USCAN Annual Report 2015

US Climate Action Network Annual Report 2015

Front Cover: People’s Climate Movement Day of Action in Atlanta. Photo Credit: Steve Eberhardt.

US Climate Action Network Annual Report 2015 US Climate Action Network 50 F. Street NW, 8th Floor Washington, DC 20001 202.495.3043 | operations@usclimatenetwork.org www.usclimatenetwork.org All rights reserved © US Climate Action Network. 2016

USCAN Annual Conference in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: USCAN.

US Climate Action Network: “Stronger Together” The US Climate Action Network (USCAN) was founded in 1989 to coordinate US non-governmental organization (NGO) voices in UN climate negotiations. In the 90’s, USCAN expanded its work to coordinate with state and local groups to help with national and international engagement. USCAN is currently an increasingly diverse, vital, and growing network of 160 member organizations dedicated to advancing climate action. The ability to create the space where a broad and deep network of civil society organizations can establish the relationships and processes needed to achieve transformational change in climate policy is the fundamental strength of USCAN. For the past 27 years, USCAN’s purpose and the biggest successes have been that of maximized stakeholder involvement and moving groups from shared vision to collective action. USCAN ensures that the the climate community is stronger together than any US organization could be alone. USCAN has committed to building a culture of equitable relationships.

USCAN’s vision is a powerful, inclusive, diverse, interconnected, nimble US climate movement that operates effectively from local to global scales towards promoting: a renewable energy future; an end to fossil fuels and net greenhouse gas emissions; prepared and resilient communities; equitable and just transitions. USCAN is the US node of CAN International. CAN International is a worldwide network of over 950 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in more than 110 countries.

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USCAN French Embassy Event. USCAN Board Chair Heather Coleman, Deputy Chief of Mission Frédéric Doré, Co-Founder of USCAN Marianne Ginsburg and USCAN Executive Director Keya Chatterjee. Photo Credit: Lorin Hancock and Jennifer Bonnello.

Message from the Board chair I was recently reminded of the principle “if you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Nowhere is this guidance more prescient than in the context of being part of a climate network.

2015 served as a banner year for USCAN on many levels. The beginning of the year brought new energy with our Executive Director, Keya Chatterjee, solidly at the helm in defining a renewed vision for the organization. With Keya’s leadership we convened our first-ever USCAN fundraising event at the French Embassy in Washington, DC, highlighting 25 years of USCAN’s role in the climate movement and bringing together individuals who both founded the organization and have been dedicated to its mission for so many years. The event succeeded in raising funds for the organization, but perhaps more importantly, provided a platform for promoting USCAN’s leadership and mission in the lead up to the UN Climate Negotiations (COP 21) and helped to define our role moving through the Paris moment.

We welcomed seven new board members to the organization this year as well bringing additional diversity to what was already one of the most diverse boards in the movement. And we managed to sustain our existing and highly dedicated core staff in Carrie Clayton, Marie Risalvato, and Rudi Navarra and recruit some fantastic new staff with Mick Power leading outreach and membership activities and Tina Johnson leading on international and domestic policy.

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Perhaps the two 2015 accomplishments that I am most proud of as board chair were our annual conference and USCAN’s role leading up to, and during, COP 21. While USCAN has always hosted annual conferences to convene the network, this one felt different. Being the most diverse conference USCAN has ever hosted, there was a sense that we are on the cusp of overcoming deep divides in the climate movement, and there was explicit recognition that USCAN is the organization to help us bridge these divides and build a bigger, broader, and stronger US climate movement. In my time attending USCAN conferences, I have never heard this level of excitement about USCAN’s power and possibility as an organization that can take us to new heights.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has always served as a platform for USCAN leadership and facilitation, but in Paris it was striking to watch how much progress USCAN has made in ensuring that voices from all regions in the US and from a broad group of constituencies are well-represented and that their issues and concerns are taken into account. This can only help us in the future as we continue to deepen our engagement across the public and private sectors.

Based on what I saw in 2015, I cannot wait to see what this network can achieve in 2016 and beyond. We are in this together, and USCAN is stronger than ever.

Heather Coleman Manager, Climate Change Oxfam America

Post KXL Rejection Celebration Rally at the White House. Photo Credit: Evan Weber, USCAN.

Message from Executive Director What a year! My favorite headline coming out of the Paris Climate Agreement had to be from Reuters: “World climate accord hailed as turning point from fossil fuels.”

This year felt like that turning point. From the Pope Francis’ Encyclical to finalizing the Clean Power Plan, the Keystone XL pipeline rejection, and the Paris Agreement, our network built power and took on the toughest problems head on.

