Usually a beehive of well-dressed, black-berried staffers, reporters and lobbyists, Capitol Hill was noticeably calmer last week. Many Congressional staffers came to work in jeans, flip flops and other small but significant signals that August recess is upon us.

Amid this calm before the storm of the fall legislative calendar, one drumbeat was consistent as I visited office after office last week in my role as policy advisor for climate change for The Wilderness Society: the phones have not stopped ringing.