My primary project at ClimateVoice was to help with the update of the 2022 policy guide, which provides resources to businesses and companies to allow them to more easily contribute directly to climate action and environmental justice efforts. It will include details about the business case for climate action, reasons for employees to care about climate action, issues currently holding companies back from taking effective action, a list of pro-climate policies, and how companies can center their efforts around justice and equity. It will be released as part of NYC Climate Week September from 19 to 25. The mission of the organization is to mobilize the voice of the workforce to urge companies to go “all in” on climate, in both business practices and policy advocacy. This policy guide helps to bridge the gap between inaction and action and provides readily-available resources and information that can be used by executives and employees to help further climate action and policy. This is the second version of the policy guide — it will continue to evolve to fit changing climate and business contexts, with updates roughly every year and a half.

The climate and society program is split roughly 50/50 between the scientific basis for climate change and knowledge around the social science aspects of climate change, including policy, advocacy, and communications. I was able to use my knowledge of the social and business side of climate science and issues from several of my elective courses. Social Impacts: Business, Society, and the National Environment by Professor Caroline Flammer helped me to get a general understanding of ESG issues and how businesses and corporations can balance social and environmental outcomes with their operations. I also took a course called Climate Change Law with Professor Michael Gerrard, which helped me to better understand the legal context of how to enact positive climate legislation, and the role that lobbyists and businesses can play in successes or failures. This knowledge was vital when my work pivoted to focus on analyzing social media for information and disinformation on the Inflation Reduction Act, and how we could best support programming and other actions to help ensure the passage of the legislation.

It took me a while to adjust to being (essentially) fully remote, although I did meet my main supervisor in Brooklyn several times. I also had some challenges adapting to the new contexts of the conversations and the fast-paced nature of some of the coalition calls at the beginning of my internship. However, I think this is natural for almost all new employees. I felt pretty comfortable and heavily invested in our work topics, as well as our partnerships in trying to push out significant climate information and policy. As I became more comfortable, I built good working relationships with my five coworkers and the founder Bill Weihl, who I feel comfortable reaching out to in the future.

I am going to base my takeaways on my different work topics. The policy guide brief was interesting and certainly an important resource, however, its implementation will certainly be challenging. However, it is definitely a step in the right direction and has the potential to be very effective. I conducted ad hoc research into corporate-political donor and influence connections. This was a very interesting experience for me in that it provided me with insight into nonprofit fundraising and some of the top foundations that fund them. By attending coalition meetings, I gained valuable insight into ClimateVoice and their partner organizations’ strategizing and communications. I was very impressed with the space and our various theories of change. I would like to return to this work space at some point in my career. Lastly, I was able to gain valuable insight into the processes and internal workings and distribution of information that go alongside the announcement of a proposed federal climate law and the steps to ensure its passing (however, the Inflation Reduction Act was on an expedited timeline). This provided me with hope as I now better understand how all positive climate actors, politicians, and organizations can work alongside to push forward and succeed in creating dynamic and valuable climate policies that can help us reach our emissions reductions and climate justice goals.