Our members stopped coal plants, pipelines, and drilling rigs, created family sustaining jobs, passed policies that led to renewable energy projects, advanced equity, and prepared for climate impacts. The hard work of securing a just transition was not completed in Paris, of course. Our work is only beginning. It is up to the entire US Climate Action Network (USCAN) to make sure that it is done. We have to stay together, stay mobilized, stay in the streets, and push for and implement the changes we know to be necessary, whether it is creating democratically controlled, renewable energy systems or leaving fossil fuels in the ground.

Some of our members work with governments, while others conduct direct actions to change government actions. Some of our members work with corporations, while others hold them accountable. From our vantage point at USCAN, we can see clearly that our 160 member organizations make for an amazing movement full of inspiring people, and that we can be much so more than the sum of our parts if we have respect and understanding for each other’s ways of working, and unity during important moments. USCAN builds our network’s strength by diversifying its membership, building relationships among members with different theories of

change, and amplifying powerful voices for each critical moment in our struggle to prepare for climate impacts and remove its root causes. Our mode of operation is to be unafraid of our differences, so that our network will be powerful, not despite our diversity of views, but because of our diversity of views.

I’ve been in this job for just over a year now, and I believe more than ever in the power of networks. Networks aren’t a fad. By connecting people who are focused on big goals and innovative solutions, we can create a world for our children that is prepared for climate impacts and powered by the sun and the wind.

Keya Chatterjess Executive Director US Climate Action Network

USCAN Annual Conference.

Photo Credit: Olivia Chow.

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USCAN Press Conference COP 21 Paris.

USCAN Board Members: J. Drake-Hamilton, Jacqui Patterson and Alden Meyer.

Photo Credit: Carrie Clayton, USCAN.

COP 21 Paris. USCAN Board Members: David Turnbull, KC Golden and Kyle Ash with USCAN ED Keya Chatterjee and USCAN member Ben Schreiber.

Photo Credit: Carrie Clayton, USCAN.

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USCAN Board of Directors 100% commitment — USCAN Board Members are amazing! Not only are they generous with their time and knowledge, but each year every Board Member makes a financial contribution. USCAN’s board reflects our networks ongoing commitment to racial equity, diversity and inclusion.

Term Ending July 2016 Adrianna Quintero Director of Partner Engagement Natural Resources Defense Council Alden Meyer Director of Strategy & Policy Union of Concerned Scientists

Lou Leonard Vice President, Climate Change World Wildlife Fund Stephen Smith Executive Director Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

J. Drake Hamilton (Secretary) Science Policy Director Fresh Energy Term ending July 2017 Claudia Malloy (Vice-Chair) National Outreach Director National Wildlife Federation Colette Pichon Battle Director Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy Daniel Sosland (Treasurer) President Acadia Center David Turnbull Campaigns Director Oil Change International Heather Coleman (Chair) Policy Manager, Climate Change Oxfam America Jacqueline Patterson Director, Environmental and Climate Justice Program The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Dr. Jalonne White-Newsome Senior Program Officer The Kresge Foundation

Jose Aguto Legislative Secretary of Sustainable Energy and Environment Program Friends Committee on National Legislation KC Golden Senior Policy Advisor Climate Solutions Kyle Ash Senior Legislative Representative Greenpeace USA Mike Tidwell Founder and Director Chesapeake Climate Action Network Rachel Potter Projects Director Climate Nexus Vien Truong National Director Green for All William (Bill) Snape Senior Counsel Center for Biological Diversity

Joe Uehlein President and Executive Director Labor Network for Sustainability uscan annual report 2015 | 5

Growing the Climate Network In 2015 a host of new members joined USCAN, reflecting the breadth and diversity of the climate movement itself. A total of 54 new members joined. USCAN was honored to welcome new organizations which include: UPROSE, BlueGreen Alliance, Franciscan Action Network, The Alliance for Climate Education, Climate Interactive, Community Voices Heard, OneAmerica, Fossil Fuel Divestment Student Network, GreenLatinos, The Solutions Project, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy.

Many of these new member organizations were involved in the People’s Climate March in New York in 2014 and in the People’s Climate Movement in 2015. Of those new members, over half represent frontline or environmental justice communities, faith communities or parents and young people.

In the same year, 28 organizations chose not to renew their membership, many of which were smaller groups that had been less active in the network.

This shift has taken USCAN from a network of 135 members in March 2015 to a network of 160 organizations today, with more organizations applying to join and leaving us in a position of having to turn away new members. Although many of these new members have been fighting for climate action and climate justice for many years, some of them are taking climate action for the first time, and USCAN has been able to serve as an ‘on-ramp’ to the climate movement. In their turn, many of these new members bring deep expertise in their own communities and in different traditions of organizing and advocacy, bringing new experience, learning and benefits to the network as a whole.

