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Hundreds of global leaders are gathering at COP30 to discuss how to limit climate change brazilMeanwhile, the rest of us may feel that we have little influence on how decision-makers shape policy that has wide-ranging impacts on the planet,
But “very little” is not “nothing”. Joining forces with others in community-based actions can have a much larger impact than if one person did it alone.
“Instead of acting as an individual trying to make yourself as small as possible, (you) can join with others to try to make your impact as big as possible,” said Leah Stokes, an environmental politics and public policy professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Community action takes various forms. The most effective option depends on what type of change you are trying to make. Here are three common approaches United States of America,
proceed to the polls
According to some climate experts, voting is often the most effective climate action in a democratic country because large-scale policies are usually set by elected officials.
“You have direct access to who makes the decisions,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, an environment professor who directs the Yale program on climate change communication. “They are the ones we are electing as our leaders to basically make system-level choices for us that are going to profoundly impact our lives.”
For example, the US has twice withdrawn from the Paris Agreement climate treaty after voters elected the president donald trumpWhich does not prioritize climate action.
Leiserowitz said some people might think a single vote doesn’t make a meaningful difference in a country as big as the U.S., where more than 150 million people participated in last year’s election.
“And yet we’ve seen again and again, including in recent elections, that these are actually incredibly close, and the votes matter,” he said.
Voters also elect members Congress Who take budget decisions and write laws. There are also frequent climate-related ballot measures. Governors and state legislators make policies in their areas. Elected leaders of local governments make decisions on public transit routes, trash collection, bike lanes and public electric vehicle chargers that can change people’s behavior and reduce planet-warming emissions.
“As an American citizen who feels like policy decisions are being made that are far beyond their control, I think there are still meaningful ways to get involved,” said Finn Hosfeld, a climate policy analyst at the New Climate Institute. “Those are changes that are happening at the state level that are protected from changes that are happening at the federal level.”
Talk to elected officials
There are two ways to do this: call local, state and federal representatives, or attend public meetings.
Ideally, elected officials cast votes and propose laws that represent the will of their voters. They generally want to remain popular so that they can be re-elected. In both cases, it is important for them to know and act on your opinion.
US House and management committee Contains a directory of delegates and their contact information. State and local representatives also usually list contact information on their websites.
City councils, county boards and school boards hold public meetings where residents can share their opinions before elected officials make decisions. Leiserowitz said that sometimes these meetings don’t have a good number of people attending, so it can have a big impact on an individual.
“Nobody ever focuses on public utility commissions. By law most of them have to hold public hearings where they decide what energy system you’re going to use when you turn on that light switch. Is it powered by fossil fuels? Is it powered by clean energy?” He said. “Most people don’t even realize they’re there.”
When she’s not teaching or writing, Stokes collaborates with students and activists to advocate for an oil and gas phaseout in her community. He said collective action can be even more effective when people want small changes close to home.
“Every day people can come to local hearings. They can appear for the permit process for a solar project,” he said. “All the action really happens at the scale of a building, at the scale of a car, at the scale of an oil well.”
Volunteer for a group that shares your values
Nonprofits, think tanks, legal action groups, and advocacy groups will sometimes select legislation to challenge or support. They often rely on volunteers with specific expertise to make an impact on the issues they are opposing or supporting. If you like what they’re doing, you can increase their impact by getting involved.
Leiserowitz said, “Political systems, economic systems, social systems don’t change just because it’s the smart thing to do. They change because a constituency is demanding it. And that’s especially true in democracies.”
For example, maybe your issue is the more efficient and extensive US rail network. Alone, you can’t do much about it. He said, “I would love to be able to take a high-speed, highly energy-efficient bullet train from New York to California, but I can’t do that because I live in a society that hasn’t given me that option.”
But there are several groups working to make better trains a reality.
Leiserowitz said another positive effect of public action is that it signals to others that it is worth the effort, and encourages them to try it themselves.
“From a research standpoint, when we ask Americans, ‘What gives you hope?’ “There’s one answer that comes back and it’s bigger than any other,” he said, “and that’s watching other people act.”
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