By Ken McDonnell
The Massachusetts Chapter of the Sierra Club and our 85,000 members and followers across the state support a broad-based, coordinated strategy for addressing the climate crisis. Have you been wanting to get involved in efforts beyond your household to improve our environment? Do you want to work with a Sierra Club team to build political solutions to our environmental challenges? We offer opportunities for you to:
- Push for a just transition to an equitable clean-energy economy.
- Support environmental justice in all communities.
- Advocate for efficient, clean transportation for all.
- Work to reduce toxic pollution and move toward zero waste.
- Fight back against threats to our communities’ health and environment.
- Support efforts that help people explore and enjoy the natural world.
Achieving these ambitious but crucial goals depends in large part on passing and implementing climate-friendly legislation, policy and regulations at the state, federal, and local levels. Two vital teams lead the Club’s coordinated efforts in this essential area of climate action: the Political Committee (PoliComm) and the Community Outreach Team (COT). We welcome new members to these energetic and important teams.
The work of these teams focuses on addressing climate chaos through grassroots, bipartisan, political action; electing environmentally supportive candidates; advancing the Sierra Club’s legislative program; and influencing the behavior of public officials.
As elections at all levels approach, and knowing the growing importance of climate to voters, many candidates running for office seek the endorsement of the Sierra Club for their campaigns. Candidates range from local electric utility commissioners, city counselors, and mayors, to state legislators and Governor, to Congressional Reps and Senators. The PoliComm researches political candidates and makes recommendations on who the Chapter should endorse.
Throughout the year, and especially in years of state and national elections, the PoliComm swings into action, vetting the endorsement requests of scores of candidates. To ensure the Sierra Club endorses only the best environmental candidates, we have developed a multi-step, volunteer-driven process and criteria for selecting which candidates receive our support.
Volunteers examine each candidate’s public record on climate. To dive deeper into their positions on the environment, we distribute questionnaires to candidates whose records earn them our initial consideration for an endorsement. In some cases, we conduct phone interviews to better know the candidate. The PoliComm then discusses the responses of each candidate, votes whether to endorse, and sends recommended endorsements to the Mass Sierra Club Executive Committee for final approval. Sierra Club encourages endorsed candidates to use our endorsement in their campaign communication.
The candidates seeking our endorsement come from across the state, from Boston, to Lowell, to the Cape, to Worcester, Springfield, Pittsfield, and everywhere in between. So it is advantageous to have representation on the PoliComm and Community Outreach Team from all parts of the Commonwealth.
Once we have endorsed a candidate, the Community Outreach Team steps up to help them succeed at the polls. Similar to the PoliComm, the COT provides an opportunity for volunteers to:
- Shape climate-change bills in the MA State House.
- Support local candidates who are environmental champions.
- Build community around supporters of climate-change solutions.
COT’s work includes hosting phone, Twitter, and text banks for local candidates and specific legislation, such as the historic Climate Policy Roadmap Bill S.9, and meeting with with our representatives to lobby for environmentally friendly legislation, policy, and regulations.
Climate change is an existential threat to humanity and virtually all other species. Massachusetts can demonstrate leadership in transitioning to a clean energy future here and across the nation. The PoliComm and Community Outreach teams are key contributors to achieving the Sierra Club mission: to explore, enjoy, and protect the planet; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out those objectives.
By volunteering for one or both of these vital teams, you can join other dedicated and energetic Sierra Club members in directly influencing the direction of local, state, and national efforts to address the climate crisis. Join us! Head over to our Events Calendar to register for a Community Outreach Team meeting, or fill out this application to join the Political Committee.