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We also made changes later in the year to our process for adding new members and renewing membership of existing members, designed to ensure that membership in USCAN is a relationship — not a transaction — and something that each member finds valuable enough to make the investment of time, effort and resources to be a member.

Our National Conference The face of this new USCAN was on display at our National Conference in September 2015. Held in Washington, DC and co-hosted with the Center for Community Change, we brought together nearly 300 participants, drawing from the faith, labor, environmental justice, youth, and economic and racial justice movements. Many of the participants who attended were getting engaged in the climate movement for the first time and certainly brought as much to teach other USCAN members as they did to learn themselves.

The agenda was radically different from previous years, putting agency in the hands of participants and allowing lots of open space to facilitate deeper relationships and to tackle difficult conflicts between sections of our network (e.g. environmental justice and big green) in a frank yet constructive way. In the course of this new experience, we learned much about how to improve our practice even more in future. The conference hinted at the possibility of an even larger and more powerful meeting in 2016 with the potentially transformative objective of building more connection, alignment and power in the climate movement.

“Beat the Heat” Rally in support of the Clean Power Plan, Philadelphia, PA outside of Sen. Casey’s office. Climate activists including PennFuture, PennEnvironment, Sierra Club, Clean Air Council, Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light. Photo Credit: Katie Bartolotta, PennFuture.

Below are just a few of the testimonials we received about the conference:

I can’t thank you enough for creating such a rich opportunity to connect with advocates working across a broad spectrum of the climate challenge. — Sue Reid, Ceres This was more than just a great conference. I think we’ll look back at this year as a real turning point, where we changed the way we do things and put our actions where our words are in a bigger and bolder way. I’m looking forward to a movement truly ready to do the work towards justice. — Adam Greenberg, SustainUS I have been in a climate change-induced ‘funk’ lately and the last two days of your conference have sent me home energized, hopeful, and ready to tackle a huge season of climate action — thank you! — Gretchen Dahlkemper, Moms Clean Air Force Many thanks to those who gave freely of their time, energy and relationships in the movement to serve on the Steering Committee and make this conference happen (in alphabetical order): Adam Greenberg (SustainUS), Bill Snape (Center for Biological Diversity), David Waskow (World Resources Institute), Joe Robertson (Citizens Climate Lobby), Joy Blackwood (JB Consulting, formerly Environmental Defense Fund), Kyle Gracey (SustainUS), Liz Perera (Sierra Club), Travis Madsen (Environment America), Pam Rivera (Natural Resources Defense Council),

Rev Leo Woodberry (Kingdom Living Temple), Becky Glass (Labor Network for Sustainability), Jose Aguto (Friends Committee on National Legislation), Susan Guy (Iowa Interfaith Power & Light), Jalonne White-Newsome (The Kresge Foundation, formerly WE ACT), Elizabeth Yeampierre (UPROSE), Jaimie Phillip (Center for Community Change). Thanks also to our tremendous team of volunteers who worked on this event: Darien Pusey, Maria Langholz, Jessica Gray, Allison Homer, Reid Dvorak, Lynn Raskin, Lorin Hancock, Alden Phinney, Emma Friend, and Marcia Glasgow.

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Rev. Sally Bingham, Sister Joan Brown, and Susan Stephenson presented our Paris Pledge to Karen Florini (second from the left) of the US State Department. Pledge contained 5000 signatures and 300+ congregations that have committed to cutting their carbon emissions 50% by 2030 and to be carbon neutral by 2050. At COP 21.

Photo Credit: The Regeneration Project Interfaith Power & Light.

USCAN National Conference.

Photo Credit: USCAN.

N. Jenise Young, Joy Semien, Dr. Glenn S. Johnson, Steven C. Washington at COP 21.

Photo Credit: Dr. Robert D. Bullard at Texas Southern University.

COP 21. Photo Credit: Carrie Clayton, USCAN.

USCAN members speaking at USCAN press Conference at Cop 21.

Tonya Rawe, Dr. Robert Bullard, John Hill and Dr. Beverly Wright.

Photo Credit: Carrie Clayton, USCAN.

Supporting action in Paris USCAN was created to make sure our network is coordinated at important international moments, and the UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris gave our network the opportunity to shine this year through coordinated daily press conferences, newsletters, “fossil awards,” bilateral and multilateral meetings with international governments and NGOs and meetings with the US Administration. The talks resulted in an agreement hailed as “historic, durable and ambitious” by many and lamented nonetheless as still inadequate to the scale of climate disruption we are experiencing. The 50,000 people who attended the conference, including more than 200 USCAN individuals from 83 member organizations, fought for a strong agreement through marathon negotiating sessions and sleepless nights for two weeks. During those two weeks USCAN’s staff of six supported and empowered the members with daily meetings that focused on strategy and messaging, several press briefing opportunities, meetings with negotiators and key government officials, and updates through the list serves. The influence of our work outside the two weeks, and outside the venue, was cited in speeches and interventions on a daily basis.

