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Welcome To Tonight’s CCL Training!

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Slides: http://cclusa.org/lobbylead

www.citizensclimatelobby.org

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Leading A Lobby Team Training

July 17, 2025�

Presentation Slides: http://cclusa.org/lobbylead

Elli puts in chat:

Answer in the chat:

Are you leading a lobby meeting this year?

….

Follow along with tonight’s slides: http://cclusa.org/lobbylead

….

Find tonight’s training on CCL Community: https://community.citizensclimate.org/topics/working-with-congress/lobbying-401

….

Log your attendance on tonight’s training

Elli:

Welcome everyone to tonight’s CCL training program, a weekly webinar program of Citizens’ Climate Lobby that provides CCL supporters with access to in-depth training opportunities on topics relating to climate change and effective climate advocacy.

I’m your host, Elli Sparks, CCL’s Senior Director of Field Operations.

Thank you for being here tonight for lobby lead training. In this lesson, we’ll go into detail about the special role of a lobby meeting leader. The lead makes sure that our teams go into the meeting with a plan and with everyone knowing how to work together to ensure a successful meeting. You may be listening to this call because you know you will be leading a lobby team soon or because you realize you might be needed in this role, or simply because you want to keep deepening your understanding of how to lobby. We are glad to have all of you with us on this call.

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About Our Speaker

Bill Barron

Network Director

Jon Clark

Network Director

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Three Learning Goals

Emphasize the value of advance planning while providing helpful recommendations.

Demonstrate how to navigate and adapt to potential challenging situations as a leader.

Highlight the importance that you play as lobby meeting leaders.

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Our Agenda

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The Importance of Leads

Advance Planning

Meeting Planning Suggestions

Additional Leadership Considerations

Final Considerations

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The Importance of Leadership

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“It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it. Those who, like you, have leadership thrust upon them, and take up the mantle because they must, and find to their own surprise that they wear it well.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”

― Ronald Reagan

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“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.”

― Eleanor Roosevelt

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Your leadership is essential �and we thank you.

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Our Advantages

We are constituents!
We are ordinary people.
We accept and learn from mistakes.
We build relationships.

Bill:

Before we jump into tonight’s training, let's take a quick review of what makes constituent lobbyists so powerful in meetings with our members of Congress.

A lot of us feel nervous going into a meeting, and that’s a normal feeling.

Let’s remember that our advantage is that we are constituents, not professional lobbyists. So although we want you to behave professionally, you don’t have to try to be a professional lobbyist. This is as true in the US as it is for our volunteers in Canada, Australia or any other country.

Relax and be yourself. Do whatever helps you get into that empowering, listening place ahead of your meetings. I personally think about how good it feels for me to stand for what I believe in. I also remind myself that I’m part of a team of great, capable people.

Part of what sets CCL apart in the eyes of the congressional offices is that we are ordinary people who care deeply about the future of our planet. As one of our admirers in Congress says repeatedly to his colleagues -- these (CCL) lobbyists are seeing us on their own dime!

Know that as an ordinary human, you or your team members may make mistakes. It’s not big deal. In your lobby meeting, you might wish you or a team member had phrased things differently or said things better. In tonight’s training, we’ll show you how to handle situations like this.

We are building relationships, so be human and embrace whatever happens.

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Helping lobby team members grow.

Be a Mentor!

Give them:

Stretch roles
Safety to fail
Coachable moments

Jon:

Most lobby meetings are short, some are very short, and some are longer. Regardless of the length of time, how you facilitate that meeting plays an important role.

As a lobby meeting leader, facilitating the meeting, you are well positioned to nurture and empower others by showing faith in your team.

You can give people roles that might be a stretch for them. Look for coachable moments as your team members stretch into their new roles.

You can empower your team members by putting them into situations where they can both succeed and fail. Welcome the failure and allow them to learn from it.

Collective power means everyone builds skills and knowledge. Leadership means allowing others to build skills and confidence.

As a leader, you can give others the chance to shine. Our team is only as strong as its weakest player, so let’s help everyone grow!

Your work as a leader occurs in the lobby meeting. It also happens during the planning and practicing prior to the lobby meeting. Your leadership shows up in how you reach out to your team in advance of the planning meeting and how you follow up with your team after the lobby meeting.

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Help your team shine
Manage the meeting
Empower everyone to participate
Handle transitions
Keep meeting on track
Close the meeting on time
Support constituents
Be present to the flow

Be the Conductor

Jon:

The meeting leader is like the conductor of an orchestra. The leader manages the lobby meeting, but does not dominate. A leader helps with transition points like moving the conversation from one team member to another or from one agenda item to another. A leader helps get the conversation back on track. They help wrap up the discussion if someone on the team is taking too long. And, the leader closes the meeting.

A leader listens to team members, looking for opportunities to have them shine.

If constituents and the liaison are present, the leader also ensures the constituents and liaisons speak. If the lobby meeting leader is the constituent and/or has a long standing relationships with the office, then of course, the leaders speaks in the meeting from that perspective.

A leader observes the facial and body cues, reads situations, and responds accordingly.

In some cases, the member of Congress or staffer might demonstrate their interest in one of your team members in particular. They might want to learn more about what that volunteer knows about climate change. Going with the flow, you can have that volunteer speak up more than you originally planned.

As a leader, keep in mind our overarching goal for lobby meetings. We want to deepen our relationships with our members of Congress. We want to demonstrate our interest in their perspective so aim to have the member of Congress or staff speak at least 50% of the time.

CCL volunteers have been building relationships with members of Congress for more than 15 years.

You are part of a legacy of volunteer leaders who have developed policy savvy, grown their skills, and demonstrated the grassroots support to pass effective bipartisan climate legislation.

Photo from: https://unsplash.com/photos/NsgsQjHA1mM

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Involve Young Adults

Members of Congress love meeting with young people.

Young people:

Bring a wide range of experiences
Care deeply about climate
Offer their own unique set of skills

Jon:

Many leaders especially enjoy empowering and mentoring young adults.

Members of Congress also value young voices. So, if possible, involve youth and young adults in your meeting.

Find out what expertise they have. You may be surprised. Many of us older adults rely on youth and young adults to help with technology in our daily lives. While it may be true that many young people feel comfortable with modern technology, not every young person wants to be the tech support.

Just like adults of any age, youth and young adults bring a wide range of experiences, perspectives, knowledge, and skills. Find out what they bring to the table, and make room for them to shine as well.

I have watched a very young daughter of a volunteer in PA very effectively make the Ask of a Member of Congress - and she had his complete attention. And he certainly wanted to do what she was asking.

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Bring a Letter from a Trusted Messenger

Demonstrate support
Introduce when relevant
Message: We are not alone in calling for climate action - here’s someone you might know or respect who feels the same way as we do!

Bill:

Local chapters have been working on getting letters from a trusted messenger in their district, calling for climate action

Share these letters in your meeting not only to show the trusted voice advocating for climate action but also to demonstrate our connections and outreach in the district

Bring it up during the meeting when most relevant.

