Featured chapter: CCL Chequamegon
CCL Chequamegon is made up of folks living near Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin. The group includes 10 to 15 volunteers who regularly attend chapter meetings, and 20 to 30 more who take occasional action, including reaching out to their members of Congress, says group leader Bill Bussey. This summer in downtown Bayfield — a popular summer tourist destination — the chapter conducted some informal climate opinion polling using a poster of the Yale Six Americas graphic. “Over the course of 13 Saturdays, we asked passersby to place a pin in the circle best describing their view on climate change,” Bill reports. “The cumulative results were 1243 alarmed, 437 concerned, 192 cautious, 50 disengaged, 89 doubtful, and 59 dismissive, for a total of 2070 participants.” Chapter member Liz Fentress wrote a column about this effort, saying, “These astounding numbers have been shared with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-MN), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-MN), as well as Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-MN-07). We hope the survey results will influence their votes on climate change policy.” Her column went on to share some interesting connections made through the chapter’s outreach, such as a man from Arizona said he’d relocated to northern Minnesota because of climate concerns, and a conservative engineer who installs wind turbines. The column appeared in Wisconsin's second largest newspaper, published in Madison, and was also featured by the Yale Program for Climate Change Communication. In addition to this recent media hit, the chapter has been publishing a climate-focused column in the Ashland Daily Press each month for the past eight and a half years. Fantastic work, CCL Chequamegon! CCL has nearly 400 chapters across the country. Find your local chapter today and get plugged in.
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