The Paris Agreement was a reflection of how far we have come in changing political dynamics at home, as well as a reflection of how far we still have to go in changing those dynamics.

USCAN and network members pushed for better outcomes at every turn this year, and succeeded in securing many key asks, such as an inclusion of “Loss and Damage” in the agreement, and the decision to come back to the table every five years.

We also mobilized in the streets to have the last word and ensure that we are working together to change the political realities that hamper progress.

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Community Collaboration USCAN’s core services include community calls, list serves, briefings, intel, member relationships, and gatherings, which continue to be used by the network as a means of learning from each other and avoiding duplication of effort.

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*numbers from 3/2015–12/2015

active list serves

160 11 USCAN member organizations

virtual member briefings (webinars)*

195 42 SCEN members

in-person meetings*

25 1114 callers (avg) for each bi-weekly clean call

USCAN list serve users

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press conferences (highlighting USCAN members)

international agreementthat includes all of the countries

passion

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People’s Climate Movement Day of Action in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: Carrie Clayton, USCAN.

People’s Climate Movement: “National Day of Action” Building off the success of the People’s Climate March in September 2014, USCAN played a key role in the People’s Climate Movement (PCM) National Day of Action on October 14.

The core principle of the PCM is to engage “unusual suspects” in leading actions calling for climate justice; labor unions, immigrant justice groups, and economic and racial justice groups have played key leadership roles in the PCM. USCAN led the website for the People’s Climate Movement this year, which enabled the members to collaborate on the ground to carry out 200 actions around the US on October 14, including in Washington, DC, where we conducted a “die-in” at the American Petroleum institute. USCAN also played a leadership role in the DC and Miami actions where thousands of people (labor, immigrant and racial justice activists) took part in a climate change action for the very first time.

People’s Climate Movement Day of Action in Miami, Florida.

SACE staffer George Cavros marches with his son. Photo Credit: SACE.

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Funding the Frontlines For years, the impacts of climate change have been felt disproportionately by low-income communities and communities of color. Frontline communities have a long history of organizing to combat the negative impacts of climate destruction on the ground. But frontline communities and national groups working on climate campaigns have not always worked together well. The past 12 months have seen better collaboration and solidarity across the breadth of the climate movement, but barriers remain — in part due to a lack of resources. That’s why, thanks to our generous supporters, USCAN implemented a Frontline Collaboration small grants program in 2015. With $200,000 of re-grant funds available, we were able to provide small grants of between $10–20,000 to the following 10 members: ++ Colorado People’s Alliance (Aurora, CO): to organize a statewide climate justice table for Colorado, uniting indigenous, labor, environment, student and immigrant groups to take action on October 14 and beyond. ++ Labor Network for Sustainability (Takoma Park, MD): to convene labor and community leaders to develop an alternative “climate jobs” plan for the site of a proposed waste incinerator in Curtis Bay. ++ Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (New Orleans, LA): to train and support a delegation of 71 African American youth and community leaders from the Gulf Coast, ahead of their trip to COP 21 in Paris. ++ Clean Air Coalition of Western NY (Buffalo, NY): to hold a series of training workshops and community meetings to engage three working class and low-income communities in shaping state climate and energy policy. ++ UPROSE (Sunset Park, NY): to train 25 block captains in this multi-racial working class community in climate resiliency and just transitions, and continue their collaboration with the People’s Climate Movement. ++ Arise for Social Justice (Springfield, MA): to hire an organizer to maintain a city-wide multi-sector climate justice coalition, and ensure that the city’s climate justice plan (which they won) is passed and implemented. ++ Honor the Earth (Callaway, MN): to fund legal, media and organizing strategies of this indigenous community’s campaign to block several proposed and existing fracked oil and tar sands pipelines across tribal lands.

People’s Climate Movement Day of Action — “die-in” at American Petroleum Institute’s headquarters in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: Carrie Clayton, USCAN.

++ Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice (Detroit, MI): to train seven community leaders from each of Detroit’s council districts in energy retrofits and green jobs, to deliver community-based climate solutions. ++ Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (Chicago, IL): to hold eight community-based environmental justice events including a third annual youth summit in this Latino community in Chicago’s southwest side. ++ Kingdom Living Temple (Florence, SC): to engage 1,000 people through this African American faith community, and work to get an environmental justice analysis included in South Carolina’s state Clean Power Plan.

We also made $20,000 available for a rapid response grants pool to support 15 organizations take action in their communities. USCAN takes no credit for the work of our amazing grantees, and we wish them all power in their work in 2016.

