A Day on The Hill - Meetings with Congress!

What an exciting day! We made our way into the nation's capital for two very exciting meetings. The first was a meeting with Senator Elizabeth Warren's office, and the second was a meeting with Congressman Dana Rohrabocher, our CA representative. As we were walking to the senate building, we noticed a lot of commotion on the streets and in a building to our left. We quickly figured out that we were walking past the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, as we walked through a protest of pro-Kavanaugh and then through a protest against Kavanaugh's confirmation.

The energy was electric this morning. We met with Courtney, a staffer in Warren's office. We spoke with her about climate policy that Senator Warren is working on. Our most important finding was when Shahir asked how close we are to putting a federal price on carbon. Courtney's answer was a bit disheartening, but at the same time energizing. She said that they are just not feeling sufficient pressure from the public to prioritize the issue of climate change and addressing carbon emissions in Washington. There are not enough phone calls, not enough letters, or people in the street. Therefore, other issues, such as consumer protection, are taking priority. This reinforced our feeling that our "Road for Climate Action" is an important and worthwhile endeavor.

This picture features Shahir, Courtney, and I standing outside of Warren's office.

We had quite a different conversation with our Congressman Dana Rohrabacher at his office. Rohrabacher merely refers to climate change as the "CO2 theory," reluctant to acknowledge the crisis we're facing. He nonetheless listened to our concerns. And although he does not attribute human activity as a cause of the changing climate, he did accept the gift of Beyond Debate that Shahir brought for him. Our two meetings on this day could not have been any more different!

Following this, we traveled to Annapolis where we had a climate talk at the Friends of Annapolis Quaker House hosted by the Climate Stewards of Greater Annapolis, and Citizens' Climate Lobby. It was a great evening filled with insightful questions and conversation. By the end of the day, we were completely exhausted and were happy to hit the hay!

Click here to learn more about "On the Road for Climate Action!"

-Athina Simolaris