On June 23, we joined with folks from across the country to participate in the League of Conservation Voter’s annual lobby day in Washington DC.. Overall, it was a great experience.

Although the day was very hot and long, it was well worth the effort. The only downside was that we were unable to speak to some of the elected officials; but, we were able to speak with their senior staff. One of the challenges was feeling a bit underprepared on the issues. Maybe next year we can spend more time learning about the pressing federal bills.

The day began with a briefing from LCV staff on how to lobby. They gave us packets of information with prepared talking points on these federal issues:

• Climate change and the Clean Power Plan
• Clean Water Rules
• Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)

The goal of this lobby day was to strengthen our relationship with the members of Congress, to make sure they have a good understanding of LCV and state LCV’s work, to get policy commitments, and to find out their priorities and explore opportunities to work together.

For North Carolina, our first visit was to Congressman David Price’s office. Mr. Price was not available so we met with his Senior Policy Advisor Kate Roetzer. She was very receptive and knowledgeable about the issues we discussed. Based on our conversation, we felt like she was a climate champion and that Congressman Price’s office will be vocal about the issues. Together, we discussed solar jobs and training programs, smart growth community programs, a transition from the fossil fuel economy to a clean energy economy for workers and their families, and racial equity issues in North Carolina.

Our second visit was to Senator Thom Tillis’ office. Senator Tillis was not present, so we spoke with his Legislative Assistant, Joe Noland. Regardless of the election, Senator Tillis is one of two voices on behalf of North Carolina in the U.S. Senate. And, we had something positive to talk with his staff about: allocating money to Land and Water Conservation Fund. Our state’s other Senator, Richard Burr, is co-sponsoring a bill to permanently reauthorize this important bill. While we still differ on our views of the importance of acting on climate change and curbing pollution from coal-fired power plants, it was refreshing to find the we shared some common concerns.

Between that meeting and our final scheduled lobby visit of the day we were lucky enough to get an opportunity to meet with representative from the Office of Economic Resilience at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. We grabbed a quick lunch and then caught a cab across town to make it in time.

We all agreed that this was truly one of the best meetings of the day. We met with Sunaree Marshall, Senior Policy Advisor and Crystal A. Bergemann, Senior Energy Analyst. This meeting was very helpful in terms of our work and what we are working toward for our campaigns. Together we discussed:

• HUD’s Sustainable Communities Initiative
• HUD Grants awarded in North Carolina
• Fair housing/ discrimination
• Energy/ Weatherization of public housing and assisted housing
• Jobs /hiring of low income families, including Section 3 requirements for HUD funded projects

We made great new contacts and we believe they will reach out to us in the future as they move forward with some of their plans. Last, but not least, our fourth visit was with Congresswoman Alma Adams. Representative Adams was only able to attend the meeting for a few minutes due to her schedule, but while we were together she talked about her new hectic schedule in DC, including some of her new committee appointments.

She is continuing to do the important work she started in North Carolina, standing up to defend our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities and working to combat food deserts in communities of color through her participation on the House Committee on Agriculture. It was clear that she was excited to talk to us and see her North Carolina folk in D.C.

We did get a chance to meet with her Legislative Correspondent, Raghib Allie–Brennan, who was really excited to meet us and learn about the climate justice and the Clean Power Plan. We feel that Congresswoman Adams will continue to speak out on behalf of her constituents and be a champion on environmental and justice issues facing North Carolinians.

This was a fantastic experience for all of us. Hopefully next time we will be able to meet directly with even more of our elected officials, and recruit another generation of climate champions to represent us in Washington D.C.

Monique Jackson, Rashad Gibson, and Aiden Graham all contributed to this reflection. See more from LCV’s Lobby Day here.