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Whatever your environmental concerns—be they how much it costs to gas up your car, where the energy that powers your refrigerator comes from, or whether or not that new dining room table came from a virgin forest—you can influence environmental policy at the local, state, or federal level by contacting your elected officials and urging them to support environmental policies.

In less than 20 minutes, you can pen a letter to elected officials, call your congressman, e-mail your representative, meet with your legislator face-to-face, or sign a petition for the environment. Sounds easy, but research shows that only about 7 percent of voters contact their elected officials[1]—meaning that those who do stand to have a big influence on their elected leaders. Whichever method you choose, you’ll be greening your life from the top down. And, you’ll be supporting a healthy democracy by participating in the political process and holding elected officials accountable to the ideals of their constituents.

How to urge your elected officials to support environmental policies

Find out who your elected officials are and get their contact info: While it may be hard, resist the urge to contact every elected official you can think of about a subject you are particularly passionate about. Elected leaders are more sensitive to the concerns of their own constituents. For federal legislators, if you already know who represents you, you can call the US Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 locally or toll-free at 1-800-962-3524, and ask for a particular legislator; or check out the Senate’s list of senators-by-state or the House’s Representative look-up webpage.[2] For state and local representatives, or if you are unsure who represents you, find out whom to contact and how to reach them by checking out these helpful sites:

• Congress.org - My Elected Officials: Enter your zip code in the search bar on the upper left of the page to find your federal, state, and local officials.
• League of Women Voters - Elected Officials: Find elected officials, including the president, members of Congress, governors, state legislators, local officials, and more.
• Project Vote Smart - Find Your Representative: Search by name or zip code to find federal and state officials, as well as candidates in upcoming elections in your area. In addition to contact info, you can find biographical information, voting records, issue positions, interest group ratings, public statements, and campaign finance records.
• United Way - Find Your Elected Officials: Find local elected officials in your municipality through a zip code search, as well as federal and state leaders and candidates for office.
• USA.gov - Contact Elected Officials: Provides addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses for the president, US senators and representatives, state governors, and state legislators. If you’re not sure who represents you, in the US House or in your own state, you can search by zip code.

Choose what form of communication is best: When choosing how you’ll contact your elected officials, factors like how much time you have, what mode you’re most comfortable with, what methods you have access to, and which methods are the most effective all come into play. There is some debate about which method of contacting your electing official is the most effective. (See Controversies below) but generally speaking, the more personal the better. So, a visit to an official's office or a handwritten letter will be given more weight than a form letter or e-mail.[3]

Learn the basics: There are a few simple guidelines to follow whenever you contact your elected officials, regardless of the method of communication you choose:

• Keep it short. In person, on paper, on the phone, or through the ether, make your point quickly and convincingly. Phone calls or visits need not take more than a few minutes, and you should be able to write the recommended one-page letter or e-mail in about 20 minutes.
• Address the elected official appropriately. If you choose a form of written communication, address the letter correctly.[4] If you are calling on the phone, address the legislator by title: Senator, Representative, Governor, Mayor, Councilman, etc…
• Always give your complete contact information, including your name, address, phone number, and, in the case of online exchanges, your e-mail address.
• If you have professional credentials or are a member of an organization related to the issue you are calling about, say so. For example, if you are calling about protecting your local municipal drinking water supply, let them know that you are a member of Clean Water Action.
• Be courteous, respectful, and polite. Never use vulgarity or profanity, and never make threats.
• Be direct. State clearly the purpose of the communiqué. If you are contacting an official in reference to a specific bill, identify it by bill number or name. State what action you would like to be taken clearly and directly. (For example: “I urge you to vote yes on HB 1234, the Bottle Bill.”)
• Provide specific information about how the issue affects you and use specific evidence to support your argument.
• Always thank the official for their time and for their support of your issue when closing. Let them know that you look forward to seeing how they vote on the issue.[5]
• Ask for a response to your communiqué.

Additional tips for writing a letter: Make your letter as personal as possible. If possible, write your own letter. If you write legibly enough to pull it off, consider handwriting the letter for an added personal touch.

