Alaska Big Dividend Tour

Congratulations, Andrew!! Couldn't be more proud to get to work with you through CCL with all the great work you're doing and have done for the world!!

Professor receives prestigious award to study global oceans A University of Alaska Fairbanks assistant professor will study tiny animals in the world's oceans with an award from the National Science Foundation.

Our tour continues!!
George is now in SE Alaska and has spent the week in Juneau. Here's his wonderful update and a handful of photos!

Feb. 22, 2017

George attended the United Fishermen of Alaska (UFA) Spring meeting at St. Ann’s Parish Hall. The morning started off with a visit by Governor Walker who discussed actions that his office has been working on in regards to Alaska fishery issues and regulations. He was followed by an impassioned speech by Lt. Governor Mallot about addressing the Alaska fiscal crisis head-on. Later, he proposed that the Board of Fish hold meetings on the big picture issues of climate change and ocean acidification! This is a much more significant pronouncement than we heard from Mallot at the Conservation Summit in December. Next Sam Cotton, the head of the Board of Fish addressed the meeting. George got to thank him for the special attention the board paid to the Yukon River fishery – where George fishes -- last year.

Then the Habitat Committee brought Dr. Jessica Cross, an ocean chemist, to review ocean acidification and invite UFA to join the Alaska Ocean Acidification Network.

The board endorsed 3 letters: Thanking Governor for addressing climate change and ocean acidification in the State of the State address; Asking MOC’s to maintain funding for OA research; Requesting to join the Alaska OA Network.

Alaska’s senior Senator, Lisa Murkowski, addressed the board on a dozen different federal fishery issues from the Pink Salmon fishery disaster declaration; to GMO salmon; to the stupid ‘cut two regulations for every new regulation’ executive order. She was asked to retain the ACA in order to protect fishing families in Alaska. She did not address OA or climate change as fishery issues.

George and James Sullivan then met with Justin Parish, the new House member from Juneau. They discussed Alaska legislature calling for a federal Fee and Dividend bill. This is the first of many meetings James plans with members of the legislature to educate about and advance CCL’s proposal.

Next was the Symphony of Seafood, a big banquet for legislators and fishermen, etc. George got to work with the UFA Habitat committee members on strategy to move UFA on climate; talked with an Anchorage representative about forthcoming climate legislation; and discussed getting a study on the asset value of all Alaskan fishermen with a member of a large economic consulting firm. The Grand Prize Winner of the Symphony of Seafood was a Juneau company that makes smoked salmon ice cream! And it was goooood.

Feb 23, 2017

The day started early with Rep Louise Stutes from Kodiak addressing and conversing with the UFA board. Good to make her acquaintance of a really a strong champion for commercial fishermen in the state.

George had to duck out part way through a call with Congressman Young to meet with his local House member, Harriet Drummond, then James’ member, Dennis Egan’s office.

At the Capitol, George and James were flagged down by Senator Murkowski’s chief of staff. Discussed the Climate Leadership Council, possible meeting with Hank Paulson.

After lunch yumminess at Rainbow Foods, returned to UFA meeting for time with another fishery champion, Johnathan Kreiss-Tompkins, then House Speaker, Brice Edgmon. George had to leave during Senator Sullivan’s presentation to meet with Andy Josephson, another Anchorage legislator, who will be introducing a climate bill in a couple of weeks.

After returning to UFA, president Jerry McCune asked George to address the board about my impressions of the meeting. I got to reflect on how well informed and involved everyone was with a lot of diverse and complex fishery issues and why he’d decided to join UFA and why he was attending the Spring UFA meeting – climate change and ocean acidification. Jerry encouraged George to run for one of the openings on the board.

James, his wife Moira and son Seamus were very welcoming and James is very excited to get a Juneau chapter off the ground. We’re looking forward to a Group Start Workshop in the coming months.

Off to Sitka for a full day on Friday.

Day 13 & 14: Fairbanks
It's a bit strange to be writing this update from our couch in Portland, but there's no way I want to leave out the last location on the rail-belt leg of our tour! (George is heading to SE AK to continue our tour in about a week...)

When we left Portland, we had two events planned for Fairbanks -- between one co-leader expecting a new baby, and the other being out of town, it was a challenge to plan other events, despite the wonderful ideas people had from the chapter. ----BUT, chapter volunteers rallied and Stefan and Andrew dove into action when they could, and we ended up having a completely packed 2 days in Fairbanks with 7 events!!

