On writing to reps about climate change

02 Aug 2006

Got questions about the environment? Ask Umbra.

Dear Umbra,

I want to send a letter to my local representatives about global warming and how our whole city and state should take part in stopping it, but I don't know what to say or how to approach this. Please help!

Hillary Schwartz
Birmingham, Ala.

Ask Umbra continues below

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Dearest Hillary,

Hmm, I can think of a few things to say. But you might get escorted out of Alabama if you put them in a letter.

Post haste.

Photo: iStockphoto

So on to more constructive advice. First, some general tips. A handwritten or typed letter is more effective (and prettier) than email. It's best to keep to one page, and to be clear about who you are and the issue that concerns you. Don't be afraid to get personal -- not in the "your mama's a yellowhammer" way, but in the "here's why I'm worried, and here's why I won't vote for you again unless you do something about this" way. With the election coming up this fall, that last part might carry a wee bit more weight than usual.

Since you have limited space, focus on how this gigantic global problem will hit home. (I am going to give 'Bama-specific info here, but take heart, ye letter-writers in other states: oddly specific factoids abound.) According to our friends at the Union of Concerned Scientists, sea levels on the Alabama coast could rise 15 inches by 2100, and extreme weather events may become more frequent and more intense. The EPA tells us [PDF] that protecting Alabama's coast could cost $60 million to $220 million, and that climate change could increase asthma-causing ground-level ozone -- which has long been a fly in Birmingham's ointment. And the National Wildlife Federation thinks changes in Alabama's habitats could have a significant impact [PDF] on your lucrative fishing and tourism industries. Tourism, by the way, supports about 148,000 jobs down there -- perhaps even your own. There's a chance to insert that personal touch we talked about.

It doesn't look like anyone from 'Bama has seen fit to join the emissions-reducing U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement -- which is a shame, since 275 mayors representing 48.2 million Americans have. Maybe your mayor would like to be the first in the state! Your senators also do not appear to be climate all-stars, as they have recently voiced support for offshore oil drilling and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling. You'll want to check out where your local representatives stand -- your state conservation voting league is a good place to start -- but I'm getting a funny feeling about your odds.

Still, it can only help matters if these folks hear from you. The tide is turning on climate change, and many politicians are beginning to understand the need to take some kind of action.

Here's a nice, juicy quote that might help more than any factoid could, something ecologist Pat Byington of your Environmental Management Commission told the Birmingham Times a couple of weeks ago: "This is a moral issue. It's something we all should be concerned about. We should all try to understand it." Indeed.

Dixily,
Umbra

Yours is to wonder why, hers is to answer (or try). Please send Umbra any nagging question pertaining to the environment -- but first check out her FAQs!

The claims made in this column may not reflect the views of this magazine. Neither the magazine nor the author guarantees that any advice contained in this column is wise or safe. Please use this column at your own risk.

Umbra Fisk is Grist Research Associate II, Hardcover and Periodicals Unit, floors 2B-4B.

Comments: (7 comments)

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To Sir, via surface mail?

Umbra says a nice typed or handwritten letter carries more weight than e-mail. I always used to send mine off with a pretty stamp.

But since 2001 I have heard that letters sent to The Government in Washington, DC are inspected, disinfected, examined, and detoxified so thoroughly that they may never arrive, or may be reduced to an illegible, melted, soggy mass that is useless for communication.

Please let us know. My pretty stamps would love to fly to Congress.

by RachelFindley at 1:53 PM on 02 Aug 2006

Good resources!

Thanks for the great resources, especially the Union of Concerned Scientists. Also, for anyone who is willing to do a little more research, the USGS has some pretty useful and incontrovertible info to use as talking points in a letter.

http://groxie.com DIY Environmentalism

by Heidi at 5:12 PM on 02 Aug 2006

Getting the language right

We've spent the last four years working on how to communicate sustainable development issues, especially climate change more effectively. Please, please, please read our 'Rules of the Game' publication (http://www.futerra.co.uk/downloads/RulesOfTheGame.pdf)

It's a distillation of a good few feet of research papers on how to communicate climate change and environmental issues. It was the foundation of the UK government's climate change communications strategy.

David Willans Consultant Futerra Sustainability Communications Ltd

by davidwill at 2:13 AM on 03 Aug 2006

Postcards are cool

Handwritten (readable please, print if necessary!)postcards have a number of virtues for communicating with electeds.

they force you to be short and get to the point.
they bypass all the security nonsense.
a pretty or interesting postcard--especially of something in the elected's district or state--is nearly irresistable. They stand out in a pile of letters like a flower in a desert.
they are so quick to read that they actually do get read.
they make the flunky who must read and sort the mail's job much easier; anything that makes their life easier enhances the reception for your message.
they are cheaper than mail in envelopes.

They may also use fewer resources compared to the typical letter+envelope+fuel (weight), but it's not clear (depends on the printing on the picture side).

The 5% Project

by JMG at 6:50 AM on 03 Aug 2006

Newspapers

See also the practice of writing letters to the editor in your local newspapers. Although they aren't nearly as high tech or cool as yaking on blogs, a lot of the political establishment still works by them as a way to guage citizen's interests. Or so I've heard. Plus, if you get your letter published, you've already passed the test of someone (the newspaper editor) thinking you aren't crazy, which makes more people pay more attention to your words. Best of luck.

by Peter O at 7:44 AM on 03 Aug 2006

in the meantime

Umbra, as always, thanks for the GREAT resources. I also love the Lulu reference! While concerned citizens are waiting for their suggestions to be incorporated into the legislative process, they can also look into renewable energy options to power their homes or businesses. Choosing renewable energy such as wind or solar power is a simple and inexpensive way to do something about climate change. It's also available to everyone in the U.S. regardless of whether your state is blue or red.

When you sign up with a renewable energy provider, they will give you tangible examples of what your purchase did in terms of how many tons of Greenhouse gas emissions were avoided or that your purchase of renewable energy certificates was equivalent to taking a certain number of cars off the road for a whole year. You get tangible results normally within a week that show what you did to mitigate the risks of climate change. My experience was that it was more gratifying then the standard form letter I received back from my representative.

Green-e (www.green-e.org) is a good resource for renewable energy options in the U.S.

by sarahkrasley at 1:21 PM on 04 Aug 2006

ain't democracy great

Here on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, one of the bluest districts in all the land, it is generally unnecessary to direct our Senators and Representatives how to vote. Probably it helps to remind them what the issues are, though. And to thank them afterwards for voting as they did.

Still, we must always remain cynical. Even here, environmentalist issues are not at the top of the list. Given the world petroleum situation, I suspect they are all ready to give up ANWR before long. But how could our counter-vote then punish them?

Alabama is rough: Can you unite pro-environment, anti-drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, pro-Ten Commandments, anti-manatee abuse, in one package?

Letters in the swing states and districts apparently still matter the most.

God knows what Lieberman's re-chivalry is going to amount to. May God direct the voters of Connecticut to write the right letters, to the right people!

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 12:13 PM on 09 Aug 2006

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To Sir, with Exasperation

On writing to reps about climate change