The message implied with these letters is that we in CCL are not alone in calling for climate action - here’s someone you might know or respect who feels the same way as we do!

Even better: bring the trusted messenger to the virtual lobby meeting with you. But be sure you include them in your team practice or have a private coaching session with them first.

Trusted Messenger Letter Template: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/201

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Advance Planning

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How do we set lobby meetings?

Liaisons (or their designees) schedule lobby meetings
Lobby Team Leaders plan the lobby meeting
Liaisons may share suggestions for lobby meeting plans.
Welcome and involve your whole team

Brett:

How do we set lobby meetings?

The CCL Congressional Liaison is the designated point of contact with the Congressional office.

All appointments for meetings are being set by CCL congressional liaisons (or someone they designate). If you are not a liaison, please do not try to set an appointment (you can learn about becoming a liaison here). If you’re not sure if there is a liaison or you need help, contact your Regional Director or State Coordinator.

Lobby Meeting Planning

If you'd like one resource that can help your team plan is CCL's Meeting Plan Template. It can be used as a guide to solicit, discuss and prioritize everyone’s ideas for the lobby meeting. Key items to discuss include the appreciation, primary goal, secondary asks, and open-ended questions for discussion. You can find planning guidance on the Planning Your Lobby Meeting training page.
If there is a primary liaison, but the liaison is not part of your lobby team, they will reach out to you to offer suggestions for the lobby meeting plan.
And, we will be sharing a sample meeting for lobby meetings with Republican members of Congress and a sample meeting for meeting with Democrats. These will appear on the same page as the Meeting Plan Template.

Your Lobby Team

We aim to include all lobby day attendees in lobby meetings on lobby day. As such, you may find yourself with a team comprised of only constituents. Or, you might have a team that includes CCL volunteers who live in the same state, but not the same congressional district. You may, in some cases, find yourself with a volunteer who lives in another state. Please make everyone feel welcome!
You may even find yourself being asked to lead a meeting for another district or state than your own. Thank you for helping out!

Brett puts into chat:

Meeting Plan Template: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/241

Becoming a Liaison: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/400

___________________________________________________________________

Fall only:

For the fall lobby drive, lobby teams will be created by the local meeting lead, who is usually the liaison and/or appointment setter. If you have any questions about who that person is for your group, feel free to reach out to your chapter leader. If you have any additional questions please contact CCL's Liaison Coordinator team at liaison.coordinator@citizensclimatelobby.org.

When training happens PRIOR to start of appointment setting:

If there is no liaison to set the appointment for your Senator or Representative, work with chapters in the district/state and your CCL Regional or State Coordinator to designate an appointment setter and email their contact info to liaison.coordinator@citizensclimatelobby.org. CCL's Liaison Coordinator team will distribute details on how to set appointments to appointment setters.

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Connecting With Your Team

Email introduction
Group text connection
Schedule planning meeting
Roles query
MOC bio link
Lobby trainings

Jon:

[Virtual lobbying]

Plan a time to meet with your team on Zoom to practice before your lobby meeting. State coordinators can assist with getting you a Zoom line.

Introduce yourself as the lobby team lead via email.
If you can, also connect the team to each other via text and reference the email you sent. Emails sometimes get buried so use the text to flag the email you just sent.
Ask which role each team member prefers. It may not be the role you give them, but it helps to know what they’d like to be doing in the lobby meeting.
Include a link to the bio for your member of Congress
Share our links to CCL’s basic lobby training, in case they may have missed those.

Elli puts links in chat:

Finding a Time to Meet with your Team in DC: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/272#heading_4

…….

Congressional Bios: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/249

…….

Lobby Trainings: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/272

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Summer DC lobbying

If you can, contact your lobby team prior to traveling to DC. This isn’t always possible given the timing of your travel. But, if you have time ahead of your departure for DC, then:

Introduce yourself as the lobby team lead via email.
Connect the team to each other via text and reference the email you sent. Emails sometimes get buried so use the text to flag the email you just sent.
Find a time to meet in DC during the conference or schedule a time to meet on Zoom before you travel to DC. State Coordinators can help get you a Zoom line.We’ve created extra room in the conference schedule to make it easier for you to find time to meet with your teams. Elli will put a link to the list of times in the chat. We will list rooms available for meeting in the conference program.
Ask which role each team member prefers. It may not be the role you give them, but it helps to know what they’d like to be doing in the lobby meeting.
Include a link to the bio for your member of Congress
Share our links to CCL’s basic lobby training, in case they may have missed those.

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Planning Meeting Agenda

Introductions
Review past meeting minutes
Review your lobby meeting plan
Determine order of asks
Assign roles
Brainstorm open ended questions

Jon:

Before you meet with your team, you may wish to consult with other CCL volunteers about possible items for your meeting plan. This may include your Group Leader or other chapter members, state coordinator, network director and liaison.

When you do meet with your lobby team to plan the lobby meeting, we’ve got a recommended agenda for the planning meeting. There are different samples for Republicans and Democrats at the link Elli is putting in the chat.

First, invite everyone to introduce themselves to the rest of the team.
Then, review the previous meeting notes and let the team know how these minutes influenced your lobby meeting plan.

You may have created the lobby meeting plan. Or, the liaison (if they aren’t part of the lobby team) may have created the plan for you. If this is the case for you, we will send you those meeting plans when we send you your lobby schedule on June 5th. If you still have questions, ask your state coordinator or regional director.

After reviewing previous meeting notes, share the lobby meeting plan with the team reminding them of the Primary and Secondary Asks

This summer we have a primary ask and secondary ask for House and Senate Democrats. We also have one primary and at least one secondary ask for every Republican office. You and your team can determine the order of these asks.
On Zoom, you can share the meeting plan document on the screen and fill in more details during your planning meeting

Assign roles and explain the responsibilities of each role. Confirm that everyone understands their roles and your role as leader. (We will cover the roles in the next slide.)
Lastly, get the team brainstorming open ended questions that relate to the primary and secondary asks. Determine which questions the team wants to ask and who might be the person asking those questions. You might start this brainstorming with a review of what an open ended question is. (We will also review open ended questions in tonight’s training)

Leave enough time so you and your team can run through the agenda with a practice meeting. Here’s where you can remind your team that as the leader, you will facilitate the transitions verbally. Let your team know that a verbal cue might sound like this: “Leila would like to tell you why we are here today and what we’re asking for.”

Elli puts in the chat:

Meeting Plan Template: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/241

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What To Send In Advance

Primary & Supporting Asks One-Pagers

List of Constituents Attending

Brief Agenda

Evidence of Community Support

Bill:

These suggestions are worth considering. Ideally, this communication should come from the main point of contact with the office.

If your team settles into a plan that you and others feel good about, you could email the broad overview bullet points of your agenda to the office ahead of time. Include a list of lobby meeting members (and quick bios), the primary asks one-pagers, any local evidence of popularity for climate solutions. Given how busy offices are at this time, we suggest keeping all emails brief and including one-pagers. Provide more only if the office asks for it.