Many thanks to our review team — Jacqui Patterson (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP), Ananda Lee Tan (The Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance, GAIA) and Tina Johnson (US Climate Action Network, USCAN) — who volunteered their time to advise us on this process.

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People’s Climate Movement Day of Action in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: Carrie Clayton, USCAN.

Left to right in the front row only: Julia Morgan, Amy ciciora, Christine Herrmann, Catherine Thomasson, Theresa Shaffer, Barb Gottlieb, and Martin Fleck.

Photo Credit: Christien Hemann, PSR.

HBCU Climate Change Initiative delegates at COP 21.

Photo Credit: Steven C. Washington (Graduate Student at Texas Southern University .

Anne Blaire and child showing support for the Clean Power Plan outside of the capitol building in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo Credit: SACE.

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New York State Comptroller & Ceres Board Member Tom DiNapoli; Al Gore, Climate Reality Project; Ceres President Mindy Lubber; CalSTRS CEO & Ceres Board Member Jack Ehnes at COP 21. Photo Credit: Ceres staff.

Advocate Coordination and Capacity-Building around the Clean Power Plan USCAN has supported advocates working on the Clean Power Plan regionally and nationally. Learning from its 2014 national summit on carbon pollution standards, USCAN has supported advocate coordination on the Clean Power Plan nationally and regionally, and strategically filled capacity gaps where needed.

For example, in the Southeast, USCAN has been providing opportunities for routine communication and in-person gatherings. USCAN’s Southeast Climate & Energy Network program (SCEN) organized Southeastern-based advocates on the Clean Power Plan with monthly coordination, data compilation, best practice sharing, strategic conversations, and weekly 101 trainings. For a second year in a row, SCEN hosted a Clean Power Power summit, this time in Durham, North Carolina specifically helping local groups learn about the new regulation and participate in the technical process. These opportunities have led to more collaborations and additional groups engaging on the Clean Power Plan in the Southeast.

Advancing Equity and Investing in the US Southeast Recognizing that the region has the highest levels of greenhouse gas pollution in the country and a persistent history of social and racial inequality, USCAN has purposely invested in the Southeast region since 2009. Throughout 2015, SCEN continued to engage its broad advocate membership to capitalize on our national network and the climate movement.

Advancing equity has also been a priority for USCAN. Partnering with local and regional groups such as the Advancing Equity & Opportunity Collaborative, USCAN co-hosted a gathering of equity advocates in April 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia to advance work on the Clean Power Plan, rural electric cooperatives, and resistance and recovery to the effects of climate change in the region. That workshop led to a set of ongoing collaborations and funded projects in the Southeast. Other investments in the Southeast include working with groups such as Appalachian Voices to integrate utility territory maps into a GIS tool and an existing outreach database (known as the Voter Activation Network or VAN). This new tool interface covers 12 states in the Southeast region and allows for advocates to reach millions of rate-payers on energy issues.

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Highlights from 2015: CELEBRATING OUR COLLECTIVE POWER Every two weeks USCAN members have the opportunity to hop on the phone and find out what is happening in Washington, DC and how their organizations can help back at home, as well as share information about state and regional and international work that is happening. This year, USCAN members pushed for, and won, some key policies at the federal level, including a budget that allows for funding the Green Climate Fund, and solar and wind tax credits at a scale that can enable the US to meet the 2020 climate targets. Here are a just few highlights and successes from an incredible year of work by our members (USCAN takes no credit for the work of our amazing members, but we do enjoy sharing a few of their successes).

September 20 — Arise Climate Justice Rally at Springfield City Hall . Arise coalition on Springfield City Hall steps.

Photo Credit: Rene Theberge.

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CELEBRATING OUR COLLECTIVE POWER

1- Rebuilding Together Volunteer Day insulating homes in North Philly. From left to right: Coryn Wolk, Eric Harris, Eva Roben, Russell Zerbo, Mollie Simon, Richard Johnson. Photo Credit: Richard Johnson.

2- Las Vegas ACE Action Fellows. Climate education day in Carson City. Photo Credit: Reb Anderson, ACE Director of Education.

3- Interfaith Vigil for Climate Justice at the National Mall.

Photo Credit: John Quigley.

4- Chicago ACE Action Fellows. Youth-organized climate rally in downtown Chicago. Photo Credit: Reb Anderson, ACE Director of Education.

5- September 20th — Arise Climate Justice Rally at Springfield City Hall. Arise environmental justice organizers Frank Cincotta and Audrey Ortega holding their coalition’s postcard to the Mayor with the city’s communications director, Bob Baker. Photo Credit: Rene Theberge.