Thursday:
11am West Valley High School Presentation
- group of 15-20 sophomores and jrs with a passion for the environment, and 2 teachers. Bio teacher was looking forward to follow up discussion with her class and accessing resources online

12pm CBS 13 Interview aired on 6 o'clock news (see clip below from a few days earlier) -- GREAT job Stefan and George, being solid spokesmen for CCL and our cause!

1pm UAF Seminar Presentation
(3 people signed up for more info - calls to them in the next few days will be invaluable)

3:30pm Open Radio Fairbanks
Very thorough 30 minute interview on a left-leaning radio station. Link to follow when it's published...

Friday:
10:30am News Miner Mtg with Editor of the Editorial Board
He seems willing to write an editorial, and told us to send him Op-Eds, too.

12pm Fahrenkamp Luncheon RoundTable Presentation
- Group of 12, 6 people signed up wanting to get involved / learn more / be connected to CCL

5-7pm Meet and Greet at the Hub
~15 people, casual small group conversations, a handful of new folks, new ideas & energy around monthly group meetings, MOC mtgs, etc

And with that, a very early morning flight for Kaya and Tamara, and a long drive back to Anchorage, the rail-belt portion of our AK Big Dividend Tour is complete!

HUGE HUGE THANK YOU to ALL who supported and followed this leg of our tour from Kodiak through Homer, Soldatna, Anchorage, Palmer, Talkeetna, Denali and Fairbanks. Memories have been created, seeds have been planted, and great energy has been expended towards the creation of a livable world for us all. Stay tuned as we share a few more links, updates, and complete counts of tour successes so far -- AND towards the end of the month, keep your eyes peeled for updates as George adventures through Juneau, Petersburg, Ketichikan and Sitka!

Day 12 (Wed): Denali
The last three days have been so full that I'm finally able to find some time to write an update on the plane, as we wait for them to fix the motor at the gate.

On Wednesday, we left Tim and Hobbs' beautiful Fireweed Station at about 11, initially hoping to get out of there at 9, but enjoying an amazing breakfast, socializing and packing longer than expected. But the sun was out and it was a truly beautiful drive North about 3 hours through black spruce forests decked with snow.

Within minutes of pulling up to Dianne's house, an old friend of George's, she was prepping her dogs to take Kaya out on the ride she'd been dreaming of. After months of reading about Sojo, the reluctant sled dog, she was printed for the 30 minute ride through the snowy spruce with the team of 4, including Joey (my favorite) and Zorrie (her favorite).

The afternoon was spent diving into details regarding the new Carbon Dividends Plan proposed by Baker, Shultz, and the other 6 prominent Republicans on the Climate Leadership Council. We are very excited to see leadership on the Right, entering the national conversation on effective climate policy.

We presented in the evening at the McKinley community center to a small (8?) but interested group of locals. As with the other attendees, they asked a handful of good questions, and most of not all signed up to learn more, stay connected or get involved. We would love to have a chapter in the area and look forward to following up to see if that might be a possibility.

Time for take off!
Fairbanks update to come ASAP!

We made the 6 o' clock news on CBS tonight! Great job, Stefan and George for your solid statements!

'Citizen Climate Lobby' Speaks To Fairbanks Area On Climate Change

Day 11: Talkeetna
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.". --Margaret Mead

It's so easy to slip into the mindset that big means better. But tonight was a powerful reminder of exactly what Mead points out so beautifully.

After planning tonight's event for at least a month plus, we recently learned about a world renowned cellist in town playing at the exact same time in this small town where double events matter. But those who came were fully there, in support and then some, through conversations afterwards. One man, for example, shared that he has direct connections to one of the staffers of his member of Congress, and is willing to support our efforts with this connection. Another guy mentioned to us later that he would be happy for the opportunity to use his reach of 2 million people to further our message, and is eager to work with us on a PSA of sorts to address the conservative audience he normally reaches.

Doesn't get much better than that!

A few ladies from the concert stopped by afterwards, as well, and were eager for the opportunity to learn more. They also made a great suggestion that we stop at the post offices on our way North to post some intro call fliers, since Alaskans tend to use PO boxes... Nothing like local insight!

In addition to the highlights from our evening presentation at The Grove, we got to see Denali today!! She is so beautiful, backed with a blue sky this afternoon and Alpenglow this evening! The pictures don't do her justice, you need the 7' F temp and the frozen river at your feet to really experience her completely...