Research that the Congressional Management Foundation has done in the past highlights that the staff in the meeting appreciate being able to prepare resources and question responses ahead of time, but this isn’t a necessary step that CCL expects all teams to do if you don’t settle on things early enough to send the agenda.

To put into chat:

https://community.citizensclimate.org/topics/primary-asks. This page provides a link to the supporting asks.

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Reviewing Primary and Secondary Asks

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Roles: Who does what?

Leader
Appreciator
Time Monitor
Notetaker
Discussion
Asker
Deliverer
Photographer
Follow Up
Listener

Bill:

Let’s turn to the roles volunteers play in a lobby team now.

Depending on the size of the lobby team, an individual may fill multiple roles. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the discussion, but give deference to the constituents wherever possible.

Leader –the lobby team member who manages the meeting, facilitates transitions, makes sure the meeting plan is followed, and empowers everyone to share and participate, especially the constituents. If the leader is not the Liaison, the leader is responsible for briefing the Liaison after the meeting. The leader assigns roles before a meeting.
Appreciator – the lobby team member who shows appreciation for something the member of Congress has recently accomplished. If possible, this should be a constituent.
Time Monitor – the lobby team member who asks at the beginning how much time there is for the meeting and keeps the meeting on time. Alerts team when there is only five minutes (or other agreed upon time) left. Monitors the time both CCL volunteers and Member or staff are talking with the target of sharing it 50/50. Tallies number of open questions your team asked for the meeting minutes.
Notetaker – the lobby team member who takes notes of the discussion and records key points made. If possible, the notetaker should be an experienced volunteer. This person should be able to easily follow the conversation and, most important, capture what’s said by the member of Congress or staffer. The same day as the meeting the notetaker types the notes into the online form.
Discussion – all lobby team members are encouraged to participate in the discussion, especially the constituents. Actively listen and offer a reflection verbally on what your member of Congress or staffer says in a way that clarifies, offers understanding and opens doors to change.
Asker – the lobby team member who presents CCL’s purpose and ask. If possible, this should be a constituent who has a strong grasp of the legislation and its wider implications and ripple effects. The asker leaves the 1-page primary ask behind.
Deliverer – the team member who is responsible for bringing constituent letters, postcards, or endorsements letters from community leaders to the meeting.
Photographer—the team member designated to take a photo (with permission) and share online afterwards on social media.
Follow-up – this lobby team member sends follow-up meeting materials and a thank you card. If the person doing the follow-up is not the Liaison, he/she should coordinate on the follow-up items with the Liaison soon after the meeting.
Listener - All meeting members are encouraged to be listeners. If you hear something that sounds like a topic to gain more understanding, all are empowered to ask more and use the opportunity to clarify what is missing to bring further clarity to the dialogue.

Put in chat:

Lobby Team Role Descriptions: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/246

…….

Meeting Minutes Printout: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/244

…….

Taking photos: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/212

___________________________________________________________________

Fall only:

Tech Support - Someone responsible for being the host, who feels comfortable with the online platform and can help other unmutes, monitor the chat, and any other security settings your team decides on (for more information on how to practice and prepare - Brett will put a resource in the chat: Practicing Video Conference Security https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/454

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Possible Open Ended Questions

Who…
What…
Where…
When…
How…

Tell me more about that…

Bill:

During the discussion time in the meeting everyone in the lobby meeting can ask open ended questions.

Remember, an open ended question often starts with who, what, where, when, and how. These types of questions invite a deeper answer.

In the chat, let’s all share some ideas of open ended questions.

You can avoid “why” questions because asking why may feel accusatory and might make your member of Congress or the staff feel defensive.

When we ask open ended questions, we avoid questions that elicit a yes or no answer.

The only time we want to ask a yes or no question is when we make the ask: Will you sponsor a specific bill we might be advocating for? Or, will you support more work on permitting reform? Those are our asks and they differ from the open ended questions.

We design our open ended questions to elicit a response that will reveal more about the other person’s thinking.

So, what open ended questions have you come up with? (check chat)

Those are great! Here are some possible open ended questions you can use to center your member of Congress or their staff on our asks:

What opportunities or challenges do you see for climate policy in this year?
What questions or concerns do you have about our Ask?
How can we help build political will for action on permitting reform/carbon pricing in the district?
How can CCL improve how we work with your office?
Who should we be listening to and talking to in the district/state?

If you feel stuck at any point, or maybe you feel cornered or confused by a response, try saying “Tell me more about that…” This redirects the conversation back to your member of Congress or their staff person giving them an opportunity to help you understand more clearly what they are trying to convey.

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Time For Questions

Click Participants & Raise Hand Or *9 If On The Phone

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Where Things Stand

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Where Things Stand Now

A couple of weeks ago, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Republican reconciliation bill we have been lobbying on since early this year.
The bill included rollbacks and weakening of most of the clean energy tax credits, especially wind and solar credits.
Even though the legislation is a setback for clean energy and the climate, thanks in part to our lobbying, the final bill was about 25% less costly than the initial version - both to pocketbooks and to the climate.

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Why Our Voice Matters Now

Lawmakers need to know this vote wasn’t the end
Without a visible constituent response, they’ll assume:

Voters don’t care
Special interests hold sway

But we’re not just reacting - we’re ready with solutions
We’re in this for the long haul

Advocacy is about long-term relationships - even in tough moments
Showing up now reinforces that we’re credible, consistent partners ready to help shape what comes next

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Primary & Secondary Asks

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Primary Asks

Republicans: Support the Clean Energy Transition for Affordable and Reliable Power

Fund Key Clean Energy Programs
Fix Clean Energy Tax Credit Implementation
Permitting Reform

Democrats: Advancing Clean Energy for a Safer Climate and Affordable Power

Permitting Reform
Fund Key Clean Energy Programs

Topline Ask for All Offices: Support the clean energy transition

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Why This Overarching Message?

It tells a cohesive story.
It’s grounded in current events.
It supports more focused meetings.
It frames us as solution-oriented, not just reactive.

Bill

✅ It tells a cohesive story.

Members of Congress and their staff hear dozens of asks every day. A unified message helps our priorities stand out by tying them together in a clear, values-driven narrative: We need smart policies to keep energy affordable and reliable by accelerating the clean energy transition.

✅ It’s grounded in current events.

The reconciliation bill rolled back several key clean energy provisions. That makes our message more urgent and relevant:

🧠 8. It supports more focused meetings.

With one clear through-line, your meetings can stay tighter and more persuasive. You won’t have to reframe the conversation three times. Instead, you can build one story and reinforce it with each ask.

✅ It appeals across the political spectrum.

Whether you care about climate, costs, jobs, innovation, or national competitiveness, supporting clean energy makes sense. This framing gives our volunteers flexibility to meet their audience where they are—while still reinforcing a consistent message.

🏗️ 6. It frames us as solution-oriented, not just reactive.

