WE CAN DO THIS
Fun Things That Can Make a Difference
Be creative. Dream up a novel way to get your friends engaged and get the word out. If you live on the coast, offer free gondola rowing lessons at the local grocery store or park. Form a tire pressure special ops force and check folks tire pressure in camo fatigues (tire pressure effects gas mileage an amazing amount). Make an ice sculpture of the earth in a public place, in July. Open a Coal Slurry Kool-Aid stand. Here are other ideas:
House Party Challenge!
House Parties are important seeds that build momentum for big change. Host a showing of Burning the Future: Coal in America. Serve Mountaintop Decapitation cake. Discuss “how we’re connected” afterward using the ilovemountains.org connection finder. Then ask your guests to host their own house parties, and so on, and so on – building a local coalition of knowledgeable and concerned citizens. As the numbers grow, contact local press and invite Burning the Future staff to host a BIG HOUSE PARTY – a professional screening in your area.
- Materials – announcement flyers
- See House Party Guide
Be the Calvary: Adopt a Group
In most states you won’t have to look too far to find a proposed coal plant. And in Appalachia, there are a number of groups fighting for an end to Mountaintop Removal Mining and Slurry. In almost every case you can find a small group of locals fighting with meager resources against long odds. They are up against powerful corporations with large teams of professionals and budgets as big as Montana. Make contact and go visit them. Just your moral support will help, but there are many tasks they need help with that you can do from a distance – maintaining a mailing list or web page, graphic design for ads and signs, photography/videography, regional press contact and follow-up.
For Appalachia – start with the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. They can match you up with the organization best for you, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.
For coal plants, see below:
- A listing of groups by state.
- Find status of proposed coal plants in your area. Clicking for details sometimes gives web page for opposing groups.
- The state offices of national environmental groups are usually aware of where plants are proposed and who is opposing them, e.g. Sierra Club, National Audubon Society, Environmental Defense, Natural Resource Defense Council.
Have a frank (but fun) talk with your friends
Almost all public discourse on policy matters is now filtered throughMarketing and PR techniques - everything gets spun. The media relies on “he said she said” reporting in place of real journalistic investigation of the facts. Consequently, it is hard to know who to trust on many issues. People who know you will truly listen if you earnestly share your concerns.
- Opinion poll results show 34% of Americans don’t know who to trust about global warming.
Be a friend.