CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Cities such as Asheville, Charlotte and Durham have adopted clean-energy strategies to fight climate change. Across North Carolina, however, some groups see a gap in community advocacy that they want to change.

A series of online workshops this month aims to equip residents with the knowledge they need to act on climate solutions and advocate for their region.

Eboné Lockett, founder and executive director of Harvesting Humanity, said the people affected most by climate change often aren't heard in the policy debates about problems such as more intense and frequent rainstorms, extreme heat and changes in weather patterns that impact crops.

"And if they don't understand it, and if they don't understand their role and responsibility in helping to shape and cultivate our physical and built environment," she said, "then they miss the whole idea of community, and community-centered and people-centered work."

She said the workshops will include details on North Carolina's climate and clean-energy initiatives. The next Climate Ambassadors Training will be held online next Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 12-13. Register at cleanaircarolina.org.

Former Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, director of EcoAmerica's Path to Positive Communities, said more North Carolinians are feeling the effects of climate change but might not know how to approach their local and state officials. She said she believes that when citizens have the tools to jumpstart grassroots efforts, their actions add up.

"Because everybody can play a role in climate solutions, and when that happens, we all win - because utility costs go down, costs for cities to operate go down," she said. "Our air gets healthier; our health improves."

June Blotnick, executive director of Clean Air Carolina, said the strategies for improving air quality are closely tied to climate-change solutions. She said the workshops can help people find local ways to protect the health of their families and future generations.

"We're excited to take the program statewide," she said, "and to invite people - whether they be civic leaders, whether they be stay-at-home moms or dads, business owners, anyone - to learn how climate change is impacting North Carolina."

In Charlotte, she said, a group that dubs itself the "Charlotte Mecklenburg Climate Leaders" urged the city to expand its renewable energy and cleaner public transportation efforts to meet a city goal of going "carbon-free" by 2030. As a result of the group's work, the Charlotte Area Transit System announced plans last fall to transition to electric buses.

Members of Nevada's African American community say they're channeling the spirit of Juneteenth to fight for environmental justice.

Church-affiliated groups in Las Vegas hold monthly trainings on ways to fight climate change, promoting programs to make solar panels and electric appliances more affordable. The Rev. Leonard Jackson, director of the Faith Organizing Alliance in Nevada, said it's important that low-income Nevadans benefit from big projects, such as the electric vehicle-charging network.

"We want to make sure," he said, "that it is the underserved individuals that live in these communities, that they're the ones that receive the jobs, as far as installing this equipment, as far as maintaining this equipment."

He pointed out that communities of color often suffer the most from the effects of extreme heat and drought linked to climate change, as urban neighborhoods become heat islands, choked by air pollution from cars and trucks. So, Jackson welcomes efforts to subsidize electric vehicles and put more electric buses on the streets.

Utility companies offer programs to weatherize homes, help people use less water and switch from gas to electric appliances. But Dr. Mary House, chief executive of the Las Vegas faith-based nonprofit CHR Inc., said they need to spread the word at community events.

"People don't even understand these programs and the benefits of them. because they're not going into our community," she said. "Who's going to walk them through the steps? We don't see any of that being done."

Heather McTeer Toney, vice president for community engagement at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the African American community embodies resilience.

"We can link systemic problems of race and poverty to not only environmental concerns," she said, "but also how communities have both thrived and overcome in a number of those areas."

Almeta E. Cooper, national manager for health equity with the group Moms Clean Air Force, encourages Nevadans to get involved.

"We have many projects that, once an individual connects with us, we can empower you to go further," she said, "to connect with your elected officials, to tell them what you need in your community."

Wyomingites concerned about bigger and more frequent wildfires, prolonged drought, threats to clean air, water and wildlife can explore ways to combat climate change in their own community at the Wyoming Climate Summit this Saturday in Lander.

Ariel Greene, organizing committee member for the Summit, said the climate crisis is not a hypothetical future event. In the 20th century, Lander saw an average of 17 days a year with temperatures at 90 degrees or above. The past two years saw 44 days at 90 or above.

"So these changes are already here, and they are everywhere, and they affect us all," Green asserted. "And they will be dramatically intensified in coming years if we do not mitigate their cause, which is the emission of heat-trapping gases from certain kinds of human activity."

Members of the Wind River Reservation are joining the summit, to pass along Indigenous knowledge gained by living sustainably across the Mountain West for thousands of years. The summit is free and open to the public, and will feature an electric'car show including the new Ford Mustang Mach-E. Saturday's event kicks off at 9 a.m. at the Lander Community Center.

Wyoming, long dependent on fossil fuels for jobs and tax revenues, has opposed transitioning away from coal and other greenhouse-gas producing energy sources. But Greene argued the state is uniquely positioned to play a major role in the coming zero-emission economy. Wyoming ranks 6th nationally for untapped wind-energy potential.

"We're tied, I think, for the eighth-best solar resource in the country, ahead of Florida," Greene outlined. "We have a lot of potential for geothermal power and next-generation geothermal power. We have a lot of knowledge about how to dig deep holes in the ground."

Nearly six in 10 Wyoming residents understand climate change is happening, according to Yale University analysis.

Greene believes most people just need a few tips to start creating solutions in their hometown.

"People are concerned about climate change, but are not really active in doing anything about it, and maybe don't know what to do about it," Greene noted. "We're trying to educate them about ways they can get involved."

A big rally is planned for tomorrow (Thursday) in Sacramento on issues related to climate change. Advocates will urge the California Air Resources Board to reject any expansion of natural gas plants. and urge lawmakers to pass SB 1020, which would set near-term targets for 100% renewable energy. They also want Gov. Gavin Newsom to block any future oil and gas permits. Comments from Alex Walker-Griffin, vice mayor of the Bay Area town of Hercules (HER-cue-leez); from Dan Kalb, a member of the Oakland City Council and immediate past chair of the East Bay Community Energy Board; and Marisol Rubio, vice president of the Dublin-San Ramon Water District Board.

Groups fighting the effects of climate change will gather Thursday at the state Environmental Protection Agency building in Sacramento to call for action on multiple fronts.

Protesters want the California Air Resources Board, which meets Thursday, to reject a proposed 20-year scoping plan option that would allow new gas-fired power plants in the state.

Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb said he wants Gov. Gavin Newsom to push for a swift transition away from oil and gas.

"Elected officials from up and down the state are urging our good governor to stop issuing any new permits for fossil-fuel development," he said, "and urge the passage, and then sign, SB 1020 when it gets to his desk."

Senate Bill 1020, which will be heard today in the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy, would set interim goals toward getting 100% of the state's power from renewable sources. Supporters of the oil and gas industry have said it provides thousands of jobs and should remain in California's energy portfolio.

Alex Walker-Griffin, vice mayor of the Bay Area town of Hercules, said California must keep environmental justice in mind as it transitions away from fossil fuels.

"This is an opportunity," he said, "for California to reinvent itself, where we have come together and help out some communities that have been really impacted by oil drilling, the refineries that are in their area that have polluted their neighborhoods for years and decades, and say, 'Hey, we want to do something better.'"

Marisol Rubio, vice president of the Dublin-San Ramon Water District Board, said the air pollution generated by burning oil and gas is deadly serious.

"In the U.S., air pollution kills around 100,000 people per year," she said. "Health effects from the fine particulate matter stemming from fossil-fuel combustion include aggravated asthma, respiratory infections, lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, cognitive impairment and premature death."