Your state legislator needs to hear from you
Who is influencing the laws in your state?
Everyone living in a U.S. state has at least one person representing them in a state legislature. Most of us have two, and some of us have three (find who represents you here!). As elected officials, it’s their job to represent your interests when considering policy decisions.
But Americans are generally not engaged with their state legislators, which means those elected officials usually only hear from a small (but quite vocal) minority.
A healthy majority of Americans consistently report that they are at least somewhat concerned about the climate crisis and expect their elected leaders to act on it. At the same time, the issue is so complex and far-reaching that it often overwhelms us and causes us to disengage. It can also be difficult as individuals to coordinate a concentrated effort on just one particular climate issue: should we focus on electric buses? On switching our state’s grid to renewables? And how complicated is that, anyway?
A global problem can have local solutions.
State governments may not be able to unify our national electric grids or end U.S. federal oil subsidies, but they have a considerable amount of power. For example, California, with its 3.6 trillion-dollar economy, will phase out the sale of new internal combustion (gas-powered) cars by 2035. New York state, with the country’s third-largest GDP, will fully decarbonize its power sector by 2040.
This type of policy often has spillover effects into other states, because the cost of complying with myriad state regulations is often a bigger headache for companies than simply aligning company policy with the narrowest state regulation. States can also explicitly incentivize clean energy and transportation buildout within their borders while creating jobs and attracting new talent to the area. And state governments run much tighter budgets than the federal government, so cost-saving and revenue-generation arguments usually resonate quite well with state legislators.
State legislators are more accessible—and your email and voicemail are more influential—than you might expect.
The great news is that state legislators are incredibly accessible. Even the most sophisticated, full-time legislatures usually lack the staff apparatus that members of Congress have, so we as constituents can often speak directly to the legislator. And while it’s difficult to compete with so many other pressing issues being presented to the legislator, there is power in personalized, organized, and repeated interactions. Take the first step by sending an email and making a phone call (we have everything you need and make it simple!)
You don't have to know everything or do everything to be an effective climate advocate. Start here.
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