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    How to get involved with a local group to create the political will for climate action


    There are several groups with reasonably widespread chapters trying to push climate action:

    * Sunrise — youth-oriented, pushing the Green New Deal. US only. Find a local hub [here](https://sunrisemovement.org/hubs). Email the hub organizer to get involved. They’re volunteers, and often busy, so follow up if you don’t hear back.
    * Citizens Climate Lobby — broader age range, studiously bipartisan. In the US CCL is pushing a revenue-neutral carbon tax and dividend bill, [H.R. 763](https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/763)You can find a signup form for Citizens Climate Lobby [here](https://citizensclimatelobby.org/join-citizens-climate-lobby/?tfa_3590416195188=reddit-silence7&utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=silence7).Make sure you figure out where the monthly meeting is and attend.
    * 350.org — This is the biggest and oldest climate group. They’re involved in a variety of actions, ranging from divestment to lobbying for state/province level and municipal legislation. Broad age range. Local groups can be found [here](https://350.org/get-involved/)
    * [Extinction Rebellion](https://rebellion.earth/) believes in the use of nonviolent civil disobedience, including a willingness of large number of people to be arrested, on a large scale to create political change. They are most active in the UK, but also have a significant number of active local chapters in the US and other countries. Local chapters are mostly listed [here](https://rebellion.earth/act-now/local-groups/) but some in the US are only listed at [the bottom of this page](https://extinctionrebellion.us/).

    If you want to find one that works for you, go down the list (and check the comments) and find out which ones are active near you. Attend a meeting or action or two to get a sense of what the group is like, and then start doing more to help.

    There are others, and depending on you and your community, another group might be the best choice. If you don’t feel that one of these group is a good fit for you, tell us where you are and what your community is like, and ask for help.

    If you think there’s something significant that one of the big groups isn’t handling, ask about it. Maybe somebody can help you figure out how to get it done.

    How to get involved with a local group to create the political will for climate action
    byu/silence7 inclimate

    View 28 Comments

    28 Comments

    1. CalClimate on

      S, could you maybe amend your post to ask people what kind of support they feel they need, to be instrumental in the global struggle to cut global GHG emissions?

      If this is a cooperative Iditarod, and it lasts for decades, what teams are needed?

    2. Splenda on

      Good list. However, for the benefit of anyone thinking of starting a chapter in a city or town where climate action is relatively new, it pays to start with the right group.

      CCL’s tight focus on getting the US House of Representatives to pass a small revenue-neutral carbon tax can burn out volunteers who want local action, and who tire of fruitlessly beseeching the lower-level staffers of distant, science-denying House dweebs.

      Sunrise, as a student movement, does well in larger cities and university towns, although those are not the places that need convincing.

      In my experience, 350 seems to be the best, largest network of local climate activists for less liberal cities and towns to throw in with. Divestment is merely one of 350’s many areas of focus, and most of its chapters seem to focus on local actions such as pushing for renewable power and electric transportation, shutting down nearby coal plants, and generally making climate a more visible issue in local politics.

      Shout-outs as well to the Sierra Club, the Climate Reality Project, Greenpeace, the Unitarian Church, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and more. [Here’s a list.](https://climatestore.com/take-action/get-involved/non-profit-organizations-working-on-climate-change)

    4. childeofentropy on

      There is also Earthstrike! you can find it on subreddit: reddit.com/r/earthstrike

      This movement tries to organize people on an international strike/protest for the climate (there are three upcoming major international events for 2019), and advocates for ecological justice, plurality and change towards a sustainable future, throught social visibility (local actions, outreach) and political pressure (global strikes, etc).

      There are several local chapters around the globe, so check ’em out!

    6. CCLSVN on

      Also suggest:

      ​

      Elders for Climate Action: As it says, it’s made up of mostly retired and more senior citizens that want to stay engaged. It’s good to see such a peer group formed. [eldersclimateaction.org](https://eldersclimateaction.org)

      ​

      Enviro Voter Project: Promotes getting people off the couch to vote on environmental issues [www.environmentalvoter.org](https://www.environmentalvoter.org)

      ​

      Schools for Climate Action: An advocacy group dedicated to getting school boards to adopt resolutions that are delivered to Congress, urging climate action. Just delivered over 60 to Congress in late March. School boards are pretty easy to access for most people. They have all the tools you need.

      [https://schoolsforclimateaction.weebly.com](https://schoolsforclimateaction.weebly.com)

      ​

    8. ILikeNeurons on

      If I may, I’d like to take a moment to share my experience volunteering with [Citizens’ Climate Lobby](http://citizensclimatelobby.org/).

