Rotary’s Hidden Influence: Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Published in the May 2021 issue of Rotary magazine
Read the full story here.
In 2006, Marshall Saunders, a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Coronado, California, went to see former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth. A week later, he watched it a second time. Then a third.
Saunders, who had been dedicating his time and money to humanitarian efforts, realized that all his work would be for nothing if no one tackled the existential threat of climate change.
Saunders began giving talks on the climate crisis at Rotary clubs, schools, churches, retirement homes — anywhere he could get an invitation. After one presentation, a woman asked him what should be done. He responded: "What’s needed is thousands of ordinary people organized, lobbying their members of Congress with one voice, one message — and lobbying in a relentless, unstoppable, yet friendly and respectful way."
"Why don’t you do that?" the woman asked.
Inspired, Saunders started the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. As CCL became more organized, members began lobbying for an idea called "carbon fee and dividend," which proposes a fee imposed on suppliers that starts at $15 per metric ton of emitted greenhouse gas and increases every year. The collected fees are then paid directly to consumers to o set higher fuel costs. The goal is to encourage the adoption of clean energy technologies through market forces.
Saunders died in late 2019. Earlier that year, in a conversation with this magazine, he said he was optimistic about carbon fee and dividend, calling it "a solution that was a match for the problem."
The Citizens’ Climate Lobby now has almost 200,000 supporters — including many Rotary members — and their congenial, bipartisan approach consistently wins over lawmakers. John Delaney, a former U.S. representative from Maryland, called the Citizens’ Climate Lobby "the most effective and enjoyable group of people that I’ve ever dealt with since I’ve been on the Hill." As the new U.S. Congress convened in January, CCL’s executive director, Mark Reynolds, said, "We are looking forward to a quick reintroduction of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act."
Scott Leckman is a past governor of District 5420 and a member of The Rotary Foundation Cadre of Technical Advisers, as well as a member of the governing board of Citizens’ Climate Education, CCL’s sister organization.
"What I love about Rotarians is that they are willing to tackle the biggest problems facing humankind. Our changing climate is certainly one of them," he says. "With CCL, they will learn how to advocate for a bipartisan solution for climate change."
Learn more at citizensclimatelobby.org.
