Fresno Citizens’ Climate Lobby members head to D.C. to voice climate concerns | Opinion

Youth lawsuits that seek to hold government agencies accountable for emissions that cause air pollution and climate chaos, such as Juliana v. United States, have run into judicial hurdles.

In a bitter blow for the young folks fighting for their future, an order issued in early May dismissed the case, concluding that courts cannot “step into the shoes of the political branches to provide the relief the Juliana plaintiffs sought.”

With climate impacts escalating everywhere, including California, it’s no wonder that young people are concerned and fired up to advocate for a livable world for themselves and future generations.

Recent heat waves across the country, the tragic floods in Texas or even the looming threat of canceled or exorbitant home insurance in many parts of California all highlight why climate anxiety is growing.

But as folks of all ages fight to protect the people and places we love, it’s clear that multiple solutions are needed to reduce the heat-trapping climate pollution overheating our world and exacerbating weather extremes.

Lawsuits can play an important role in protecting public health and safety, but the Fresno chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby is taking a different approach — changing hearts and minds as three young volunteers head to Washington, D.C. to appeal directly to Congressional offices.

On July 22, they will meet with California’s Congressional delegation on Capitol Hill, alongside hundreds of climate-concerned volunteers — from the left, right and center of the political spectrum — achieving transformational advocacy through effective and meaningful discourse with their elected officials. Back home, Central Valley volunteers from Citizens’ Climate Lobby will take to Zoom to outline their hopes and concerns with local members of Congress in virtual meetings.

In these divisive times, efforts to pass bipartisan legislation that speeds clean energy and lowers greenhouse gas emissions is essential. While laws and regulations pushed forward by one party in power may solve some societal problems in the short term, they tend to quickly get overturned when the political winds shift. Climate change is a long-term problem that needs long-term solutions.

Lawsuits can be powerful, but they are also slow, costly and hard to win. There is a will across the political spectrum for politicians to work together on durable, bipartisan policy.

During their meetings, the team from the Central Valley will ask lawmakers to consider legislation to rectify forest management issues that have contributed to the increased devastation from escalating wildfires. One policy they will advocate for is The Fix Our Forests Act, which already has bipartisan support (three Republicans and two Democrats from the Valley are on the co-sponsor list for the House-passed version). Sen. Alex Padilla is one of four senators who recently introduced the bill in the Senate.

Last December, 63% of Americans polled by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication agreed that developing clean energy sources should be a high or very high priority for the president and Congress, yet devastating cuts to clean energy investments were just signed into law.

With these rollbacks affecting thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in investments in our Valley alone, Citizens’ Climate Lobby volunteer lobbyists will raise their concerns and ask Congress to do more to slow the cuts.

Also top of mind is the need to address a painfully slow permitting process stunting our ability to build necessary solar, wind and battery infrastructure and to transmit the energy from those projects.

Another poll by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication shows about 70% of people in our country are concerned about climate change. Universally, we want to protect the quality of life we are passing on to future generations.

Not everyone can commit to flying across the country to lobby Congress, but we can all show up in smaller ways — like giving up five minutes of our time to support the young Central Valley trio going to great lengths to fight for all our futures. Contact your member of Congress and ask them to show up on climate.