      * I’ve talked with friends and family about a [carbon tax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_price). I’ve convinced several that a carbon tax is a good idea. I’ve convinced a few to start volunteering for carbon taxes. [34% of Americans would be willing to volunteer for an organization to convince elected officials to act on climate change](http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Global-Warming-Policy-Politics-March-2018.pdf). If you feel like you’re up against a wall in your own political conversations, [here’s some short trainings on how to have better political conversations](https://community.citizensclimatelobby.org/learn/communications/how-to-have-better-political-conversations/).

      * It took a few tries, but I published [a Letter to the Editor](https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/111) to the largest local paper in my area espousing the need for and benefits of a carbon tax. Maybe you don’t read LTEs, but [Congress does](https://www.aclu.org/other/letters-editor-how-write-them-and-why-they-work).

      * I wrote to [my favorite podcast](https://www.theskepticsguide.org/) about carbon taxes asking them to talk about [the scientific](http://bush.tamu.edu/istpp/scholarship/journals/ClimateScientistsPerspectives_ClimaticChange.pdf) and [economic](http://policyintegrity.org/files/publications/ExpertConsensusReport.pdf) consensus on their show. When nothing happened, I asked some fellow listeners to write, too. Eventually [they released this episode](https://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcast/sgu/573) (and [this blog post](https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/economics-renewables-and-climate-change/)) lauding the benefits of carbon taxes.

      * I’ve written literally dozens of [letters to my Rep and Senators](https://citizensclimatelobby.org/write-your-representative/) over the last few years asking them to support Carbon Fee & Dividend. I’ve seen their responses change over the years, too, so I suspect it’s working (in fairness, [I’m not the only one](https://citizensclimatelobby.org/about-ccl/accomplishments/), of course). [Over 90% of members of Congress are swayed by contact from constituents](http://www.congressfoundation.org/projects/communicating-with-congress/citizen-centric-advocacy-2017).

      * I’ve hosted or co-hosted 4 letter-writing parties so that I could invite people I know to take [meaningful and effective action](http://www.congressfoundation.org/storage/documents/CMF_Pubs/cmf-citizen-centric-advocacy.pdf) on climate change.

      * At my request, 5 businesses and 2 non-profits have signed [Influencer’s Letters to Congress](https://citizensclimatelobby.org/leaders/) calling for Carbon Fee & Dividend.

      * I recruited a friend to help me write a municipal Resolution for our municipality to publicly support Carbon Fee & Dividend. It took a lot of hard work recruiting volunteers from all over the city, sometimes meeting 2-3 times with the same Council member, but eventually it passed unanimously. [Over 100 municipalities have passed similar Resolutions in support of Carbon Fee & Dividend that call on Congress to pass the legislation](https://citizensclimatelobby.org/endorsements/municipal/).

      * I started a Meetup in my area to help recruit and train more volunteers who are interested in making this dream a reality. The group now has hundreds of members. I’ve invited on several new co-leaders who are doing pretty much all the work at this point.

      * I gave two [presentations](https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/159) to groups of ~20 or so on Carbon Fee & Dividend and why it’s a good idea that we should all be advocating for. I [arranged these presentations](https://community.citizensclimate.org/resources/item/19/160) myself.

      * I co-hosted two screenings of [Season 2, Episode 7 of Years of Living Dangerously “Safe Passage”](https://community.citizensclimatelobby.org/take-action/host-a-screening/#1485986882331-9e38cb79-9c5e1492-21fb7dd6-03b9bd85-3e3cce1f-2786706c-ee83)

      * I attended two meetings in my Representatives’ home office to discuss Carbon Fee & Dividend and try to get their support.

      It may be that at least some of these things are having an impact. [Just five years ago, only 30% of Americans supported a carbon tax](http://closup.umich.edu/issues-in-energy-and-environmental-policy/13/public-views-on-a-carbon-tax-depend-on-the-proposed-use-of-revenue/). Today, [it’s over half](https://news.gallup.com/poll/232007/americans-want-government-more-environment.aspx). If you think Congress doesn’t care about public support, [think again](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09644016.2016.1116651).

      Furthermore, the [evidence clearly shows](https://sociology.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/friends_or_foes-how_social_movement_allies_affect_the_passage_of_legislation_in_the_u._s._congress.pdf) that [lobbing works](https://community.citizensclimatelobby.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/june-2017-meeting-analysis-1127.pdf), and [you don’t need a lot of money to be effective](https://www.jstor.org/stable/41759323?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents).

