Meeting With Your Elected Representative

A great way to urge your elected representatives to get serious about climate change is to tell them in person!

You don't need to travel to Washington, DC to visit with your senators or representative. Every member of Congress has at least one office in their congressional district. If you make an appointment, you will usually be given about 20 minutes with a staff member.

During this time, tell your representative about the importance of addressing climate change to you, personally. It is not necessary to bring a large stack of facts with you. What is important is to speak about your own passion for protecting the planet and give ideas of how your representative can help.

Visiting your representative is a great activity to do with others who share your view on the importance of solving the climate crisis. Consider going with a Bible study group or your Girl Scout troop, for example.

You can talk about your general concerns, such as lack of public transportation in your region or polluting industries. Be yourself and remember that your elected representatives work for you. They use feedback from concerned citizens like you to decide which issues they should spend their time on.

Here's what to do before your visit:

• Write the representative's scheduler for an appointment. Give him or her specific days and times you are available and tell the scheduler of any specific legislation you would like to discuss. Click here to find contact information for congressional offices.
• Plan your meeting. Write an outline and some brief talking points. If you'd like your representative to support a certain bill, be sure you know its exact name and number. Bring examples of how action on your issues -- whether energy-efficient buildings or green energy -- could benefit your community. Remember that you are coming there to have a conversation with the staff member or official. Plan time to discuss the issues rather than just read off of a sheet of paper.
• Do your homework. You should arrive knowing something about your representative's position on your issues. Did he or she already sign on a sponsor of the bill you support? If so, it's still helpful to thank the representative for his or her support and reiterate the importance of climate protection to you.

What to do during your visit:

• Be on-time and polite. Thank the staff member or representative for meeting with you and introduce yourself.
• Stay focused. Remember what topics you came there to discuss and make the most of your limited amount of time.
• Make plans to follow-up. Thank the staff member or representative for the meeting and ask if there is any follow-up information you can send.

What to do after your visit:

• Send a thank-you note. As soon after your visit as possible, each person in your group should handwrite a thank-you note to the person you met with. Remind him or her of your concerns and mention that you look forward to seeing your representative take action. Also send any follow-up information you promised during your meeting.
• Keep up the relationship! Keep track of your representative's actions on your issues. When he or she sponsors a piece of legislation you agree with, send a thank-you email. If you don't see your representative taking action on the issues you discussed during your meeting, make a follow-up call or write a note reminding him or her of the issues' importance to you.