1- Carbon rule rally outside of Senator Bob Casey’s office, 19th and Market, Philadelphia. From left to right: Matt Walker, Eva Roben, Gavriela Reiter, Albert Trujillo, Bobby Szafranski.

Photo Credit: Mollie Simon.

2- From left to right: Fr. Jacek Orzechowski, Marianne Comfort, Karen Leu, Nichelle Schoultz (Sen. Mikulski’s staffer), Brother Edgardo Jara Araya, Paul Gomez, and Aracely Quispe Neira visit to Senator Mikulski’s office to educate the Senator on the need to appropriate the $500 million our country has promised to the Green Climate Fund. Photo Credit: Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA).

3- September 20 — Arise For Climate Justice Rally at Springfield City Hall . Arise member Vira Cage. Photo Credit: Rene Theberge.

4- Students from Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and the Dakotas, who came to the convergence to strengthen their organizing skills and build a more powerful Midwest youth climate movement. The picture taken for the UnKoch My Campus day of action in November, in protest of the influence of dark money on college campuses. Photo Credit: Sean Estelle.

5- Midwest Unrest action in August. Over 150 young people from across the Midwest traveled to Washington, DC to demand Secretary Kerry stop the illegal expansion of tar sands in the region. Twentytwo activists were arrested on the steps of Kerry’s home.

Photo Credit: Jamie McGonnigal for Equality Photos.

CELEBRATING OUR COLLECTIVE POWER

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Activists hang under the St. Johns Bridge in an attempt to block the Shell-leased icebreaker, MSV Fennica, from passing under the bridge and joining Shell’s Arctic drilling fleet on July 29, 2015. Copyright photo by Tim Aubry/Greenpeace.

CELEBRATING OUR COLLECTIVE POWER

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Blast from the past It seemed appropriate that since this is USCAN’s first Annual Report, to share two small articles from the first USCAN newsletter, dated September 1989. The newsletter was created by Kai Millyard, Phil Jessup, Annie Roncerel, Stewart Boyle, Rafe Pomerance, Vanora Millar, Stephanie Thoresen, and Ann Heidenreich. Thank you to Nicky Sundt for holding onto this first news letter from so many years ago!

Top- Chesapeake Climate Action Network & CCAN Action Fund.

Bottom left- FCNL’s Spring Education Weekend in Wahsington, DC. Congressman Chris Gibson (R, NY-19) with young adults from around the U.S. Photo Credit: Rick Reinhard.

Bottom Right- People’s Climate March - October 14 mobilization in Seattle.

Photo Credit: OneAmerica.

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US Climate Action Network Staff Members Keya Chatterjee Executive Director Carrie Clayton Operations Director Tina Johnson Policy Director Rudi Navarra Southeast Regional Coordinator Mick Power Membership and Campaign Coordinator Marie Risalvato Communications Director

Get involved Become a member: Contact operations@usclimatenetwork.org and learn how your organization can become a USCAN member.

Follow us online: usclimatenetwork.org facebook.com/USClimateActionNetwork instagram.com/climateactionnetwork @USCAN

Make a Donation 1- Allison Homer (former intern), and Marie Risalvato. Photo Credit: USCAN. 2- Carrie Clayton, Darien Pusey (former intern), and Tina Johnson at the People’s Climate Movement Day of Action in Washington, DC. Photo Credit: USCAN. 3- Rudi Navarra, Keya Chatterjee, Carrie Clayton and Jess Gray (former intern) at the USCAN French Embassy Event. Photo Credit: Lorin Hancock and Jennifer Bonnello.

4- Lynn Raskin (volunteer) and Marie Risalvato. Photo Credit: Lorin Hancock.

5- Tina Johnson and Cleo Verkuijl (CANI) at COP 21. Photo Credit: Carrie Clayton.

6- Mick Power at National Conference Prep. Photo Credit: Lorin Hancock.

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Financial Report 2015 USCAN’s fiscal year begins July 1.

This report is for the calendar year ending December 31, 2015.

Calendar Year January 1 to December 31, 2015

Total

Revenue

Grants & Individual Contributions

1,372,469.18

Contractual Services - Speaker Fees

10,048.14

Annual Member Dues

98,687.50

Interest Income

591.75

Reimbursements

4,152.20

Total Revenue

$1,485,948.77

Expenditures

Infrastructure/Computers/Member Survey

13,447.40

Salaries

382,836.35

Employer Payroll Taxes

31,545.51

Benefits - Health, Dental, Life, Retirement

57,444.51

Consultants for Advocacy/Education

64,516.75

Accounting - Audit, Bookkeeping Fees

5,030.55

Insurance

10,482.58

67,164.02

National Conference & Embassy Event

Internships

17,977.20

Meetings & Conferences

17,434.92

Office Equipment & Supplies

4,558.35

Website Costs

4,055.90

Rent & Utilities

35,430.00

Postage & Deliveries

590.59

Publications/ Printing

4,529.47

Subgrants to Organizations

196,910.00

Telecommunications

11,950.13

Travel

46,080.03

23,269.23

People's Climate Movement (PCM ) - Digital Support

Total Expenditures

$995,253.49 Net Revenue $490,695.28

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2015 EXPENDITURES DOMESTIC POLICY SOUTHEAST ENERGY (SCEN)

