QUICK ACTION PLAYBOOK
Advocate for federally funded
climate programs in your state
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Urge your state legislator to champion your state’s application for the federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program.
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Find contact info
Send an email
Share on LinkedIn
1. Find your state legislators’ contact information
Every American is represented by at least one elected official in their state’s legislative (lawmaking) branch. For this action, you’ll need to find email addresses, phone numbers, and social media handles for your state legislators.
Start by clicking here and entering your home address.
Choose “State Officials” and expand the results. Locate your:
state senator(s) and
state representative (also called state assemblymember or delegate – the names differ by state).
You’ll find all the necessary contact information nested under each elected official’s name.
2. Send personalized emails to your state legislators
It’s important to personalize your emails to lawmakers. Not only are personalized emails more attention-grabbing, they are processed individually rather than being batched with other identical letters as a single correspondence.
Open a blank email, then copy/paste and edit the template below. You can use the same email copy for each legislator but send them as separate emails. Please bcc advocacy@climatechangemakers.org on every message so we can track our impact.
Make sure to customize the sections in brackets and carry over any links (they’re an important part of your message!), and save a copy of your email to use as a phone script. Once you’ve hit send (🎉), return here to this playbook.
Click to populate a new email or copy/paste a template below.
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SUBJECT: Help champion ambitious climate programs
add bcc: advocacy@climatechangemakers.org
Dear [STATE LEGISLATOR],
My name is [NAME], your constituent in [CITY/TOWN], reaching out to discuss the tremendous opportunity presented by the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants. As you might be aware, the EPA is offering $4.6 billion to state and local governments to deploy clean energy, reduce emissions, and advance environmental justice. But in order to take advantage of the grants, states have to apply. Your advocacy to the state energy office is essential to ensuring we get the funding we need.
Seizing this opportunity is crucial. [YOUR STATE] stands to benefit immensely from submitting an ambitious decarbonization proposal that 1) is broad in scope, 2) fosters public engagement, and 3) creates new economic potential, especially for the low-income and disadvantaged segments of our community. [INSERT A SENTENCE ABOUT WHY YOU CARE].
The range of initiatives supported by these grants extends across various sectors—from zero-emissions transportation and clean energy, to advanced building infrastructure and industrial practices. Such a holistic approach ensures we address every facet of our economy in the fight against climate change. The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants are maximally effective when they’re stacked with other federal incentives, making a comprehensive and well-researched application all the more essential.
We have until April 1, 2024 to submit the full application. I urge you to use your platform to champion our state's application to the CPRG program, ensuring that we capitalize on this opportunity. I’ve linked a compilation of resources that may be helpful to our state agencies as they assemble the application.
Thank you for your commitment to our community. I look forward to seeing our state take a step toward a clean energy future. [IF YOU’RE COMFORTABLE: I’m happy to discuss this further over a phone call or coffee].
Sincerely,
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These four states chose to forgo eligibility for the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants competition. Use this alternative template to push your state legislator on championing climate.
SUBJECT: [STATE] needs a decarbonization strategy
add bcc: advocacy@climatechangemakers.org
Dear [STATE LEGISLATOR],
My name is [NAME], your constituent in [CITY/TOWN], reaching out to discuss our state’s decision to forgo the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants. As you might be aware, the EPA is offering $4.6 billion to state and local governments to deploy clean energy, reduce emissions, and advance environmental justice. Because our state failed to submit a climate action plan, we are disqualified from the competition.
[YOUR STATE] stands to benefit immensely from taking action on climate. [INSERT A SENTENCE ABOUT WHY YOU CARE].
The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants could have offset the cost of statewide efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I’m wondering if you can provide context for forgoing this opportunity and let me know what the state is doing to help our communities and economy adjust to a changing climate and prevent future damage. I urge you to fight for this issue in the legislature, as I’m growing concerned that we are not taking climate change seriously enough.
Thank you for your commitment to our community. I look forward to seeing our state take a step toward a clean energy future. [IF YOU’RE COMFORTABLE: I’m happy to discuss this further over a phone call or coffee].
Sincerely,
3: Invite others to take action (don’t skip this!)
Network effects are powerful. Talking about climate solutions and encouraging friends, family, or followers to take climate action is a crucial step toward changing cultural norms and making real progress. Now that you’ve taken this action, invite your friends to do the same.
📲 Easy option: simply share this LinkedIn post!
⚡ Level up! Draft your own post on the social network of your choosing, or even better yet, reach out to friends and colleagues individually via email or text.
Borrow from the Issue Briefing for the facts, but the most important thing is to communicate why you care (share your “climate why”!), and by extension, why your audience might care. End your post with a concrete call to action. Then send it!
And that’s it, playbook complete! Feel accomplished.
Thank you for taking action.
🎉 CUE CONFETTI 🎉
© 2023 Climate Changemakers
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Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark climate law, the federal government is planning to award $4.6 billion to state and local governments to deploy clean energy, reduce emissions, and advance environmental justice. States and municipalities should take full advantage of the available Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) funding by submitting decarbonization proposals that 1) are ambitious in scope, 2) engage the public, and 3) create economic opportunity.
State and local action will be essential to halving U.S. emissions by 2030. The CPRG program will help state and local governments combat climate change by funding decarbonization initiatives, especially those that deliver an economic boost to, or otherwise support, low-income and disadvantaged communities. The types of projects that qualify for the grants span every economic sector, from transportation, to energy, to buildings, to industrial processes.
In our federalist system of government, meeting enormous policy goals like net-zero emissions is a two-step dance. While the federal government can impose mandates and offer incentives from the top down, states and localities hold significant power. Fortunately for constituents, they’re also much more accessible than federal lawmakers. We have a role to play in helping nudge our elected officials toward developing the most ambitious, inclusive, and economically fruitful climate plans they possible can—before the April 1, 2024 deadline.
Why is state and local action on climate so important?
💡RAPID DECARBONIZATION: Without state and local action, the U.S. will not reach its goals of 50% emissions reduction by 2030 or 100% decarbonization by 2050. The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants are a powerful incentive for catalyzing action.
♥️ HUMAN HEALTH: Reliance on fossil fuels may cause in excess of 350,000 premature deaths in the U.S. per year. Fossil fuel pollution is linked to heart attacks, stroke, asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, and respiratory disorders.
✊ EQUITY AND JUSTICE: Low-income and disadvantaged communities are more likely to be in proximity to fossil fuel power plants and high-emissions infrastructure, which leads to compounding negative health outcomes for those groups. Low-income households also bear a disproportionate financial energy burden despite using less energy than wealthier households.
💰 COST SAVINGS: Solar and wind are now the cheapest sources of electricity, while fully electrified homes and vehicles deliver big fuel cost and maintenance savings to consumers over the long run.
💼 JOB CREATION: Investments in climate from the Inflation Reduction Act created 170,000 new jobs in the first year and are projected to create over 1.5 million jobs in the next decade.
You’re ready to take action! Jump back to the top.
Want an even deeper dive? Check out our Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Issue Briefing.