Source: Yale Climate Connections

Excerpt:

Climate policy is an important tool in tackling climate change. And you don’t need to be an elected official to get involved — you can make an impact just by talking to one. By lobbying your federal, state, or local representatives, everyday citizens can help advance climate legislation, one informed and well-organized conversation at a time. 

To lobby means to seek to influence; in the case of climate lobbying, your goal might be to explain why you think your representative should support a climate-related bill targeting anything from pollution reductions to clean infrastructure.

Formal training is not a prerequisite to lobbying, but some expert guidance can help. So we requested pro tips from nonprofit Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s Danielle Whyte, who regularly trains volunteers on how to talk to their members of Congress. And to get perspective from the other side of the lobbying table, we asked former California Assembly member and Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson for her insights, too. 

Read more: 13 tips for lobbying your elected officials about climate change