Grassroots Climate Impacts Part 1
Speak Up for Environmental Policies
We all care about clean water to drink, clean air to breath, and healthy soil to grow our food and live on. We also care about clean lakes & rivers to fish, boat and paddle on with abundant aquatic life; vibrant forests where we can hike, bike, camp, & hunt; lakes that freeze over again in the winter for skating, ice fishing and hockey; snowy mountains in the winter where we can ski, snowshoe and snowmobile; and so many more things. We must find that common thread that unites us and weaves us into the fabric of society and work to address that together.
Talk to People: According to Yale University's Climate Opinion Maps (YCOM) 63% of the people in the US are concerned with climate change but only 36% talk about it. That's why folks are so anxious! Know that you're not alone and talk to people about it. Talk to your friends, talk to your family, and talk to your elected officials. Most are probably more receptive than you think, and I realize that every day when I bring up climate topics with people whose position I don’t know.
Engage Locally: Participate in local events with environmental nonprofits and tell your legislators what actions you demand. There are so many to engage with including state chapters of organizations like Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, and The Nature Conservancy, as well as regional organizations like Appalachian Mountain Club, and local ones like Save the Sound, People’s Action for Clean Energy (PACE), and Connecticut Land Conservation Council here in CT as examples. In the comments share some of your favorite organizations for us all to learn about.
Get to Know Your Legislators: My state and federal legislators know me by name because I’m regularly communicating with them about topics I care about, and I watch their votes on those topics to give them feedback. I haven’t won them all over yet, but we keep having productive conversations and that’s all I can ask of them. Okay, for some, maybe just their staff knows me by name. :-)
Vote: Vote, Vote, VOTE! Support candidates whose policies and platforms prioritize climate action, we can’t do this with just individual efforts, we need legislation & governments to make big changes. Changes like converting to a 100% clean & renewable energy grid won’t happen without legislative change. YCOM's survey also shows that 66% of the US supports transitioning to a clean, renewable energy grid by 2050 and 75% support tax rebates for energy efficiency improvements! Legislators won’t know this unless you tell them. All they’ll hear are the corporate windbags telling them those are bad and unpopular policies. Statistics show that if 5-10 people call a legislator on a topic it will impact their position so let’s make sure we’re impacting their position in our direction.
Take the time to learn the facts about environmental issues globally, nationally and locally. Here in CT, coastal residents are hit hard every year by intense storms, storm surges, and flooding from high-high tides on sunny days. Last year alone in CT we had a devastating inland flood in my home region that dumped 15” of rain in 24 hours, a state-wide historic drought with wildfires across the state last fall, and a storm with golf ball sized hail that wiped out crops on numerous farms. None of those disasters were normal in this region in the past, but they are no longer aberrations. They are the new normal. Educate others about the importance of environmental conservation and encourage them to act too. The more people understand the impact of their actions, the more likely they are to make sustainable choices.