We also enjoyed a tour of the recycling center in Palmer, and seeing and talking with Iris in the town of Talkeetna, a woman we saw who had just come back from a two hour sled dog ride with her dog team of 6. She was very sweet to let us pet Sam, and ask her questions about them, her sled and the trailer she'd made for them both. What a life, heading out in the winter for 2 wks alone with just your dogs...

And we've once again scored hard core with our hosts, their generosity and their beautiful B&B, Firehouse Station. Right now I'm enjoying their cozy living room, enshrouded in wood and rock, snuggling by the wood stove, keeping my fingers crossed that the northern lights will dance for us soon.

Huge thank you to everyone who is and has been supporting our tour, including those of you who like and comment below! It all, and you all, make a difference!

Tonight, one of our attendees told us that he'd just an article in the New York times that had something to do with carbon taxes and conservatives, and then heard the PSA about our event. I hadn't yet read the article at that point but told him I was sure it would dovetail nicely...I didn't realize that the article would essentially lay out our proposal, though!

‘A Conservative Climate Solution’: Republican Group Calls for Carbon Tax A group of senior Republican figures, led by James A. Baker III, says that taxing carbon emissions is the fairest way to address a warming climate.

Phil lined up an interview for us with Radio Free Palmer, as well! It, too, was aired in advance of our events here...

Citizens’ Climate Lobby Interview February 2017 | Radio Free Palmer Mike Chmielewski interviewed two representatives touring Alaska and meeting with local communities about the nationwide Citizens’ Climate Lobby movement.

Our tour is gaining publicity! Check out this well-written article in the Frontiersman in advance of our presentation and training on Sunday and Monday!

Citizens’ Climate Lobby hosts outreach, workshop events PALMER — Can economic policy solve climate change? The Citizens’ Climate Lobby thinks so.

Days 9 & 10: Anchorage and the Mat-su Valley (Palmer)
As E.B White says, "Every morning, I awake between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day. But if we forget to savor the world, what possible reason do we have for saving it? In a way, savoring must come first."

I share this quote because I'm aware that at least some of you may be interested in learning more about Fee & Dividend, CCL, or the interest we're experiencing throughout Alaska in regards to both. And all this time, I've been sharing photos and stories of adventures I've been having around Alaska with George and my daughter in and around that interest. I bet people wonder if we're even 'working' on this here tour! As it turns out, we're just making sure to balance saving with savoring.

But, to mix it up, for this post, I'll start with the 'saving', and share more and first about the event that we hosted yesterday afternoon in Palmer - right in the middle of Superbowl!

Yes, we admit, not the greatest of foresight on this one, planning a presentation right in the middle of one of the biggest events in American culture. And, it certainly didn't help our cause that so many people are sick, and that it was a beautiful sunny Sunday in the 'Valley'. But despite the odds, we had a solid group of just under 20, ready to listen and learn. We leaned on George's longer more scientific presentation centered around risk, complete with detailed slides with REMI charts and detailed benefits in rural Alaska, and once again, I found myself impressed with George's ability to thoroughly glide through his parts of our presentation.

The audience had many considerate questions, most, if not all, in support of our proposal. Many people lingered long after the end to ask more in-depth questions, and express their gratitude and praise. And while the audience was not as large as we might have hoped, especially considering all the work Phil put it in advance, 70% of attendees signed up with interest to learn more.

Tonight (Monday), we were able to host a Climate Advocacy Training at Vagabond Blues and officially start the Matsu Valley chapter as the 371st CCL chapter! We had a small group of interested and committed 'Palmeranians' who had similarly thoughtful questions. They are eager to start meeting as a chapter, writing letters, and mtg with their members of Congress. Once we secure a location, the group will be ready to have their inaugural meeting this Saturday at 8:30am for the National Conference call!

In regards to savoring, Kaya and I had the morning to play in Anchorage before we were to meet George and Michelle in Palmer yesterday. While hesitant at first (are all zoos created equal?), we headed out to the Alaska Zoo and had such a wonderful experience! We were 2 of only 6 people in the zoo for the first hour: at 7 degrees and Superbowl Sunday, no surprise there. Despite the cages amongst the trees, it was the most wild zoo experience I've ever had. Howling wolves, singing coyotes, squawking ravens, swans in creeks, sleeping reindeer and a wolverine protecting his den...it was SO very worth it!

