Since our federal government is not yet doing enough to protect us from climate and ecological breakdown, we can work at the town, city, and state level. Here are some resources to get you started:
Ask Climate Mobilization for support.
The Green Neighbor Challenge can help you and your neighbors find clean energy options near you.
A step-by-step guide from the EPA to help local governments plan, implement, and evaluate climate, energy, and sustainability projects and programs.
Check out Winchester, MA basic climate plan.
Check out Denton, Texas Adopts 100% Renewable Energy Goal by 2022.
Ideas for Activism
Aim for your actions to inconvenience and “punch up” at the bad players like fossil fuel execs, inactive politicians, bankers, CEOs, the very wealthy, top 1% and not down onto people of color, working class, and other marginalized persons and communities.
Utilize nonviolent disruptive action, including street theater, road blocking, and other performative and disruptive actions like the Red Rebel Brigade
Post to social media and plan twitter/social media storms to demand that government and corporations take serious action on the climate emergency
Campaign for politicians committed to taking climate action
Hand out informative flyers
Create signs and banners about the climate emergency
Create petitions and draft bills at the town, state, and national level to help move the grid to renewable energy
Join seminars led by other climate groups
Join seminars led by indigenous people and organizations
Raise awareness about dangerous banks and investors like JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Blackrock, and some Vanguard portfolios. Encourage people to move money away from companies that deforest, pollute, or fund fossil fuel projects. Stop the Money Pipeline can support you with this.
Pressure colleges and universities to divest from fossil fuels.
Pressure energy companies like Eversource, National Grid, and Enbridge to rapidly transition to renewables like solar, heat pumps, and geothermal.
Work with your local Municipal Light Plant. Municipal light plants are locally owned utilities and are all about local control. Residents can demand a transition to renewable sources of energy.
Hunger strikes
Pressure meteorologists to cover the link between weather events and human caused climate change
198 Methods of Nonviolent Action – Albert Einstein Institution
Check out Resources for more ideas
Here are a few action toolkits.
In a new video out today, Portland organizer Alicia Cohen shares the devastation caused by wildfires, and her fears for her family’s future. She has an ask for every one of us: Get our cities to declare a Climate Emergency. - The Climate Mobilization
Climate Mobilization’s comprehensive new Organizer Toolkit. They offer a step by step blueprint for people and organizations to get their communities involved by passing Climate Emergency Declarations, and follow-up policies (Climate Emergency Programs). Whether you’re an individual, or part of a local climate group, this new resource makes it easy to move your community into emergency mode on climate. Watch the toolkit launch webinar to learn more!