Rather than only responding to what went wrong in reconciliation, we’re offering a proactive, forward-looking path that shows what Congress can do next to keep progress going. We’re not just asking them to undo cuts—we’re giving them a smart, achievable roadmap.

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Primary Asks for Republican Offices

We urge Congress to support targeted, pragmatic policies that enable clean energy to compete, scale, and deliver dependable power to Americans.

Fund Key Clean Energy Programs in FY26 Appropriations
Advance Smart Energy Permitting Reform
Fix Clean Energy Tax Credit Implementation

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Primary Asks for Democratic Offices

Now more than ever, we must accelerate clean energy development and deployment by addressing the remaining barriers: advancing smart permitting reform and fully funding the federal programs that help scale clean energy, lower costs, and support long-term reliability.

Advance Smart Energy Permitting Reform
Fund Key Clean Energy Programs in FY26 Appropriations

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Fund Key Clean Energy Programs

This part of the primary ask will be the same for Democrats as Republicans
Congress is working on appropriations – allocating funds to federal agencies and programs for 2026 Fiscal Year
We urge Congress to reject proposed cuts and fully fund key programs essential to energy innovation and reliability

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�

Secondary Ask

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Secondary Asks

Democratic House Offices & All of Senate Ask - Fix Our Forests Act
Optional House & Senate Republican Offices Ask - Foreign Pollution Tariff Legislation

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Fix Our Forests Act Asks

For Democratic Representatives: ask to vote for the Senate bill when it comes back to the House
For all Senators: ask to vote in favor when it comes to the floor

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Optional Secondary Ask for Republicans:

�Look into foreign pollution tariff legislation

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	House and Senate Democrats	Senate Republicans	House Republicans
Primary Ask	Support the Clean Energy Transition Permitting Reform Fund Clean Energy Programs	Support the Clean Energy Transition Fund Clean Energy Programs Tax Credit Implementation Permitting Reform
Secondary Ask	Fix Our Forests Act	Fix Our Forests Act Optional Foreign Pollution Tariff	Optional Foreign Pollution Tariff

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Time For Questions

Click Participants & Raise Hand Or *9 If On The Phone

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Leading a Meeting Your Way

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Pre-Meeting Huddle

Meet down the hall
Relax, be present, & have fun
Review and/or reassign roles
Review goals/asks
Minimize distractions
Everyone looking good?
Watch lead for cues
Check-in with late arrivers

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Jon:

Meet your team outside the office prior to the meeting to wait until everyone has arrived. Be careful of what you discuss that might be overheard by those in the office - you may wish to step down the hall.

Here are some things you should review during the pre-meeting huddle:

Remind everyone to relax, be present and have fun.
Review everyone’s roles. Confirm, assign or reassign roles as necessary.
Review the goals of the meeting.
Go over the primary and supporting asks.
Remind everyone to keep asking open ended questions and reflecting back until the team is comfortable they understand where the Member or staffer stands on each issue that comes up
Also, remind everyone to watch or listen out for their cues. emphasize transitions/hand-offs between members (spotlight considerations)

So let’s talk next about what a meeting leader does during the meeting.

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Pre-Meeting Huddle on Zoom

Meet on separate online ID
Review roles and/or reassign
Remind team of the goals
Minimize distractions

�

Everyone looking good?
Review your asks
Watch lead for cues
Check-in with late arrivers
Relax, be present, and have fun

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Jon:

Many groups find having an online pre-meeting huddle ahead of your online meeting with Congress will be key.

As lead you can can enable the waiting room to create a separate meeting space (or a different Meeting ID or group call) for your team 15-20 minutes ahead of your call and communicate the plan with your group.

Here are some things you should review during the pre-meeting huddle:

Remind everyone to relax, be present and have fun.
Review everyone’s roles. Confirm, assign or reassign roles as necessary.
Review the goals of the meeting.
Go over the primary and supporting asks.
Fall Lobbying: Make sure everyone is in a place where they won’t be distracted by a phone call, or by apps on phones or computers that will ding when a notification comes through. Does everyone look good on camera?
Remind everyone to keep asking open ended questions and reflecting back until the team is comfortable they understand where the Member or staffer stands on each issue that comes up
Also, remind everyone to watch or listen out for their cues. emphasize transitions/hand-offs between members (spotlight considerations)

Fall Lobbying: Finally, we want to join the main meeting a few minutes early, but try to wait for everyone to show up.

So let’s talk next about what a meeting leader does during the meeting.

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Listening
Looking
Diverging as needed

What is Situational Awareness?

Understanding what is happening in the moment & changing plans when warranted.

Jon:

As a meeting leader, you will do a lot of advance planning and preparation, and that’s really important. But we can’t let our plans and preparation go on auto-pilot.

We practice ahead of time, but you never know what scenarios will play out. That’s why we always need to be focused on what is being said – in the moment – and as a team be ready to help each other respond to what we’re actually hearing, not what we expect or think we heard.

As the meeting leader, you should recognize when it might be appropriate to diverge from your plan. We refer to this as situational awareness.

It’s the ability to perceive and understand what is happening in the moment and being able to react to challenges as they happen.

Good situational awareness means you’re not only listening to the words being said but also the tone of voice and body language too.

One of the benefits of having a team is that if you don’t pick up on a particular cue from your member of Congress or staffer, one of your fellow lobbyists might. It is important for your team to trust each other to speak up when they see something.

All team members should be empowered to ask a follow up question or redirect a derailed conversation.

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Note & address power dynamics
See & elevate silent constituent

Lobbying is a Team Sport

Who isn’t being heard?

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“If I may, let me add…

“We are passionate group…

What if someone stumbles?

Don’t correct, redirect!

Jon:

As with all of these transition examples, we encourage you to try practicing them out loud with your team to help them feel natural and something that your other teammates can know how to use in the heat of the moment as well.

What if someone on the team says something that’s flat-out wrong?

Rather than correcting them, try saying something like this: “If I may, let me add to what Mindy was saying.”

Your team will appreciate you for not correcting them or pointing out they forgot something.

What could you do if a CCL volunteer gets agitated or angry during a meeting?

THIS IS NOT COMMON, but it has happened. Be prepared for it…stay calm.

Here’s how it could play out. I’ll play the angry volunteer, and I will play the team leader.

Bill as CCL volunteer: “It’s you guys in Congress who are stalling and making this worse!”

Jon a as leader: “Congresswoman, obviously we're very passionate people. And we're working very hard to try to get something done on time. You were just saying that you think driving innovation should be front and center of any renewable energy agenda. Could we share with you more about what we’ve learned about how this growing global trend toward accountability for carbon emissions actually creates an opportunity for America to capitalize on its competitive advantage?

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Late arrivals wait outside unless a constituent

Size, Timing, & Focus

Team sizes will vary

Jon:

The size of your teams will vary from meeting to meeting and the format you are going to use. If there are just two or three volunteers in a meeting, then each person will need to fill one or more role.

