In this month’s episode of Citizens’ Climate Radio, Peterson Toscano and Ruth Abraham feature four high school students who reveal the secret world of teenage lobbying. Brionna Dulay, Saachi Sharma, Cole Cochrane, and Anna Xie all volunteer for Citizens’ Climate Lobby. We asked them, Are lobbyists evil? 

See our full show notes and transcript: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/blog/podcast/episode-82-are-lobbyists-evil/

Brionna Dulay is a high school senior in Washington State, who discovered a passion for climate advocacy after she was an eyewitness to severe flooding in her community. As a Punjabi-American, Brionna recognized the lack of her community’s representation in climate advocacy and climate change's disproportionate effects on minority communities. This has pushed Brionna to speak to US senators and representatives along with local, regional, and state members of congress. 

Saachi Sharma, also from Washington State, has been involved with Citizens’ Climate Lobby since middle school, and she is now a high school junior. She believes that the work done by today's youth helps make the world a better place, and says, “There's really no age to when you can start being more climate-conscious”. 

Cole Cochrane started his advocacy at age 11 as a volunteer on campaigns for local candidates. Cole is now a senior in high school and has co-founded a nonprofit organization called Maine Youth Action. He serves as the Policy Director. Maine Youth Action aims to empower youth in politics and have their voice heard in critical areas like climate action.

Anna Xie lived in China till she was 11 and is now a senior in high school in Washington State. Anna is the statewide leader of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Youth and previously worked on team recruitment. Anna was struck by the positive feedback from new team members, who told her that CCL has changed their lives and given them more confidence in their public speaking and in the future of our plant.

We decided to call a professional lobbyist to find out more. 

Ben Pendergrass has worked in Washington for over 14 years as a Congressional staff and a government relations professional. He is CCL’s Vice President of Government Affairs and works to advance the policy goals of CCL in Congress. Ben gave us the inside scoop on professional lobbying and had some advice for youth lobbyists. Ben suggests that “being informed, being polite, and really connecting the issues back to the state or district is always very important.”

CCR’s very own intern, Lila Powell, tells us about two young climate advocates' successes in sustainability. Franziska Trautmann and Max Steitz were students at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. While sipping wine in their backyard, Franziska and Max pondered the future of the glass bottle it came in, since NOLA doesn’t have a government-funded glass recycling program. Tune in to hear how they turned that into a happy ending for their whole community!

Citizens Climate Radio

Are Lobbyists Evil?

With the election just days away, the Public Strategies team predicts key race outcomes and discusses whether divided government will continue. Featuring Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Mark Alderman, Towner French, and Kyle Anderson. 

Episode 324 - 2024 Election Forecast: Divided Government on the Horizon?

TV Glow

slumber with screens soundscape 

prod.mizzzbizzznizzz

TV Glo - Beltway Solange Remix

The first quarter of 2025 has been a wild ride in Washington, from the government shutdown that wasn’t to a shifting political battleground between the executive branch and the courts. Featuring Public Strategies’ Patrick Martin, Towner French, and Kyle Anderson. 

Episode 339 - The Shutdown That Wasn’t

They build’em in a circle round any city U.S.A.
So we can get ourselves to work, get us home and have time to play

They make’m extra wide with nice dividers
They put in a lane for---multiple riders

So we can have clear sailin’----any time night or day

   So why in hell am I always late for work
   My wife says I’m lazy and my boss thinks I’m a jerk
   I try to go fast but the traffic is stopped--
   A three mile jam and it’s only a cop---
   Take me to the country-and give me a life again

There’s a clearin’ ahead---maybe I have a shot
I can almost see the exit-I’m gonna give it all I got

I stomp on the gas I run over a wire
I hear a little hiss and I blow a tire

Drivin’ on this Beltway--my day has really gone to pot

   That’s why in hell I’m always late for work
   My wife thinks I’m lazy and my boss thinks I’m a jerk
   I change the tire and I tie my shoes--
   A ten mile jam and I make the news---

   Take me to the country----I got the Beltway Blues
   Take me back to the country----I got the Beltway Bluuuuuuuues

                                                 
©  3/98   J. Michael Tracy  All Rights Reserved


The Beltway Blues (s)

This mashup is for the G's and Hustla's holdin it down and keepin the world spinnin' round. It's the 39th track in this "2 Throwed Minds Combined" series featuring SoulScrewedUp art and musical suggestions.