      And the IPCC has been clear that [carbon pricing is **necessary**](https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2018/12/SR15_TS_High_Res.pdf) if we’re going to make our 1.5 ºC target.

      For these reasons and more, [becoming an active volunteer with Citizens’ Climate Lobby](https://citizensclimatelobby.org/join-citizens-climate-lobby/?tfa_3414=reddit-carbontax&utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=carbontax) is [the most important thing you can do for climate change](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4DAW1A6Ca8), according to climatologist and climate activist [Dr. James Hansen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hansen).

    9. yayforjay on

      Is it okay to bring up a presidential campaign in this thread? And link to it as well. In particular one that focuses on combating climate change as its unequivocal top priority.

    11. CalClimate on

      Hey graphic design & other artists, there needs to be an “artists for climate action” group (subreddit?). Not everyone has your skills. It seems strange that there’s so very little online activity around this – where are you people? (If I was inclined to be a climate doubter, this is the sort of thing that I would find most doubt-inducing.)

    13. in-tent-cities on

      I’m going to be hated for this, but this awakening is way too late.

    14. Capn_Underpants on

      Lead by example, lower your emissions considerably (aim for 3-4t) and make low emisions lifestyles the social norm (eg no flying), encourage others to do likewise, vote green becasue the size of the changes needed aren’t coming from the orthodoxy, help others and live your life.

      Be stoic in understanding we won’t chnage but that you at least were not part of the problem.

    15. CalClimate on

      Maybe just say “with a group”? It’s not clear whether all of them have local chapters.

      For example, for female persons older than the stereotypical Redditor, [Moms’ Clean Air Force](https://twitter.com/CleanAirMoms).

      *Appending this note, months later:*
      *Another point to consider, if you’re looking to join a climate group that has local chapters, is that you might find that some cities’ chapters have a different culture from those in other cities. Find where you can contribute. (and, be alert [for this dynamic](https://twitter.com/drvox/status/1176219510199554049)…)*

    16. walkingstan on

      If you are a student in high school or university, you might want to check out ThinkOcean.

    17. lozinski on

      I love this posting.

      I agree that the most important thing that each of us can do is to join a larger organization. The problem is how to find the local organizations? You could search on the internet, I believe that it is difficult to find groups that coordinate action, because the oil lobby pays the internet giants to make it difficult.

      ​

      So I linked to the groups mentioned on this posting.

      [https://climatevideos.info/climate-change-organizations](https://climatevideos.info/climate-change-organizations)

      ​

      More importantly I built a map of climate change organizations.

      You can my first pass a the map here:

      [https://climatevideos.info/silesia](https://climatevideos.info/silesia)

      You can see a much more mature example of such a map here:

      [https://pythonlinks.info/poland](https://pythonlinks.info/poland)

      ​

      Map problem is that there are too many organizations for me to populate the map by hand. Would anyone like to help me create the map for their local region?

      ​

      Many hands make light work.

    22. flockshroom on

      Don’t forget the Sierra Club, the largest and oldest environmental organization. Very active in the climate fight, with active chapters everywhere.

    23. [deleted] on

      Hello! My name is Lalli and I made a petition to ban single-use plastic in Chicago! It would be amazing if you guys could sign it and spread the world throughout all social medias to gain more signatures+support 🙂 Im doing this because Greta Thunberg inspired me to fight for my future and all of humanity’s. Once you click the lick it will explain more of my cause and why i support it. Thank you guys! Here’s the link> [http://chng.it/6V5T7Rmz](http://chng.it/6V5T7Rmz) If you want to stay updated and learn more about me my Instagram is lalli_the_queen

    24. HowardWittAustralia on

      Just new to reddit and a bit unsure of what is supposed to happen.

      Anyway, I look after some of the membership admin for Citizens’ Climate Lobby (Australia). Great to see new members arriving from reddit-climate discussion.

      Hope to also connect on the CCL Community. If you do not see a welcome message with a password after you join please check SPAM.

    26. bligh8 on

      ## New York City Climate Strike with Greta Thunberg

      #### Start: Friday, September 20, 2019•12:00 PM

      #### Location:Foley Square•1 Federal Plaza, New York City, NY 10013

      #### Host Contact Info: [alexandria.villasenor@gmail.com](mailto:alexandria.villasenor@gmail.com)

      I’ll b there, hope u will

    27. Dave37 on

      This is absolutely amazing. This is exactly the kind of content this and other similar subs so desperately need. We need to *organize*. Individual can’t fight nations, only together. The moment the public unifies, the minority elite falls.

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