If your team ends up being a larger group, it might mean some folks do not have to speak that much outside of their initial brief personal intro story about what concerns brought them to the meeting.As the leader, you want to acknowledge and appreciate them for that. Having additional people in the meeting whose role is looking pleasant and affirming their interest is important, so even if they don’t say much, as lead it’s key to help value them for being present. In fact, a few meetings have experimented with supporter observers where a lot of CCL volunteers can support the lobby team by being present on zoom with camera on and muted.

Also, you may run into the situation where only minutes ahead of the meeting one of your team members texts you to pass on they are going to be late. Coming in late has the chance to significantly disrupt the meeting. As a result, you should be clear with your team ahead of time that the only time you would want a team member trying to join a meeting already in progress is if they’re the only constituent. Otherwise, politely let your group know that coming in late will disrupt the meeting and that you will fill them in on the meeting afterwards.

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Review/update notes
Share successes
Confirm follow up
Send thank you note

Two days later, double check on follow-up.

After the meeting

Jon:

So let’s move on to talking about what you should do immediately following the meeting. First, once you’ve exited the office, step around the corner out of earshot of the office to debrief your meeting before team members disperse.

As lead you should plan on determining where you’ll debrief after the meeting, whether it’s staying on the same line and putting up a waiting room for privacy or scheduling a separate Zoom Meeting ID for your team to go to to debrief right after the meeting (or a separate time that all team members can make). Make sure to communicate this out ahead of time.

In the debrief

The notetaker reviews their notes with the group and captures any additional notes from the team
Have people share what went well and what could be improved.
Confirm responsibilities for follow up

who is filing the meeting notes online for CCL
who is emailing the liaison if they weren’t in the meeting
who is sending materials to the staffer or member of Congress if requested

Determine who will send a thank you to the office. In DC, many teams pass around a thank you card to sign during the debrief. Then, one of the team members pops back into the office to drop it off with the receptionist. Pro tip: Do not seal the envelope for a card you will give them in DC - this is for security reasons.

A few days later, you as the meeting leader should confirm that the person doing the follow up has in fact done so.

Elli put in Chat:

We will have one thank you note per lobby meeting available at the registration desk at the conference. If you would like to order additional Thank You cards, please visit this page: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/254

______________________________________________________________________

Fall:

Kudoboard https://www.kudoboard.com/

In almost all lobby meetings this year you will have time between meetings to debrief as at most CCL volunteers should be in one or two meetings at most.

As lead you should plan on determining where you’ll debrief after the meeting, whether it’s staying on the same line and putting up a waiting room for privacy or scheduling a separate Zoom Meeting ID for your team to go to to debrief right after the meeting (or a separate time that all team members can make). Make sure to communicate this out ahead of time.

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One last thing! Let us know how it goes

Immediately after your meeting fill out this form https://cclusa.org/lobby-feedback
Include the name of your Senator or Rep. and a number based on your meeting:

1 → Clearly supports EPRA
2 → Seems likely to support
3 → Undecided
4 → Likely opposes /concerns
5 → Opposes

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Meeting Minutes

Confidential
Prepare by reading what is expected to be captured:

cclusa.org/minutes

Focus on feedback from staff
Questions? �liaison.coordinator@�citizensclimatelobby.org

Log Your Meeting Minutes Online

Bill:

We always appreciate you getting the minutes submitted as quickly as possible.

So let’s take a look at the Meeting Minutes Report Tool. Outside of the minutes tool itself, this advice is also largely covered in more depth in a training called “How to take great notes,” on CCL Community, under The Resources and Trainings menu in the “Working with Congress” series.

Elli puts in chat:

Log Your Minutes: https://community.citizensclimate.org/actions/create

…….

How To Take Great Notes: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/190 (with sample examples)

The note taker is the person assigned to capture the details of the meeting and, after the team debrief, submit the team’s collective impression via CCL’s form online.

Keep in mind these notes are confidential. Please check with your regional director if you want to share these notes beyond your lobby team and regional coordinator. It’s essential to keep in mind that we’re in the relationship-building business and any breach of these notes could ruin the trust we’ve built up with the office.

These Meeting Minutes are important documents that let us build momentum. As meeting lead, we ask you to review the notes a final time with your note-taker and make sure that your notetaker either submits an electronic copy within a day of your meeting or passes them on to you to submit.

If you look at the meeting minutes form ahead of time, you will get some prompts for questions to ask and things your team should be aiming for in the meeting. The meeting minutes will ask the following questions:

Legislative Staff Present (Please include names and titles.)
Who Else Was Present (Please note who was meeting lead, who was note taker, and which members are constituents by putting '(c)' next to each constituents' name. Please note any community leaders included in the meeting, with their name and affiliation)
Notes should emphasize legislators’ concerns, comments and questions.
The notes should capture the percentage of time MOC and/or staff were talking vs CCL (and a reminder that we’re aiming for at least a 50/50 split of the member/staffer talking).
The notes should capture the number of open-ended questions asked by CCL: we are encouraging volunteers to ask open-ended questions.
Notes should record any endorsements or statements of support that were shared in the lobby meeting
Follow-up Tasks are recorded in the notes.
The notes ask for an answer to this question: “What could we be doing more of in the district to make it easier for this MOC to support carbon pricing policy?” So try to include this question in your meeting, if you feel it’s appropriate, so you can include the answer in your notes.
If you have any questions, your State Coordinator and Regional Director often can help as well as reaching out to the Liaison Coordinator team liaison.coordinator@citizensclimate.org

Your attention to detail and your follow-through in submitting them will help future lobby teams be successful. Thank you!

Elli puts in chat:

https://citizensclimatelobby.org/appointment-setting-log-choose-district/

…….

liaison.coordinator@citizenscli mate.org

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Keep asking open-ended questions until you get to underlying factors
Make sure you walk out with specific actions
It gives your member’s office confidence that you’re here to help them and address their concerns
Help your team shine!
Congressional offices look to CCL volunteers for input on climate policy

Remember, You Are Powerful

Bill:

Remember, we as constituents are more powerful than we realize or often remember. Our voices matter to Congress.

Making sure you’re walking out with specific actions for the member of Congress

Keep asking open-ended questions until you get to what you need to get

Give examples - specific actions

Business concerns - what businesses - there’s nationally more large businesses support climate action than don’t - industry wants
counter narratives - what industries? Who are you concerned about? Clarify? don’t be afraid to be persistent - in meetings, not only getting meetings
The left - progressive member of Congress concerned about left flank - who are they? Okay to talk to people. View everyone as an ally and those that don’t know it yet. Concern from EJ groups - get specific names - come join us for our Race & Climate conversations - help you engage with left leaning organizations - service lever.

I want to emphasize the importance of *listening* to your team members, and as leader, you're there to help others shine. Because collective power means *everyone* building up their skills and knowledge, and, especially if you know more than others, giving *others* the chance to shine, build skills and confidence, will be building up the power of the movement.

