Members of Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) throughout New York and New England will be attending the Northeast Regional Conference at Union College in Schenectady, NY on April 4 and 5, 2025.

The event will include a variety of lectures, panels and workshops to build climate advocacy skills and collaborate other volunteers. Approximately 200 volunteers are expected to register. Attendees will leave with a new understanding of subjects ranging from carbon pricing to regional energy policy and building political will.

“During a time of climate policy uncertainty, building bridges with other CCL volunteers and climate advocates has been a core part of my experience with Citizens’ Climate Lobby. I have learned so much from other people’s perspectives which have helped inform my local organizing efforts,” said Lily Maenza, Northeast Regional Climate Advocacy Fellow, who is helping to organize the event. Lily is from Brooklyn, NY and is currently a natural resources management student at the University of Vermont. She is a UVM CCL chapter member.

Among the sixteen conference sessions scheduled, specific topics include: battery energy storage systems, bridging the partisan divide, building decarbonization, climate advocacy on college campuses, and climate misinformation.

Presenters include Gary Rucinski, a 2018 candidate for the Massachusetts U.S. House of Representatives; Greg Sacco Sr, retired NYISO operator; Matthew Rolnick, analyst at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and Dr. Anne Banducci, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University.

In addition to advocating for a price on carbon, CCL was influential in getting the Inflation Reduction Act passed, a significant step towards achieving reductions in greenhouse gas pollution. Legislators appreciate CCL’s bi-partisan, solutions-based approach to lobbying. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has said of CCL, “You guys are the best. There is no better environmental group.” At the 2024 CCL National Fall Conference, Senator-elect John Curtis (R-UT) noted, “I can’t think of any group I’d rather speak with today.”

In addition to hosting events like these, local members of Citizens’ Climate Lobby regularly meet with U.S. Senators and Representatives to urge them to support federal policy that will help reduce climate pollution.

Event registration is at https://bit.ly/cclneconf2025-register. The cost is $85 before March 22 or $100 after. Students are $25. Scholarships are available. For more information contact David Ruekberg at cclneconf@gmail.com or 585-789-1865.