Y'all stay true to yourself and don't be afraid to invest the time to learn a skill. Truly creativity is for everyone, just remember it comes from inside you and manifestation starts with what we focus our attention on and how we treat the gift.

All love and understanding frfr.


((if you're interested in getting some of your own custom digital artworks, dm the homie on Instagram @screwedupsince95 or send a message to "Soul Screwed Up" here on soundcloud, to start manifesting your ideas today.))

LastlyThis x SoulScrewedUp - Windows is Tinted

If you’re looking for a political podcast that goes beyond the headlines, check out The Beltway Briefing. Every week, our bipartisan team of former White House appointees, Capitol Hill veterans, and seasoned lobbyists delivers insider perspectives straight from Washington. We’re not just talking about politics — we’re living it, with meaningful, bipartisan conversations that cut through the noise.

A monthly podcast for climate advocates hosted by Peterson Toscano & the CCR Team, high school and college-aged climate change action figures. We help you talk about global warming: its causes & impacts.

My name is John Michael Tracy I write songs, jmtsongs.com , love photography, hunting, fishing and all of the outdoors. I was born on Jan. 11, 1957 in Elmira, NY.  I’m the oldest of six children, and my family lived, for most of my youth, in Athens, PA., which is right across the border from Upstate New York.   
	My parents had me take piano lessons when I was a kid, and when I was a teenager, I taught myself to play guitar.  Some friends and I had a country band, and we played local spots for a while.
	In my early twenties, I bought a 4-track recorder and enjoyed playing and recording songs that I liked from the Eagles, Jim Croce, Lobo, David Gates and Bread, Dan Fogelberg, etc.  I sent the recordings to my Grandfather, who had a band when he was young and performed all over upstate Pennsylvania and New York.  One day he asked me why I didn’t write my own songs.  The thought had never occurred to me, but once I’d considered it, it sounded like a great idea, and I told him that I bet I could do it.  
	After the first hundred songs or so, I called a few record companies to let them know that there was a new talent ready to take over the songwriting world, and they suggested I join NSAI first to help me hone my craft.  So I did.  In the mean time, I was sending quite a few of my songs to Washington to be copyrighted.
	A Publisher/Writer named Donn Hecht (most famous for co-writing Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight”) had someone working for him in Washington that noticed the number of songs I was copywriting.  Donn contacted me and asked me to send him some material. I did. He became my publisher, mentor and friend until his death in October 2002. He taught me more about songwriting and the business than anyone I’ve ever met.
	In the Spring of 2000, I wrote a song called “The South’ll Rise Again” and sent it to the nationally syndicated “The John Boy and Billy Big Show” as a gift, never imagining they’d ever do anything with it.  They were impressed enough to play it on the air, and it has been on their “Best Of” shows ever since.
	After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, I wrote a song called “Give’m Hell U.S.A.”  and  sent it to President George Bush and some of his staff.  Both President Bush and his Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, responded with really nice thank you notes. 
	I’m also a member of the local and National GTO clubs, own a 1970 Judge, and have written several “hot rod” songs that get regular play at many car shows and cruise-ins.
           My wife Kathy and I lived and worked in Nashville for a year and met many wonderful artists and songwriters who inspired and encouraged me.
	As the successful songwriter, friend and mentor, Jerry Vandiver says, “We write, because we have to”. The music needs to come out so we do what we love, and let it flow.

New tracks tagged #beltway