Alpenglow on the Chugach Range has been spectacular at sunset, and adventures on Hatcher Pass kept us supremely entertained and connected to the epic alpine beauty. George and Phil enjoyed some ski time on the Archangel trail, and Kaya and I were full of laughter and sweat as we sledded in Independence Bowl. I felt like I was back in Switzerland -- I think THIS is why so many people move to Alaska...!

Day 8: Anchorage!
The tour definitely has a different feel now that we're both in a big city and where George lives. It's funny to think that all these months, I've been envisioning George on our conference calls in the yonders of Alaska, when in fact, here he sits in a city of nearly 400,000, surrounded by strip malls and Costcos. That makes it sound like I don't like Anchorage, but quite to the contrary, I think it's beautiful, and in many ways, has the best of all worlds! The ocean is a stone's throw away, the ski hill is 25 minutes, there are rumors of Northern Lights (we're still hoping for those!), and all within reach of creature comforts like REI and toilet paper!

We started the morning off in the dark, once again (though it was just getting light at 8), before diving into our CCL Anchorage meeting from 8:30-10:30. George was really happy that 10 others showed up without him being able to call any of them -- a big improvement especially considering the mtg was a week earlier than usual with no regularly scheduled National conference call. People were very excited to hear about the success of the tour, learning about the positive reception we've been having in all the towns along the way. With the space opened up where the call would normally be, we had time to share the superb training by Jay Butera and Sam Daley-Harris on Moving your Member of Congress up the Champion Scale (found on CCU on community.citizensclimatelobby.org)

After taking care of some car rental business, we all had the morning and afternoon to do our own thing. Kaya and I started with a yummy lunch at the Midnight Sun Cafe, which was as good as Michelle said it would be! It was an especially exciting meal because in the first bite of her sandwich, Kaya lost the tooth that's been wiggly for months!

From there, we played tourist for a while, stopping in at a local shop, and then deciding we were most excited about jumping on wall-to-wall trampolines at ShockWave. That was TONS of fun (despite discovering later her tooth fell out of mama's pocket while jumping...!), and we're eager to check out our jump options back home!

And then, we got to go ice skating on a frozen Chugach Lake as part of our Friends Meet and Skate event. It was during the most beautiful hours of the later afternoon sun. While nervous at first without a wall to lean on, Kaya improved quickly. She held our hands, reluctantly used the chair that Jan brought for her, and made the most strides with her own suggested 'chase the frozen grape' game. You should have seen all the smiles!

After skating, we headed around the corner to Taylor and Terri's house where they served us up warm fondue in consideration of our chilled tozes and noses. We then did a cozy little presentation with a projector on a chart pad...a great example of the power of small. They were very impressed with both the growth of the organization and the progress in Congress with Republicans. Kaya and I were able to stay for delicious soup -- I enjoyed seeing her great enjoyment while playing with the 2 year old, and was able to learn a great deal about both Anchorage and the budget crisis in Alaska due to plummeting oil prices. Did you know that Alaskans not only pay no state taxes (no income, property or state sales tax) but EACH get ~$1000 from Oil Revenues, regardless of age or need? (There's financial incentive to grow a family!) Pretty amazing. It's fascinating to hear that their income inequality is among the lowest in the U.S., and poverty rates are lower as well. We'll have to see how they recoup the serious losses they're suffering, though, without taxes to lean on in the oil drop.

Whew, this one got long! If you make it this far, I'll be impressed...! Not the norm, blogging on Facebook, and I know there aren't many of you out there reading this, but for record keeping, it's a great place to house the details!

Day 7: Soldatna to Anchorage
When I used to play softball, there was something called a 'bi', when we'd have more space in our schedule without a game. In my backpacking days, we called it a duff day. Whatever term you choose, that's what today was for us...A day without meetings or presentations, where we sat on our duffs for hours and hours amidst epic vistas of the setting sun in the Chugach National Forest. There are definitely worse ways to spend a duff day, considering we were afforded time to sleep in, to hike to George's 90 year old friend, Marge, in her home on the Kenai River (literally over the river and through the woods...), and pull into Anchorage just after dark to enjoy a delicious Vietnamese meal at Ray's.

George is happy to be home for a few days, to enjoy his cat and his wife, and Tamara and Kaya are looking forward to the few hours of play time in Anchorage on Saturday and Sunday between meetings and presentations.

Thanks for following along! Let us know you're out there if you've stopped by!