Local residents are advocating for policy change at the federal level. The mission of the Citizens Climate Lobby ("CCL") is to build political will for a livable world and to empower us as citizens to exercise our personal and political power. The Chicago West chapter of the CCL, which meets in Oak Park, was established in the summer of 2012. CCL is committed to a respectful, non-partisan approach to working with members of congress to make the case for a national fee (tax) on fossil fuel-based carbon with the entire proceeds of the tax to be rebated to the citizens -- also known as Fee and Dividend.

Five Oak Parkers will head to Washington, D.C. in mid-June to be part of the Citizens Climate Lobby’s International Conference. Dick Alton, David Holmquist, Cheryl Pomeroy, John Porterfield and Sally Stovall will join nearly 700 other conference participants to hone their lobbying skills and visit members of Congress and their staffers.

Today, there is a buzz building due to a new study, released on Monday, June 9, 2014. The general assumption, until now, has been that solutions to address global warming will be a drag on the economy and lead to loss of jobs. The newly released study “turns that assumption on its head.” The study, conducted by Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI), shows that a carbon tax refunded to household would add 2.1 million jobs to the US economy over 10 years, and carbon emissions would decline by 33 percent over the same period. 13,000 lives would be saved annually after 10 years, due to cleaner air, with a cumulative 227,000 American lives saved over 20 years.

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The Citizens Climate Lobby commissioned REMI to conduct this nation-wide study on the impact of a Fee and Dividend policy in order to have quality data free of ideological taint. REMI has 3+ decades of experience doing econometric modeling for government and private sector clients. REMI studies have been published in peer reviewed academic journals, and the methodology and equations used in the present study are peer reviewed and available to the public. More information on the REMI study, including a 3-page summary or a copy of the full report is available on Citizens Climate Lobby web site. Since its founding, Citizens Climate Lobby, has grown rapidly and spread - from three chapters in 2007 to nearly 200 chapters in today located throughout the United States and Canada.