FUNDRAISING 2%

8% 8%

COMMUNICATION 29%

10%

INTERNATIONAL

SUB-GRANTS, MEMBER MEETING ASSISTANCE & TRAVEL STIPENDS

11% 15% 17%

MEMBER SUPPORT & OUTREACH

OPERATIONS/LOGISTICS, TECHNOLOGY, RENT & UTILITIES

Sources of Support USCAN Member Organizations Bob & Mary Litterman Collaboration of Funders Dolphin Foundation Energy Foundation Two Anonymous Donors Kendeda Fund Pisces Foundation Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

In the fall of 2015 USCAN staff made the joint decision to divest their 401k from fossil fuels. By accomplishing this, USCAN no longer supports the very companies that are driving climate change, reflecting our commitment to the climate movement and also making a very smart financial decision. USCAN was told by their 401k provider that they are the first organization in the US to divest their 401k.

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USCAN members 350.org

San Francisco

CA

Conservation International

Acadia Center

Rockport

ME

Conservation Law Foundation

Portland

ME

ActionAid USA

Washington

DC

Corporate Accountability International

Boston

MA

Alaska Wilderness League

Washington

DC

LA

New Orleans

LA

Deep South Center for Environmental Justice

New Orleans

Alliance for Affordable Energy Alliance for Climate Education

Boulder

CO

Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice

Detroit

MI

Alliance for Water Efficiency

Chicago

IL

Divest Harvard

Cambridge

MA

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

Mount Rainier

MD

Earth Day Network

Washington

DC

American Jewish World Service

Washington

DC

Earthjustice

Washington

DC

Appalachian Voices

Boone

NC

Earthworks

Washington

DC

Arise for Social Justice

Springfield

MA

ecoAmerica

Washington

DC

Avaaz

New York

NY

BlueGreen Alliance Foundation

Washington

DC

Brighter Green

Brooklyn

California Student Sustainability Coalition

Arlington

VA

Ecoequity

Berkeley

CA

Elders Climate Action

Truckee

CA

NY

Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment

Los Angeles

CA

Davis

CA

Energy Action Coalition

San Francisco

CA

CARE USA

Washington

DC

Environment America

Boston

MA

Center for American Progress

Washington

DC

Environmental & Energy Study Institute (EESI)

Washington

DC

Center for Biological Diversity

Washington

DC

Environmental Defense Fund

Washington

DC

Center for Clean Air Policy

Washington

DC

Environmental Investigation Agency

Washington

DC

Center for Climate Protection

Santa Rosa

CA

DC

Washington

DC

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Washington

Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

Faith in Place

Chicago

IL

Center for Popular Democracy

Brooklyn

NY

Philadelphia

PA

Center for Social Inclusion

NY

NY

Fossil Fuel Divestment Student Network

Center for Sustainable Economy

Lake Oswego

OR

Franciscan Action Network

Washington

DC

St Paul

MN

Ceres

Boston

MA

Fresh Energy

Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN)

Takoma Park

MD

Friends Committee on National Legislation

Washington

DC

Citizens Climate Lobby

Coronado

CA

Friends of the Earth (FoE)

Washington

DC

Citizens for Global Solutions

Washington

DC

Georgetown Climate Center

Washington

DC

Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture)

Harrisburg

PA

Georgia WAND

Atlanta

GA

Clean Air Coalition

Buffalo,

NY

Green For All

Washington

DC

Clean Air Council

Philadelphia,

PA

Greenfaith

Highland Park

NJ

Clean Energy Action

Boulder

CO

GreenLatinos

Washington

DC

Climate Access

San Francisco

CA

GreenLaw

Atlanta

GA

Climate Action Business Association

Boston

MA

Greenpeace

Chicago

IL

Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy

Minneapolis

MN

Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy

Slidell

LA

Health Care Without Harm

Alameda

CA

Climate Interactive

Washington

DC

Honor the Earth

Callaway

MN

Climate Law and Policy Project

Chevy Chase

MD

Humane Society International (HSI)

Washington

DC

Climate Nexus

New York

NY

Oakland

CA

Climate Parents

Oakland

CA

ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability

Climate Solutions

Olympia

WA

IFAW - International Fund for Animal Welfare

Yarmouth Port

MA

Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL)

