ACTION PLAYBOOK:

Research Your Rep

  • Learn about your elected officials’ propensity for climate action to help inform future outreach.

    1. Find out who represents you

    2. Complete a Research Worksheet

    3. Stay in the loop

    4. Ask a friend to take action

  • Climate ambition is a spectrum, not a binary. Every elected official has room to improve. Contacting climate “obstructionists” isn’t a lost cause, and even climate “champions” need encouragement in order to step up their climate leadership. Read more about why increasing climate ambition really matters.

1. Find out who represents you

Elected officials represent you and your interests, so it’s important to be familiar with them! Use the usa.gov database to identify your members of Congress and your state legislators, then click the button below to generate a sheet with contact information and links to your research (more on that in Step 2). Your reps could change every few years, so treat this contact sheet as a living document.

How many reps do I have? Every U.S. resident has three members of Congress (two senators and one U.S. House rep) and a few state legislators (usually 2-3). You also have elected officials at the local level, like the mayors and city council members who run your city or town.

⚡️ Level up: Use your sheet to copy down contact information for your local officials as well, though for smaller cities, you’ll have to identify them via a Google search.

2. Complete a worksheet for each elected official

For this step, prioritize creating and completing a worksheet for one member of Congress and one state legislator, before completing for multiple members of Congress or multiple state legislators.

When you click the buttons, you’ll be prompted to create a copy of an editable Google Doc. Note there are two separate worksheets — one for members of Congress and one for state legislators.

  • If you feel confident in your knowledge about your members of Congress and state legislators (go you!), consider completing a worksheet for your local officials (mayors and city council members). The process for evaluating their climate records at the local level is a bit less straightforward and standardized than for federal and state officials, so the research may be more time-consuming. It’s well worth the effort, though, if you plan on doing future outreach to local officials. Ready to examine some more climate records? Generate a local worksheet here.

To complete the worksheets (these links are also embedded in the worksheets), we’ll use:

  • The usa.gov database to identify your members of Congress and your state legislators (used in Step 1).

  • The LCV scorecard is 0–100 scoring for each member of Congress based on their yearly climate voting record.

  • The congress.gov database to learn things like committee membership and policy priorities. 

  • Some state legislators will have a Climate Cabinet score on their climate record (much like LCV scores).

  • Google. The U.S. is a big place with lots of digital platforms that vary by state and by policymaker. Browse their websites, social media, and even news articles that mention them by name to really get to know your reps.

3. Keep up with your elected officials

Whew! That was some real internet sleuthing. Now that you’ve gotten up to speed on your elected officials’ climate records, keep up with them! Follow your reps on social media, sign up for their mailing lists, or set Google news alerts for [their name] + climate. All this information will help you be a more strategic, influential advocate going forward.

4. Invite others to take action (don’t skip this!)

Network effects are powerful. Talking about civic engagement and climate solutions with friends, family, or followers is a crucial step toward changing cultural norms and making real progress.

“The most important thing you can do to fight climate change is to talk about it.”
– Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist and communicator

Now that you’ve taken action, increase your impact by talking about it!

📲 Easy option: simply share this LinkedIn post.

⚡ Level up! Draft your own post on the social network of your choosing. Better yet, reach out to friends and colleagues individually via email or text. Looking for tips and tools for more effective climate convos? We got you.

Climate Changemakers is @theclimatevote on all platforms and is active on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Threads.

And that’s it, playbook complete! Feel accomplished.
Thank you for taking action.

🎉 CUE CONFETTI by clicking COMPLETE! 🎉

Want more action?
Go to the current Action Plan

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