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.

SEATTLE - Democrats in Congress are aiming to have legislation passed by the end of September that could have big implications for the climate.

Congress is debating what to include in a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill. Sen. Patty Murray - D-Wash - praised the state's action to move toward 100% clean energy by 2045, but said more needs to be done to address climate change.

"We cannot ignore this," said Murray. "Washington state has taken some great steps forward, but this is going to take a national step forward on this, and we've got to be part of it."

The Senate already has passed a bipartisan, $1 trillion infrastructure bill that includes action on climate change as well. Progressive members of the House have tied the bill to the budget reconciliation measure, saying they won't agree to pass one without the other.

The reconciliation bill needs only a simple majority in the Senate to pass, but some moderate Democrats - in both House and Senate - have balked at its price tag.

One key climate action in the budget bill is the Clean Electricity Energy Program, which would create incentives for utility companies to transition to clean energy with federal investments over the next decade. Murray said she sees it as a critical part of the bill.

"We need this historic clean-energy payment program that will really move us to reducing carbon emissions," said Murray. "That's the key, essential goal we have to meet in order to change the actions of what climate is happening to us."

One analysis found the program could add nearly 8 million jobs over the next decade. Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat still on the fence about the reconciliation bill, wants to slow the proposed rate at which utilities are required to make the clean-energy transition.

Nonetheless, Murray said action on climate change must happen soon.

"Every day we delay, every month we delay, every year we delay is much more expensive and hard-to-do changes we need to make to meet the urgencies of this time," said Murray.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Climate activists are praising Gov. Gavin Newsom for signing a $15 billion climate action package Thursday, but argued he should go one step further, and declare an official "climate emergency" in California.

The bills will fund projects to build up wildfire resilience and combat the drought.

Heidi Harmon, former mayor of San Luis Obispo, said the state needs to think even bigger.

"People in the state of California and everywhere will not do small things for small goals, but they will do big things for big goals," Harmon asserted. "And California is a big vision state."

The package also includes money to plant more trees in cities to combat the heat island effect and improve air quality. It would also fund so-called "smart agriculture" projects, and put more zero-emission vehicles on the road. Newsom said the investment is the largest in state history.

Paul Koretz, member of the Los Angeles City Council, thinks it does not go far enough, given the immediate threats climate change poses in terms of drought, wildfires and sea-level rise.

"We need to halt the permitting of oil and gas operations," Koretz contended. "We need to phase out the sale of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles as soon as possible. Right away wouldn't be too soon."

Advocates are also calling on the state to allow more prescribed burns on Native American reservations, in order to reduce the buildup of dead trees and brush that increases the fuel load and leads to megafires.

DULUTH, Minn. - As Minnesota looks to address the impact of climate change on the region, land managers and policymakers are reminded of the role nature can play. They're being urged to use a new tool that shows the range in which forests can capture and store carbon emissions.

In recent years, The Nature Conservancy has offered an interactive online map that shows which lands are more resilient to climate change. Now, that same tool can show which areas are well-suited to absorb carbon-dioxide floating through the atmosphere.

The Climate Change Director for The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota - Meredith Cornett - said Minnesota's forests are capable of removing 487 million metric tons of C02 over the next 30 years.

"That's a number that may not mean a lot to a lot of us," said Cornett. "So we have something called a carbon dioxide - an emissions equivalency. So that is equivalent of 3.6 million cars. "

She said taking the equivalent of those gas-powered cars off the road each year can only happen if the forests remain in their current form.

The group says potential roadblocks include wildfires and forest management that doesn't prioritize ecological thinning and prescribed burning.

Minnesota's forest cover has gone from more than 30 million acres down to 17 million over the past 150 years. But the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' State Forest Action plan notes there's been an uptick in acreage over the past decade.

Cornett applauded some of the progress in planting seedlings in forests after they've been harvested, including climate-resilient species. But she said Minnesota can't afford to slow down.

"We will need to really ramp up nursery production and wild-seed collection in order to make that possible," said Cornett.

She referred to a specific goal from the group that calls for one million acres in reforestation in Minnesota by the year 2040.

As the for the carbon tool, the Nature Conservancy says it can measure "capture potential" on lands as small as one quarter of an acre, adding that could be helpful for policymakers as they develop conservation plans.