On the pod with a productive plan 🎙️
Climate Changemakers
A modern climate advocacy network equipping busy productive people to advocate for systems-level U.S. climate solutions.
The election cycle can feel overwhelming for someone who is climate-concerned, but not deeply political enough to know where and how to plug in.
If you have time to contribute, what should you do?
If you have money to give, where should it go?
I answered these questions in a new episode of the My Climate Journey (MCJ) podcast, alongside Tiernan Sittenfeld of League of Conservation Voters and Caroline Spears of Climate Cabinet Action . Cody Simms , my fellow Climate Changemakers co-founder, hosted our wide-ranging and fun conversation. Listen here (it just came out yesterday!).
Climate may not have taken center stage during last week's presidential debate, but the climate consequences of this year's election outcomes will reverberate for generations (more on this from Bill Mckibben, below). That's why it's so important to take climate-flavored action ahead of the election—it strengthens the political power of the entire climate movement (more on this below in our new blog post).
Truly, everything is at stake for climate, and our strategy of focusing on nested opportunities with multiple highly competitive races that feature climate candidates is an effective approach to electing climate champions up and down the ballot (more on this in the new Strategy Briefing below).
Climate action is a marathon, but this fall we're in a mini-sprint to put the right people in office who will influence all of our climate advocacy work ahead.
And speaking of the work ahead, the Climate Changemakers team is so thrilled to welcome H. Mwandeyi Kamwendo Mwan Kamwendo, our new Organizing Manager who has jumped right into the action with a big smile. Please join me in welcoming Mwan to the team; I can't wait for you to meet her.
Let's do this, team!
Eliza Nemser, PhD , Executive Director & co-founder
NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS
STRATEGY BRIEFING 🎬 Featured action: watch this!
Watch the video from Madeline, a 10-minute take on the full Strategy Briefing, then make your fall plans during this week's kickoff events.
THIS WEEK 🗓️ Hours of Action this week
Climate Changemakers' 60-minute action meetups provide a clear path to purposeful action. Get in, get out, get on with your week. No prep needed! Just RSVP and show up—the host will have everything you need. See all events.
☎️ NEW: Weekly phone banking every Thursday morning in partnership with the Environmental Voter Project (EVP). Curious about hosting? Let's chat! Email hello@climatechangemakers.org
Recommended by LinkedIn
ADVOCACY 101 🌿 NEW: Why climate-flavored action is important ahead of elections
We’re issue-driven but solutions-focused. As long as the people elect Harris-Walz and other climate champions in November, the how-we-get-there is secondary—or is it? Winning on climate and winning for climate are distinct voter mobilization theories. Here's why taking action with climate and environmental organizations is doubly important, and powerful, during election season.
STAFF NEWS 🤗 Welcome to the team, Mwan!
We are so thrilled to welcome Climate Changemakers' new Organizing Manager, H. Mwandeyi Kamwendo to the staff team! She is passionate about advocacy and driven by collective care, collective action, and strategic movement-building that centers impacted communities. She becomes the 4th staff member and the primary organizer for Climate Changemakers' team of volunteer leaders and growing network of changemakers.
See our full team and say hello to Mwan in Slack!
Note that Gabrielle Jorgensen, a co-founder and previously Advocacy Director, has moved on to a role in the private sector, but will still be highly involved as the newest member of our Advisory Board. Not a goodbye!
Climate Changemakers is the most robust climate action hub on the internet. The staff team, free organizer toolkits, and all online resources are 100% powered by incredible donors, strategic grants, and Power Circle supporters. Learn more here.
2024 ELECTION STAKES 🌎 If Trump wins the election, this is what's at stake – Bill McKibben
"It lays out in loving detail [how to] bolster oil, gas and coal while sidetracking sun and wind... He has also – chef’s kiss – promised to close down [NOAA], otherwise known as the people who measure how much the temperature is rising... a victory for Donald Trump in November... could lead to an additional 4bn tonnes of US emissions by 2030 [causing] global climate damages worth more than $900bn..." – Bill McKibben, The Guardian.
GOOD CLIMATE NEWS 🎉 Rural utilities: coal to clean energy
An Inflation Reduction Act program just launched to help rural utilities move from coal to clean energy. This program is $7.3 billion of investments meant to help cover the upfront costs of the transition, since limited financing options have (until now) prevented ‘rural electric co-ops’ from making the switch. Read more.
Policy starts at the polls! This story was made possible because we elected a pro-climate-action Congress in 2020 and they passed the IRA, the most ambitious climate law in US history. We need to amplify on-the-ground climate progress like this so voters know what's at stake. Here's how. This is exactly how policy starts at the polls.
MONDAY MOTIVATION 💬
"...We're not messing around when we're saying these are competitive races... a great climate champion is running it in a district that – this number is never going to leave my brain – went by a margin of 333 votes... 333 votes. I mean, that's a true invitation. I hope that lands as an invitation because every single thing we do matters in these races." – Eliza Nemser, MCJ Podcast's Election Special: Climate Action at the Ballot Box
Copyright © 2024 Climate Changemakers, All rights reserved.