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Last month, over 1,000 members of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby from across the nation traveled to Washington D.C., for the National Conference and Lobby Day. They met with 442 members of Congress. Volunteers from Minnesota met with all 10 offices of the Minnesota delegation.

In these meetings, volunteers presented two policies. First, they asked them to pass a comprehensive permitting reform package. Several thousand more members are writing emails and calling their Senators and Representatives with the same message. You might be wondering, what does permitting reform have to do with climate solutions?

The permitting process in the United States generally takes too long and costs too much money, driving up the cost of building energy projects. Political leaders, industry leaders and nonprofit organizations are pushing for a comprehensive permitting reform policy that can gain support from both parties.

Reforms would result in a permitting process that is more timely, more certain, provides robust community engagement, reduces emissions and reduces energy costs while protecting the environment.

Who wants this to happen? Almost everyone! At a recent district meeting for Beltrami Electric Cooperative, CEO Jared Echternach noted bottlenecks in transmission, and the need to build transmission for a reliable grid. Beltrami Electric is advocating for permitting reform at the state and federal levels.

The Minnesota legislature recently passed the Minnesota Energy Infrastructure Permitting Act, a state-level permitting reform law. Utilities, clean energy developers, planners and regulators all point to the need for reform. As a constituent, you can tell Congress to pass comprehensive permitting reform this session.

Building support for climate solutions takes more than one action. The second policy CCL is actively supporting is the PROVE IT Act. PROVE IT is an acronym for Providing Reliable, Objective, Verifiable Emissions Intensity and Transparency. The bill directs the Department of Energy to determine the emissions intensity of several specific products manufactured in the U.S.

This enables U.S. trade negotiations to recognize the value and benefit of energy-efficient manufacturing. North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer was joined by five other Republican co-sponsors in support of this important bill. The House version of the bill is expected to be introduced soon.

Okay, that is enough of the policy dive for today. My point is that WE ALL can help build support for climate solutions by letting our elected leaders know that we support these policies. I encourage you to let your voice be heard. If you want to use the tools that CCL provides, go to

Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy climate change organization. Its consistently respectful, nonpartisan approach to climate education is designed to create a broad, sustainable foundation to drive climate action across all geographic regions and political inclinations.

Supporters build relationships on shared values rather than partisan divides and work in keeping with the concerns of their local communities. The Bemidji CCL Chapter welcomes you.

Linda Kingery is a member of the Citizens' Climate Lobby organization. For more information, visit