Lauren Barros, the Wasatch Back chapter leader of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, says 2021 brought momentum to the organization’s goal of directing politicians’ attention to climate change.
She highlights the Conservative Climate Caucus, created by U.S. Rep. John Curtis this June. Curtis represents Utah’s third congressional district, which includes Wasatch County. All 60 of the caucus’ mostly Republican members maintain that climate change is real, and humans contribute to it. According to Barros, that’s a defining step for the political party’s stance on the issue.
“When we first met with him years ago, when he first became elected to Congress,” Barros says, “he didn’t want to say that humans contribute to climate change, but he intimated that he believed in it. I see each year him taking more and more steps to try to bring his party, the Republican Party, into the conversation and really trying to engage them and get them to understand the issues and to realize the gravity and importance of it.”
She says this year’s progress will help the organization move forward, but adds there is much left to accomplish.
Park City High School sophomore Montana Burrack is another active member of the climate lobby. Some of her work has included moderating town halls with local and state officials, as well as the 2021 forum the group hosted for Park City candidates for mayor and city council.
While the group already has over 500 members, she says one of its major goals is to keep growing.
“I think it would be awesome to get some more youth members involved in the Citizens’ Climate Lobby,” Burrack says. “I do think [politicians] recognize, especially a lot of representatives, that youth will definitely be at the forefront of the climate crisis as we get older, and we inherit the world. So, I do think that at least getting our perspective in lobby meetings is very important, and definitely in moderating debates, I think that it’s always good for them to see a young person stepping up.”
Attendees to some discussions Burrack has moderated include U.S. Rep. Blake Moore of Utah’s first district, which includes Summit County. Others are Utah Rep. Mike Kohler of District 54, which comprises Park City and Wasatch County; Kera Birkeland of District 53, Midway Mayor Celeste Johnson, and BYU Professor Ben Abbott.
Figures like these at the local level are who Citizens’ Climate Lobby chapters worldwide aim to influence to work toward the goal of slowing down climate change.
“The Citizens’ Climate Lobby is an international group with chapters in many countries and predominantly in the United States,” Barros says. “In Utah, we have six chapters, and we focus on building political will for a liveable world. What that basically means is that we help educate people and lobby our representatives to find solutions to climate change.”
The Wasatch Back chapter meets the third Thursday of each month. Some meetings happen as outdoor hikes, but many recent meetings have been over Zoom. For information on how to get involved, visit citizensclimatelobby.org.
