10 Ways to Make the Environment Matter on Nov. 2

from The Sierra Club Insider newsletter

Here are ten ways that you can help make the environment matter on November 2.

1. Tell your friends.
The biggest single reason that an infrequent voter decides to vote is because someone asks them to. You can be that person. Forward this e-mail to 1,000 of your closest friends. Urge them to learn more about the environmental records of the candidates.

2. Educate yourself.

Check out SIERRA magazine's go-for-broke election issue. Paul Rauber does the math to show how environmental voters could swing the 2004 election. (For example, in Florida, where the margin of victory was 567 votes, there are more than 200,000 "environment first" voters.

3. Walk your talk. Or dial it.
Join a voter-education walk or voter-education phone bank in your community. For example, every weekend in Philadelphia, environmental advocates go door-to-door to educate voters about the candidates' records on clean air and clean water.

And four days a week--Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday--Club volunteers staff phonebanks in Montgomery County or downtown Philadelphia.

"Close to 100 new volunteers sign up every week," says organizer Elise Annunziata. "Last Tuesday, for the phone-bank, we had almost 20 enthusiastic callers crammed into our office. We had no more room and no more phones."

Visit www.sierraclubvotes.org to learn more.

4. Give money.
Every $50 donation creates 30 more direct contacts with environmental voters in critical battleground states. Find out how you can support the Club's voter education campaign.

5. Hit the road.
Travel to a nearby state through the Club’s Road to Somewhere program or, even simpler, talk to residents of battleground states on the phone. For example, in early August, reports Club organizer Eric Wesselman, 40 San Francisco area volunteers took a bus to Reno and talked to 1,000 Nevada voters about Bush and Kerry’s environmental records. Almost a quarter of the people they spoke with signed up to volunteer!

On the weekend of September 18-19, there will be similar opportunities all over the country to travel to a nearby state and talk one-to-one with environmentally minded voters. You can also make calls from your home state to key potential voters in other states using our Web site to get contacts and instructions. To sign up and learn more about the road program, e-mail:road.somewhere@sierraclub.org

Or contact your local chapter and ask how you can get involved.

6. Register to vote.
If you are not yet registered to vote, you still can. Get your national voter-registration form and send it in today!

While you're at it, encourage five of your friends and neighbors to do the same. Remember, millions of people move every year, and many of them neglect to register at their new homes.

7. Pick up a pen.
Write an editorial to your local paper urging readers to get the facts before they vote and contrasting the candidates' records on environmental protection. Letters to the editor are one of the most widely read parts of the newspaper. The Sierra Club provides tips on writing an effective letter and information that you can use to make your points including a side-by-side comparison of Kerry's and Bush's records.

8. Open your mouth.
Call a radio talk show to talk about the candidates' record on protecting the environment.

9. Host a party.
Have fun. Invite your friends, family, and neighbors. Talk about how the candidates' environmental priorities affect your community. Contact your Club chapter for mailing lists and house-party tips.

10. Vote. And urge others to.
Make sure you get to the polls and vote on Nov. 2. Also, consider ways you can help friends and family to vote, like calling to remind them or offering to drive them to the polls on Election Day.

View previous editions of the Sierra Club Insider at the Insider Archives.

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