzedek (Justice) Project.”  
 
At a culminating event last month, the students delivered a compelling speech on the climate crisis and the chapter’s efforts to mobilize action around it, then honored the chapter with a generous donation.  Read more about the project, this award, and these youth advocates here. (Note: The Bay Area Chapter welcomes any donations, no matter how big or small, to support our work.  All donations are tax-deductible, and can be made here.) 

Policy Action Leadership Team update

As a volunteer organization, we realize we all have limited time, resources and availability, and why we are so appreciative of all your efforts. We sent out a survey to all squad leaders and got about a 50% response, which was relatively good, asking what squads were having difficulty with and what they needed help with. We are working to provide solutions and continuing our efforts to gather information, so we know how best to help all you wonderful and varied volunteers who want to save our planet and enhance life on earth through policy action.
 
Our work is not about quick fixes, but instead a protracted effort to get the desired results we all want and need. Unfortunately, the opposition has deep pockets and spends lots of money resisting jeopardizing their profits. But if we work together, we can turn the tides! Economics are changing too, so we just need to keep at it. It’s working and we’re getting closer to the tipping point. Keep up the good work and let us know how else we might be of assistance to you. 
 
Thanks again! Together we can!
 
Allan allan@transformativewealthmgt.com and Stephen stephen.loiacono1@gmail.com
Co-chairs of the Bay Area Policy Action Leadership Team (PALT)