Steady progress toward big wins: Our 2025 fall lobbying and call-in campaign

By Elissa Tennant

Heading into this year’s fall lobbying, CCL volunteers had an important reminder ringing in their ears: turning a policy idea into a law is a marathon, not a sprint. That was the message from CCL Vice President of Government Relations, Jennifer Tyler, in her “Lobby Week Asks and Opportunities” session during our Fall Virtual Conference on Nov. 15. 

Each step forward teaches us something and makes the next step possible, building toward bigger wins. With that mindset, Jenn reminded us, even successes that seem small should be celebrated as significant progress. They show us what works and what doors might be opening next. 

“All [wins] are crucial to preserving climate policies already on the books, advancing new ones, or setting the stage for future progress,” Jenn said.

Making progress in Congress

CCLers spent most of the past year claiming those wins and laying the groundwork for more progress. For example, from January to July, CCLers advocated hard to protect clean energy tax credits that were at serious risk of being repealed during the budget reconciliation process. We helped limit the steepest proposed cuts to those tax credits as well as prevent a new tax on solar and wind. Along the way, we saw dozens of Republican lawmakers speak up about the benefits clean energy tax credits had brought to their district or state, showing that we’re changing the conversation and building more common ground on climate and clean energy.

Watch Jenn’s conference session to hear about other noteworthy progress we’ve seen this year, including on the Fix Our Forests Act and on bipartisan permitting reform.

Our Fall Lobby Week asks

With the importance of steady progress and the long game in mind, Jenn and CCL Research Manager Dana Nuccitelli laid out the asks volunteers would be discussing with Congress during the fall lobbying push.

The three primary asks include:

• Comprehensive bipartisan permitting reform: We’re asking all members of Congress to negotiate and pass a bipartisan permitting reform package — crucial for more clean energy development across the country. When? “They need to do permitting reform right now,” said Jenn. “Not in a year or three years.”
• Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA): We’re asking all senators and House Democrats to support FOFA, either when it comes up on the Senate floor or when it passes the Senate and returns to the House. The better we can protect forests, the better trees can do their job pulling climate pollution out of the atmosphere.
• Foreign pollution fee legislation: Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are starting to recognize the importance of a fee on carbon intensity for imported goods. CCLers are asking House Republicans to implement foreign pollution fee legislation, also referred to as carbon border adjustment legislation. 

Our asks in action

Armed with knowledge from CCL’s Government Relations and Research teams, volunteers began attending more than 300 virtual lobby meetings with congressional offices. Most of these meetings took place Nov. 17-21, during our official Lobby Week, but meetings are scheduled to continue through December due to delays from the government shutdown.

To further amplify our lobbying asks, we kicked off a call-in campaign on Nov. 17. Calling Congress ahead of time to voice support shows lawmakers and staff that the people in the lobby meeting have many more community members who share their perspective. Broad support helps build political safety for Members of Congress to act on climate — a key part of our theory of change, outlined in our strategic plan.

So far, volunteers have placed an additional 812 calls to Congress from home in support of permitting reform. We’re hoping to reach 1,000 calls before the end of the fall lobbying push. Add your voice!

In the meantime, CCLers will press on with remaining meetings and sharing their appreciation across social media. Volunteers have posted from their meetings with Rep. George Latimer (NY-16), Rep. Emily Randall (WA-06), Sen. Michael Bennett (CO), Rep. Mikie Sherill (NJ-11), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Rep. William Timmons (SC-4, pictured above) and many more.

While many other climate groups have stepped back from D.C., we’re stepping up and pushing forward.

“Your advocacy is seen, it’s valued, and it’s working,” Jenn told CCL volunteers in her conference session. “Even in the hardest seasons, you’re changing the tone of the climate conversation in Congress — one meeting, one relationship, and one small but significant step at a time.”

Help amplify our Lobby Week asks. Call Congress in support of permitting reform today.