You’re going to leave the meeting not knowing what to do - that’s an outcome we don’t want

With a specific action - you’re going to feel good about it - you know what to do

AND it gives your MOC confidence - you’re here to help them and address their concerns, you’re a friend

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Time For Questions

Click Participants & Raise Hand Or *9 If On The Phone

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community.citizensclimate.org/topics#recent-trainings

Save the chat
Find tonight’s recording
Share via social media and with your chapter, family, and friends!

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Log Your Training

At the End of each Training:

Through the Action Tracker:

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'Connection is the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.'

Brene Brown

“

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Thank You!

Questions? ��Ask on CCL Community’s Forums: c clusa .org/forums

Liaison Coordinator email: liaison.coordinator@citizensclimate.org

www.citizensclimatelobby.org

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www.citizensclimatelobby.org

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Our nation faces a test right now. You could say it is a test of our commitment to social justice, constitutional liberty, economic survival. Each of these may be right.

But more than anything we face a test of our ability to hold true to the civic conscience of American life that freedom fighters from the Revolution to Dr. King and beyond died to give life to: that is an America in which we meet injustice and political differences with moral resolve coupled with goodwill for our neighbors and commitment to the communities that are the cradles of our shared tomorrow.

John Wood, Jr. of Braver Angels

“

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Recommendations for Liaisons

Aim for appointments early that week �(Mon or Tues Nov. 6-7)
The Congressional calendar is uncertain, follow what your scheduler recommends (i.e. start with D.C. scheduler for member meeting, but pivot if they recommend you go with your district office)
Questions - ask your group leader, then: liaison.coordinator@citizensclimatelobby.org

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Participating in Lobby Meetings

Registration has closed!
We are in the process of requesting Congressional meetings.
Lobby Days are in-person in DC on June 13th
CCL National is working on creating lobby schedules
Practicing with your team on Zoom and during the conference is invaluable!

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Meeting Plan Process

CCL National works on team creation (with input from liaisons)
Liaisons and group leaders work on meeting goals, and planning.
The meeting plan template is usually used to create the agenda.
The agenda includes “ask” or “supporting ask”.
Planning and rehearsals will be in the week prior via Zoom and during the conference

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Strategy About Primary Ask

We need clean energy permitting reform:

to build clear energy infrastructure
to fully leverage the IRA
to lock in big emissions reductions in the near future
to create a path for climate wins including a carbon price down the road

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Strategy About Primary Ask

In June we lobbied for permitting reform broadly
Congress needed to hear from the grassroots that permitting reform was needed and had support, but we weren’t overly prescriptive
Now we need more focus on transmission as one of the most important pieces of permitting reform

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November Lobbying

In our November lobbying, CCLers will ask our members of Congress to cosponsor the BIG WIRES Act.

We want the bill to be included in any emerging comprehensive clean energy permitting reform package.

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Why the BIG WIRES Act?

There are different ideas on how to build out more transmission
(ie. giving FERC greater authority, SITE Act (Manchin bill) or providing minimum interregional standards)
Some of these approaches have concerns from Republicans around states rights
BIG WIRES has bipartisan roots and less opposition, but will achieve similar outcomes

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What the BIG WIRES Act Does

Requires regions to be able to transfer 30% of their peak demand between each other
Technology neutral in that it helps:

New transmission lines and upgrades to existing facilities
Grid-enhancing technologies such as advanced power flow controls or dynamic line ratings
Energy efficiency to reduce peak demand
New generation or storage that frees up capability to move power

The regions themselves are responsible for deciding who builds and pays for any new transmission lines (the bill does not apply to the Texas Interconnect, except at the discretion of its grid operator)

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Supporting Asks

Increased Technical Service Provider Access Act of 2023 �(S.1400/ H.R.3036)
RISEE Act �(S.373/ H.R.913)

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Increased TSP Access Act of 2023

(S.1400/H.R.3036)

Strategic Significance: Helps agricultural producers improve operations, including resiliency and climate smart agriculture

Creates a streamlined certification process for Technical Service Providers (TSPs) to address TSP shortages and provide better service to agricultural producers.

Technical Service Providers offer planning, design, and implementation services to farmers, ranchers, and private forest owners, helping to improve their operations.

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Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems (RISEE) Act

Strategic Significance: Helps build the clean energy economy and coastal resilience

RISEE Act

Creates funding streams for coastal infrastructure and resilience efforts for vulnerable communities threatened by sea level rise and coastal erosion
Revenue sharing model for federal offshore wind revenue with states
Amends the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA)�

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How Are Appointments Set?

Requests made by CCL Congressional Liaison or designated volunteer.
Meetings are planned to be in-person
Meetings may be set or changed very close to lobby week.

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May 18th:	Lobby Training #1: Primary & Supporting Asks
May 22nd	Lobby Training #2: Legislative Plan and Q&A
Any Time	If you haven’t taken before: Online Climate Advocate Trainings

June 2023 Lobby Trainings

Search on CCL Community for “Preparing To Lobby”
http://cclusa.org/preparing-for-lobby-day

Brett:

Looking to gear up for the November Lobby Days with CCL's trainings? It's as easy as 1-2-3!

Lead by CCL's Vice President for Government Affairs Ben Pendergrass and Senior Director of Government Affairs Jennifer Tyler. Click any of the links below to RSVP and sign up for a day-of reminder or add to your own calendar by clicking on “add to calendar” at the bottom of the event information. Note that political dynamics are unpredictable and can lead to changes between the trainings and your lobby meeting:
Lobby Training #1: Legislative Plan Two Times on Monday October 10th (1 pm ET) and (8 pm ET)
Lobby Training #2: Primary & Supporting Asks (Thurs. November 10th, 8 pm ET)

If you’re new to CCL or you have never taken the Climate Advocate Training workshop, we strongly encourage you to sign up and attend a live session on the second Sunday of any month at 2pm ET. If that doesn’t fit your schedule, you can listen to a recording. This workshop is required to lobby with CCL. Note, if you are a youth or working with youth you can also invite them to the specialized Youth Lobby Training on Sun. Nov. 6h at 3 pm ET. Register here.

Let’s take a brief look at our lobbying webinar roadmap to see where to find what we’ve covered so far and where you can find the previous trainings: http://cclusa.org/preparing-for-lobby-day.

Brett demonstrates where the trainings are located on Community,

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June 2023 Lobby Meeting Planning Rooms Available at the Omni

(Note: this will also be in your conference folder)

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Reinvesting in Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems (RISEE) Act (S.373/ H.R.913)
Increased Technical Service Provider Access Act of 2023 (S.1400/ H.R.3036)
Save Our Sequoias Act �(H.R.2989)
Seedlings for Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act of 2023 (S.1164)
REAADI for Disasters Act(S.1049/H.R.2371)

Supporting Asks

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Permitting Reform Priorities

We need key reforms to our energy permitting process such as but not limited to:

Allowing transmission to be permitted and built much faster
Reducing the amount of time it takes to complete environmental reviews for major energy projects
Avoiding duplicative processes
Ensuring robust and early community engagement

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Our Goals

Steer Congress in the right direction on the policy of good permitting reform that reduces emissions
Push Members of Congress to get bipartisan permitting reform across the finish line

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How to Make the Ask

Relevant to all Members of Congress:

This must be bipartisan
Research and find common ground - what aspects of permitting do they care about?