You can also send form letters provided by organizations and websites. Form letters are already written for you; all you have to do is sign and send. If you can, though, give the form letter a personal flair by adding in your own thoughts and experiences throughout. A 2004 study by Congressional Management Foundation reported that a mere 3 percent of congressional staff say identical form letters sent via snail mail or e-mail would have “a lot” of influence on their Congress member if he or she had not reached a decision; 44 percent said that individualized postal letters would have “a lot” of influence.[6] Of course, if you're pressed for time or not comfortable doctoring up a form letter, it's okay to rely on the form letter as is: a form letter is always better than no letter at all!

Additional tips for making a phone call: Phone calls are a good choice when you’re concerned about imminent policy considerations, as they convey a sense of urgency that letters and e-mails cannot and you can be sure that your message has been received immediately. Calls made to elected officials are tallied to gauge public sentiment in the district.[7]

When you’re ready to pick up the phone, call the official’s office and ask to speak to him or her directly. If they are unavailable, ask to speak to the staff person who deals with the issue you’re calling about. If that is not possible, leave your message with the person who answered the phone. It's rare that you will actually get to speak directly with the official you are contacting, but always make the request.[5]

It may also be a good idea to follow up your phone call with a letter, restating your position, thanking the reader again for their attention, and including additional details and support for your position.[8]

Additional tips for visiting an elected leaders’ office: According to Beverly Bell, executive director of the Congressional Management Foundation, a face-to-face meeting with your elected official, arranged by a member of his or her staff, is the most effective way to be heard. Local officials have offices, well, locally, so you won't have to go far to get face time with them. But even federal legislators have home offices where at least one key staff member is always available, so there's no need to take the kids to DC for the weekend to make your voice heard.

To set up a meeting, call the elected official’s office to arrange a time to meet. Specify what topic you would like to discuss and inquire as to whether the meeting will be with the official or a staff member. Prepare for the meeting by clarifying your position and rounding up resources to support your argument. Then, armed with this informational back-up, show up on time![9]

Take action online: Ready to take action, but not sure what specific action to urge your leaders to take? Many environmental organizations provide e-mail action alerts. Once you sign up, they'll send you an e-mail every so often (some are weekly, some bi-weekly) letting you know what actions they are currently demanding from elected officials. You can join in their campaign by signing and sending along the message they send to you, or you can write your own letter or e-mail to the targeted lawmaker, using their alert as a template if you wish. Some organizations also send around petitions asking you to sign onto a cause, rather than requesting that you write your own letter or e-mail.

To sign up, check out these action alerts lists, or check into your favorite local environmental group and see if they offer a similar service:

• Environmental Defense Fund Action Network
• Global Response Action Alerts
• World Wildlife Fund E-mail Updates
• Earth Justice Action Alerts
• Environmental Action Action Alerts
• Sierra Club Insider
• Natural Resources Defense Council Activist Network
• Environment America E-mail Alerts
• Clean Water Action's E-mail Activist List
• Environmental Working Group Action Alerts

You can also sign petitions online. Several websites ask only that you enter your name and basic contact information to a growing online list of folks like you who want to see elected officials take action specific environmental issues. Check out:

• Care2 Petition Site Sign an existing petition on an array of environmental issues, or start your own.
• Petition Online Free online hosting of public petitions for environmental policies and other issues.
• Stop Global Warming.org Join a "virtual march" calling for action on climate change.
• We Can Solve It An online petition urging adoption of an international agreement on the climate crisis.

Guides and sample communications for contacting electing officials. Still want to learn more? The links below will offer more tips and give you some examples to rehearse with:

• The American Civil Liberties Union - Writing Elected Officials
• American Civil Liberties Union - Tips on Meeting with Your Elected Officials
• The National Center For Public Policy Research - How to Make Your Letters to Capitol Hill Count
• 2020 Vision - Writing letters and e-mails
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) - Letter Writing Guide
• Global Response - Letter Writing Tips
• American Wind Energy Association - Sample Letters
• Tennessee Environmental Council - Contact Elected Officials (scroll down to see sample letters or e-mails)
• Congress.org - Tips on Telephoning Your Elected Representatives
• Union of Concerned Scientists - Stop Aquatic Invasive Species Sample Phone Call
• Natural Resources Defense Council - Action Tips and Tools - Communication Tips

Urging your elected officials to support environmental policies helps you go green because...

