ACTION PLAYBOOK
Contact Your State Legislators
Let’s take action!
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Urge your state legislator to help ensure your state expands solar access by applying for the EPA’s Solar for All program.
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Find contact info
Send an email
Make a phone call
Tag them on social media
Report back
Ask a friend to do it too
⚠️ Wait! A few states aren’t eligible for this grant. If you live in Florida, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, or Wyoming, skip to the Contact Your Local Officials playbook or use an alternate address in an eligible state where you have a connection (hi, Mom!).
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 for your state senator(s) and state assemblymember/representative/delegate (the name may differ by state). You’ll find all the necessary contact information nested under each elected official’s name.
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Want to know more than just contact information? One great way to make a bigger impact in your climate advocacy is to understand how your state legislature works, who exactly represents you, and whether they’re climate champs. We have a resource for that.
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, which tells your state legislators about applying for a Solar for All grant. 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 the 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.
Template below ⬇️ or click to populate a new email
Please bcc advocacy@climatechangemakers.org so we can track our impact.
Suggested subject line: Please help increase solar access in our state.
SUBJECT: Help expand solar access in our state
Dear [STATE LEGISLATOR],
My name is [NAME], and I’m your constituent in [CITY/TOWN]. I am reaching out to bring your attention to an opportunity that holds immense potential for our state, particularly in disadvantaged communities. The EPA has launched a $7 billion "Solar for All" grant competition eligible to state, local, and Tribal governments, and it plans to make up to 60 awards.
This initiative aims to foster access to affordable, resilient, and clean solar energy for millions of low-income households across the nation. The competition aligns with our state's commitments to reducing energy costs for families and meeting our emissions targets [EDIT DEPENDING ON YOUR STATE’S CLIMATE GOALS].
The grant application deadline is October 12, 2023. It is of utmost importance that our state is not only prepared to apply, but is also geared toward optimizing this extraordinary opportunity. This program is guaranteed to lower electricity bills by at least 20% for our most disadvantaged constituents, contribute to a healthier environment, and catalyze job opportunities in the ever-expanding clean energy sector.
To truly maximize the impact of this opportunity, it is crucial that our state leverages the most rigorous best practices in low-income solar program design. This ensures that we can provide the greatest possible benefit to disadvantaged communities, promote widespread adoption of solar, and ultimately contribute to a more equitable clean energy future.
In this regard, I wanted to share a helpful compilation of resources that includes vital information about the grant, policy design guidebooks, and enlightening case studies that can inform our application and implementation strategy.
I would appreciate it if your office could forward the resources above to the relevant state agencies and if you could use your platform to help ensure they apply. Thank you for prioritizing constituents, and I look forward to seeing our state make progress on solar. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you’d like to discuss further.
Sincerely,
3. Make a call
Call the number(s) you found listed on the website. Use your email from Step 2 as a call script! You’ll want to start by identifying your constituent status (hi, my name is [NAME], and I’m your constituent in [CITY/TOWN]), then just be concise, specific, and demonstrate authenticity. You’re their constituent; it’s their job to listen to you! If they don’t pick up, don’t worry—your voicemail will be documented. And if you prefer to leave a voicemail rather than talk to a real person, call after hours.
4. Tag your state legislators on social media
Public amplification can grab the attention of policymakers and elicit a response. Turn your personalized message into a social post, being sure to preserve the specific ask. Remember to tag their handles!
Need ideas for your post? Here’s a sample ⬇️
Applications are now open for Solar for All, one of the many exciting clean energy programs created by the Inflation Reduction Act. Households served by Solar for All projects will save at least 20% on annual electricity costs, which makes a huge difference in disadvantaged communities. [STATE] or [MUNICIPALITY] please ensure you apply for this program by 9/26! Here are some resources to help the process: climatechangemakers.org/solar-for-all-policymaker-resources [TAG elected officials]
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Letting others in your network know that you’ve taken action is a great way to scale your impact. Consider using social media, email, texting, etc. to amplify the action you just took and invite others to join you. If you’re in the Climate Changemakers Slack (and any other climate Slacks), post about your experience to help motivate others! Below is sample language you can adapt and customize:
I just contacted my state legislator about expanding solar access through a new EPA program. It’s really empowering and a lot more accessible than it seems. Here's the playbook! https://www.climatechangemakers.org/preview-state-leg-solar
5. Report back!
If you receive a response from your state legislators, please share it with advocacy@climatechangemakers.org or send a message to a staff member in the Climate Changemakers Slack. You can simply forward email responses or send a screenshot. This enables us to more accurately track our collective impact.
Did your state legislator give a reason it can’t happen in your state? Anything you learn from your legislator’s response is valuable—including barriers to action—so please report back. We’re trying to grease the wheels for deploying climate solutions, so the more we know, the more effective we can become as connectors and advocates.
Did you get an enthusiastic response from your state legislator? Awesome! Consider sharing your response publicly in the Climate Changemakers Slack #wins-shoutouts channel—other changemakers may find it motivating and inspiring. We’re normalizing civic action on climate, and it starts with talking about it.
6. Ask a friend to do it too
Network effects are powerful. Persuading friends and family to take climate action is a crucial step toward changing cultural norms and making real progress. Now that you’ve taken this action, send a note to a friend along with this playbook asking them to write an email or make a call to their own state legislators. Simplify the process for them by forwarding your own email as a model, along with the contact information if they live in the same state. And if your friend ends up taking action, don’t forget to let us know! (See Step 5).
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A great way to take this step to the next level is by considering which state legislators you’d want to target and inviting a friend to take action who also happens to be their constituent. If you're campaigning for a policy change in your own state, it's strategic to involve another local resident to amplify pressure.
However, if a different state is the focal point for your policy solution, try to choose someone who lives there. Picture a scenario where Massachusetts hasn't yet announced it will phase out the sale of gas-powered vehicles, but neighboring states have, and it seems likely that Massachusetts will follow their lead. At the same time, in Minnesota, where your best friend lives, a state legislature vote on this issue is imminent, and it's become highly contentious and politicized. In this case, your Massachusetts friends can wait—text that Minnesota bestie immediately!