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How to Make the Ask - Republicans

Start with common ground on permitting including the need for quicker approvals, incentivizing innovation, lowering energy costs

Republicans most need to hear about the importance of transmission and community engagement

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How to Make the Ask - Democrats

Start with common ground on permitting including the need for more clean energy, increasing early community engagement, achieving the IRA emissions reductions

Democrats most need to hear about the importance of speed and efficiency overall in our permitting process

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Co-Sponsor the Energy Innovation Act

A carbon price is still necessary to meet emission reductions goals .
We need to remind Congress and continue to build support for a carbon price
Co-sponsor The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act

Only an ask for the House
Timing still unknown

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Tailor Your Approach To Your MOC

Is your MOC a freshman ?
Are they a previous co-sponsor?
Were they an MOC that has been interested in the past ?
Or were they one who has already said no?

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Deciding On Your Team & Size

Prioritizing Important Voices

Are you meeting online or in person?
What are your goals?
Consider including youth, business leaders, trusted messengers, new volunteers

Brett:

Meeting in-person or online?
Who wants to get involved? Do you have a lot of young adults looking to share their story? Once they get involved make sure to check-in with your member’s office that they are okay with it.

One additional key consideration to make early on will be deciding who to best include in your team for your online meeting.
If you haven’t been doing so already, work with your liaison and group leader(s) to determine who will be on the lobby team like you usually would for an in-district meeting. Think about who you can include, such as a local business leader, other trusted messengers, and new local volunteers on the team.
The size and make up of your group depends on what your meeting goals are. The ideal size for a normal meeting is 5-6 people so you can manage your agenda to move your member up the ladder of support. A group of 5-6 allows for trust to build.
Larger groups may occasionally have advantages, for example, if your member says they are not hearing about climate from constituents, then a large group may demonstrate political will in the district or state.
On the other hand, with a large group you may not be able to have a meeting where the member feels safe enough to share concerns about HR 2307 and climate solutions. Remember that, regardless of the size of your team, creating a sense of safety for the MOC or staff is a primary goal for your team.
If you do opt for a larger meeting size, you can set up roles so that many attendees are there as mainly observers/supporters (can have separate training to review role) and are muted but still present. Spotlighting feature to distinguish between core team.
If your member is very busy and has expressed a short time frame then a smaller group might be more effective.

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What Platform To Use?

Practice, Practice, Practice

Platforms include: Zoom, Teams, Skype Now, Google Meet, Webex�
Practice with your technology!

Resources: Community trainings, Forums, Regional Coordinators

Brett:

While setting the appointment early on, we are encouraging appointment setters to be sure to ask the Congressional office how they would like to meet - by phone, Zoom, Webex or another preferred platform?

As volunteers, we can indicate which platform our teams might be most comfortable with, but ultimately the platform decision should be left to your member’s office.
As soon as you can confirm this platform, you can then set up planning meetings with your group to practice using that application, especially if it’s a different software than what you usually use for Online Meetings.
If this is the case, know that all of the major platforms your office might pick have wonderful support and training pages as resources if you Google “the product name + training/support” but to try and make life easier CCL also has resources available for more support. You can find this on CCL Community in the “Video Conference Security: Best Practices” training page and which I’ll put in the chat. https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/454

"Practicing Video Conference Security" training: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/454#heading_4

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Assembling Your Team

You need to create the team
Hold a planning session
Use templates, but customize your agenda
Make use of the training resources for liaisons

Brett:

Once you’ve confirmed the meeting platform and who will be part of your team, let’s walk through some additional considerations in assembling your lobby team. Chances are you as the liaison or appointment setter have already assembled your lobby team and created a meeting plan. If not, this is your reminder to make sure to do so as you go forward in making any kinds of plans. This December, all appointments for meetings are being set by CCL congressional liaisons (or someone they designate). If you are a meeting lead, but not a liaison, please make sure that you are working with the liaison or your regional or state coordinator.

Coordinating a time(s) to do advance planning with your team is up to you. It’s important to understand that CCL Headquarters will not be helping you create/assign lobby teams nor send out lobby meeting schedules. While CCL HQ will track appointment times, the schedule for your team will come directly from you as the meeting lead working with your member’s office and communicating any updates to your group.
CCL recommends that the lobby team meet several times online to plan and rehearse the meeting. Some teams have found it helpful to have someone role-play being the member or staffer as part of your practice session. If your team includes a local community leader of some prominence, you may need to personally prepare them for the meeting. Include them in your practice meetings if at all possible.
CCL trusts that your team knows your member of Congress best, and can determine what you think is your best option for strengthening the relationship with your member and their staff. You’ll want to make sure you have worked through any technical challenges related to whatever platform you’re using, as well as practiced how you will deliver the content of your meeting. Make sure everyone on your team has the time to participate in this planning and practice. For liaisons, Amy Bennett has been providing additional guidance around planning and practicing. I am putting that in the chat now, and you can find this later on Community under Training and Working with Your Member of Congress.

[Brett puts in chat: For more information: https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/272]

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Special Online Considerations

Set up a group text
Minimize distractions
Look professional
Camera positioning
Act like you’re being watched
Full name/city on screen
Troubleshoot Internet connection
Be flexible and have a back-up plan

Brett:

There are some special online considerations that we should go over.

It’s helpful to set up a text group on your phone for all of your team members. You can use this to communicate with each other before and even during your lobby meeting.
Make sure to remind everyone to minimize distractions that might interrupt them during the actual meeting (people should mute phones or set them to vibrate, silence computer sound notifications, make sure pets and kids are cared for ahead of time, etc.)
Help your team think through what they look like on camera - make sure their backgrounds are simple and not cluttered or distracting with someone that would draw attention away from the meeting
Remind your team members to dress professionally if you are on a video conference call. Also ask your team members to be mindful of how they appear on the screen. It’s important to have a source of light on your face rather than from behind you. Good to have a relatively simple background behind you. And keep your face in the center of the screen with the camera pointing straight on, not from below.
Team members should know how to put their full name on the screen for a video call, and maybe where they’re from. (“Terry Collins/ Sandpoint, Idaho” for example, not just, “Terry’s iPad,”)
You will want to make sure that your team members have access to a strong internet connection. A few tips can help with this.

Restart your computer within an hour of the meeting.
Close other applications/windows
Turn off other devices in your house connected to the internet.
If you’re having connection trouble, you can turn off your video camera, and that will improve your connection.