• You can help get laws passed—on the national, regional, or local level—that will protect and clean up the environment.

Congress received 200 million letters, e-mails, and phone calls in 2004, four times more than were received in 1995.[10] Contacting elected officials can guide policy decisions. For example, in 2006, when an estimated 4,800 Pennsylvanians commented in support of the state's proposed Clean Vehicles Program and nearly 11,000 Pennsylvanians commented in support of Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed mercury reduction rule, the Legislature dropped efforts to block implementation of the two programs. The monumental victory will reduce mercury emissions from Pennsylvania's coal-fired power plants 90 percent by 2015, and reduce annual emissions of smog-forming pollutants from cars and trucks by 10 percent by 2025.[11]

According to research by the Congressional Management Foundation, constituents who write to their elected officials tend to have disproportionate political influence in their communities because of their political activity: compared to the general public, they are six times more likely to belong to a policy advocacy group or to attend a political event, such as a speech or rally; three times more likely to write a letter to the editor or an op-ed for a magazine or newspaper; and four times as likely to work for a political party.[12]

As stated by Rep. Elizabeth Furse of Oregon's First Congressional District: "Now, more than ever, what we in Congress need is plain old grassroots pressure—letters, phone calls, and personal visits from constituents. My colleagues in Congress are not hearing enough from concerned citizens who want to promote peace and protect the environment."[3]

Controversies

There are mixed reports as to which method of correspondence is the most effective. With a focus on keeping your message personal, traditional prioritization of communication methods, from most effective to least, is:

1. A visit to the legislator’s office in person
2. A handwritten personal letter
3. A personally typed letter
4. A phone call to a key staffer in the office
5. A phone call to the reception staffers in the office
6. A personally written fax
7. A form letter or fax
8. A personally written e-mail
9. A form e-mail[2]

But as the Internet is used more and more as a way to participate in the political process (of the more than 200 million communications Congress received in 2004, about 180 million of them were e-mails), and with 9/11 and the 2001 anthrax scare leading to increased screening and scrutiny of postal mail, perceptions as to the value of e-mail have begun to shift, leading some elected officials to choose it as their preferred method of keeping in touch with constituents.[9]

While this increased use of the Internet seems to be causing elected leaders to consider a more serious medium for communication, it has also created an atmosphere wherein staff in charge of receiving, sorting, and responding to messages are more harried then ever. According to the New York Times, legislative staff members receive as many as 5,000 e-mail messages per week, many of them from advertisers and non-constituents. Due to this rapid influx of e-mail, some lawmakers may not accept e-mails, and those that do may not receive your message in a timely fashion.[13]

Another delay in communication may result from the rigorous screening process for postal mail to elected officials. Some reports claim that with these security measures, a mailed letter can take up to three months to actually reach the intended legislator or a staffer,[2] while more modest estimates say that delivery may be delayed for as much as two weeks.[9] Security screenings will affect the time it takes your letter to reach federal lawmakers more so than for local and state officials.[2]

External Links

• All At Once An online social action network where you can discuss environmental concerns and get involved with groups and in actions to protect the environment.
• American Civil Liberties Union - Becoming an Effective and Efficient Activist
• Citizens for Global Solutions - Complete Activist Toolkit
• Empowerment Zone - Lobbying
• Hearts and Minds - How To Lobby Your Elected Officials
• The Student PIRGS - Activist Toolkit
• Union of Concerned Scientists - How to Write an Effective Letter to Your Policy Maker
• World Wildlife Fund - Your Tips and Toolkit
• State Civics Toolbox - Addressing State Political Leaders In Correspondence This website is written for citizens of Connecticut, but the information can be applied no matter where you live.