New York

NY

Illinois Environmental Council

Springfield

IL

iMatter, Kids vs. Global Warming

Ventura

MN

College of the Atlantic, Program in Global Environmental Diplomacy

Mont Desert

ME

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP)

Minneapolis

MN

Colorado People's Alliance

Aurora

CO

DC

New York

NY

Institute for Policy Studies/Sustainable Energy & Economy Network (SEEN)

Washington

Community Voices Heard

InterAction

Washington

DC

32 | www.usclimatenetwork.org

Interfaith Power & Light/ The Regeneration Project

San Francisco

CA

Interfaith Power and Light (DC.MD.NoVA)

Washington

DC

International Environmental Law Project (IELP) at Lewis and Clark Law School *

Portland

OR

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)

Yarmouth Port

Iowa Interfaith Power & Light

Sierra Club

Washington

DC

Snowriders International

Denver

CO

Sojourners

Washington

DC

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

Asheville

NC

Southern Echo

Jackson

MS

MA

Southern Oregon Climate Action Now (SOCAN)

Jacksonville

OR

Des Moines

IA

Student Environmental Action Coalition

Lexington

KY

IPS/Sustainable Energy & Economy Network (SEEN)

Washington

DC

Sustaining Way

Greenville

SC

Kentucky Conservation Committee

Frankfort

KY

SustainUS

Washington

DC

Kentucky Environmental Foundation

Berea

KY

The Climate Reality Project

Boulder

CO

Kingdom Living Temple

Florence

SC

Philadelphia

PA

Kyoto USA

Berkeley

CA

The Environmental Justice Center at Chestnut Hill United Church

LA Bucket Brigade

New Orleans

LA

The Nature Conservancy (TNC)

Arlington

VA

Labor Network for Sustainability

Takoma Park

MD

The Regeneration Project /Interfaith Power and Light

San Francisco

CA

League of Conservation Voters

Washington

DC

The Resource Innovation Group (TRIG)

Eugene

OR

Little Village Environmental Justice Organization

Chicago

IL

The Solutions Project

Washington

DC

Tribal Environmental Policy Center

Rio Rancho

NM

Tropical Forest Group

San Diego

CA

U.S. Baha'i Office of Public Affairs

Washington

DC

U.S. Climate Plan

Washington

DC

Union of Concerned Scientists

Washington

DC

United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society

Washington

DC

UPROSE

Brooklyn

NY

Utah Moms for Clean Air

Salt Lake City

UT

Voices for Progress

Washington

DC

WE ACT for Environmental Justice

New York

NY

Mill Valley

CA

Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Washington

DC

Massachusetts Climate Action Network

Boston

MA

Mickey Leland Center for Environment, Justice and Sustainability

Houson

TX

Moms Clean Air Force

Washington

DC

Montana Environmental Information Center

Helena

MT

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Baltimore

MD

National Wildlife Federation (NWF)

Reston

VA

Natural Resources Defense Council

San Francisco

CA

New Jersey Organizing Project

West Creek

NJ

WEDO Women's Environment and Development Organization

New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light

Albuquerque

NM

Western Clean Energy Campaign

Denver

CO

North Carolina Conservation Network

Raleigh

NC

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Milwaukee

WI

North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light

Raleigh

NC

Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)

Mill Valley

CA

Oil Change International

Washington

DC

World Resources Institute (WRI)

Washington

DC

Olympic Climate Action

Port Angeles

WA

World Wildlife Fund

Washington

DC

OneAmerica

Seattle

WA

Oregon Environmental Council

Portland

OR

Oxfam America

Washington

DC

Pacific Environment

San Francisco

CA

Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light

State College

PA

Pew Environment Group

Washington

DC

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Washington

DC

Polar Bears International

Baton Rouge

LA

Presbyterian Church USA

Louisville

KY

Protect Our Winters

Pacific Palisades

CA

PSE Healthy Energy

San Francisco

CA

Public Citizen

Washington

DC

Rachel Carson Council

Bethesda

MD

Refugees International

Washington

DC

As we grow our membership, and bring together partners with differing backgrounds and life experiences, USCAN is committed to building an inclusionary culture with equitable relationship, where all of our members feel like they belong.

uscan annual report 2015 | 33

Left- Kayaks are clustered close together near the Shell drillship Polar Pioneer as activists participate in the sHell No Flotilla “Paddle in Seattle” protest May 16, 2015.

Copyrighted photo by N. Scott Trimble/Greenpeace.

Back cover- Taken in Paris, Champs de Mars. “Women Stand With Paris for 100% Renewable Future”.

Photo Credit: John Quigley & Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

usclimatenetwork.org