Review plans for being flexible should any scheduling changes happen last minute for your team
1. If your plans change and you find that you cannot attend the meeting, please immediately contact your Regional or State Coordinators so they can find a substitute meeting lead.
2. Check your email and texts at least a few times a day before the lobby meeting in case there are changes in your meeting plans with the office. This does happen sometimes and the meeting lead is key to notifying participants and making adjustments. Announcements of a change could come from the office and if this is the case, be ready to make sure to let your whole team know as well as your State or Regional Coordinator and Amy Bennett.
Make sure you have phone numbers handy for your state and regional coordinators!
Practicing with your team helps address all of the issues

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How does audio only impact your goals �and meeting size?
Practice ahead of time on similar platform
Listen for clarity of audio from each member
Practice using group chat to share feedback
Practice cueing each other verbally
If multiple people jump in, it’s your role as lead to smooth the transition
Consider writing detailed agenda/meeting script

How to handle conference calls

Phone-Only Considerations

Brett:

If your team knows you’ll be participating with only phone for your meeting, here’s a few final specific considerations:

How does only having audio to connect with your member impact your goals and meeting size? Do you want to have it be a smaller team as a result
Practice ahead of time on a similar platform to make sure everyone knows how to join smoothly
When you’re on, as lead, listen for clarity of audio from each member and give feedback to troubleshoot improving it
Take time to practice using your group chat to share live-time feedback with each other, helping you be more adaptive on the fly with anything that might come up in the meeting, or intervening with each other if someone is talking too much.
We’ll review some of these transition examples, in a bit, but take time to also practice cueing each other verbally, “And now Susan is going to…” or “That’s a great question, Brett would you like to speak to…”
There’s a likelihood that at some point on the call, people will accidentally jump on top of each other, and so review with your team how you’ll plan on handling that - whether it be the person who is youngest goes first, etc., or once you share first let others take the next opening, or everyone pauses and lets the meeting lead help cue the best fit for the question, etc.
Most importantly, consider writing out a detailed agenda or point-by-point meeting script so that your team has more to go off of in their preparations for who will be doing what when. We’ll get into the plan more in the next section.

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From One Topic To Another:

“Congresswoman, I want to thank you for your recent efforts to protect your constituents from identity theft. That’s a really important issue to us as well. Today, we’re here to talk about another important topic. So Brett is going to let you know more about why we are here today and what we’re seeking.”

Transition Example

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From Appreciation To Your Ask:

Congressman, I want to thank you for your support of the infrastructure package. While this plan makes climate oriented investments, now is the time to take the biggest and boldest action possible to reduce emissions. We know that a price on carbon is the single most powerful tool to reduce emissions, and we will continue our work to make certain it is included in whatever climate legislation advances this year.”

Transition Example

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Brett:

Or maybe it’s our fourth meeting with this member of Congress or staffer. In that case, you might choose to skip the purpose and move from appreciation into the primary ask.

Here’s how that might sound if this is a Republican MOC we’ve established good relationships with:

“Congressman, I want to thank you for your support of the infrastructure package. While this plan makes climate oriented investments, now is the time to take the biggest and boldest action possible to reduce emissions. We know that a price on carbon is the single most powerful tool to reduce emissions, and we will continue our work to make certain it is included in whatever climate legislation advances this year.

The infrastructure and jobs proposal that includes many climate related provisions. We are excited to see climate change get such focused attention from the administration and it is a good sign that real action on climate will be on the top of the agenda for Congress this year.

Depending on your office you could also highlight Biden's plan shows he is willing to tax corporations. Why tax all corporations when we can just tax the ones selling pollution?

A dividend sends money directly to American households to support them through the clean energy transition. No regulation will do that.

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From Discussion to Meeting’s End

“Congresswoman, I see that we are nearing the end of our time with you today, so we wanted to recap and clarify the main takeaways we have about the next steps we plan to take with your office following today’s excellent meeting...”

Transition Example

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“Thank you Congressman for raising your essential concern about reforms to healthcare. We hear you ... Would it be helpful for your office to connect you with a healthcare professional from our district who supports this kind of policy due to the healthcare savings and premature deaths prevented from addressing negative air pollution impacts?”

Getting Back On Track

Getting back on track:

Transition Example

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Brett:

A lead also needs to be able to bring the meeting back when it veers off course.
In the “Lobbying 301: Handling Difficult Scenarios” training we review several examples of how to get meetings back on track.
If you’re curious about more examples, I encourage you to review that training as well, but let’s demonstrate one situation for you now.
In this example, I will play the member of Congress or staffer who goes off topic by bringing in the important topic of healthcare into the mix. And Susan will play the leader who acknowledges his comment and immediately circles back to why we are at this meeting.

Brett as Congressman: “The real ongoing challenge we face is healthcare in this country right now - we need deep-seated policy change given all the ways our country is broken with access, astronomical costs, and limited coverage.”

Susan:

Susan as CCL volunteer: “Thank you Congressman for raising your important concern about reforms to healthcare. We hear you and as an organization we don't take a position on health policy. We do take a position on the positive health outcomes that will come from our country placing a pollution fee on greenhouse gas emissions. This approach isn’t just good for our climate, but it also improves the health of everyday Americans and prevent premature deaths by reducing pollution that Americans breathe. We know poor air quality alone leads to an estimated 114,000 U.S. deaths each year and sickens thousands more. Would it be helpful for your office to connect you with a public health or healthcare professional from our district who’s on the front lines addressing these negative health impacts?

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Our Asks

Primary

PROVE IT Act
Permitting Reform

Secondary

Increased Technical Service Provider Access Act of 2023
Seedlings for Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act of 2023

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Permitting Reform

Our key message:

the job is not done on permitting reform
still need a bipartisan comprehensive package of clean energy permitting reforms.

Special framing for Republicans and for Democrats.

Mindy:

Like I said, you can watch or rewatch the CCU from last week for a deeper dive on asks, but I want to say something about our permitting reform ask.

We aren’t pitching a specific bill. If you were a volunteer 8 or so years ago, you will remember how we advocated for carbon fee and dividend as a concept. This was back before Congress had a carbon pricing bill we could champion.

Permitting reform at this present moment is similar in a way, and yet also different.

It’s different in the fact that some progress has been made in permitting reform in the past year. It’s the same in that we aren’t advocating on this lobby day for a specific bill.

Instead, we want members of Congress, especially Democrats, to know that there is more work to be done with regards to permitting reform. So, we are advocating for Democrats to help us get the job done in permitting reform. We have a separate message for Republicans and will cover that at the conference.

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PROVE IT Act (S.1863/H.R. TBD)

Senate D’s

urge leadership to support moving the bill in this Congress

Senate R’s

become a Senate cosponsor

House D’s & R’s

join as original co-sponsors

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Secondary Asks

Increased Technical Service Provider Access Act of 2023 (S.1400/ H.R.3036)
Seedlings for Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act of 2023 (S.1164/H.R.5015)

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Increased TSP Access Act of 2023

(S.1400/H.R.3036)

Strategic Significance: Helps agricultural producers improve operations (including resiliency) and climate smart agriculture

Best for Agricultural Districts/States

Healthy Forests

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Seedlings for Sustainable Habitat Restoration Act (S. 1164/H.R. 5015)

Strategic Significance: Ensures capital for seedling supplies to keep pace with critical reforestation efforts�

Best for all House & Senate Members of Congress

Healthy Forests