Thursday, 28 Feb 2002

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Today I started setting up venues for talking to Virginians about the Clean Power Act. I called and emailed the chairs of local Sierra Club groups and the social action committees of Unitarian churches to ask to speak to their groups. I asked groups that already have meetings planned to set aside a few minutes during which I can tell their members about the problem of power plant pollution, alert them to the upcoming legislation that will help solve it, and ask them to write letters to Sen. Warner about the Clean Power Act. Tomorrow and next week I’ll call some other groups that may be interested in this issue, like Parent-Teacher Associations and public health groups, and set up more presentations.

Group presentations are only one way of informing citizens about problems like power plant pollution. A more “wholesale” approach is to set up a table at a public venue such as a park, an outdoor concert, or a farmers’ market, and simply approach passersby. I particularly like this method because it reaches many people who wouldn’t ordinarily become involved, which is hugely important. I also like it because, frankly, it’s fun to get outside and talk to people about these issues. It’s even more fun and more effective when you can bring volunteers to help.

Fortunately, it’s never hard to find volunteers for group presentations and tabling. A remarkable number of people are willing to donate time and effort when they find out they can have an impact on an issue that’s important to them. One day you may meet such a person at a group presentation or out on the street, and the next day that person may be out on the street with you, recruiting more volunteers.

Recruiting, training, and managing volunteers are some of the most useful and important skills Green Corps organizers learn. Trained and invested volunteers multiply your efforts and make them more effective — and they can also continue the work you’ve started after you’ve left the community. One of the long-term goals of the campaigns that Green Corps organizers and other grassroots organizers work on is to leave behind empowered citizens that will continue to do this work.

After setting up a first round of presentations, I made some calls to various people at the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia to find out who I should talk to about getting the Diocese involved in the Clear the Air campaign. I also prepared some materials for a foray into some as-yet-undetermined public place in Northern Virginia this weekend to get citizens to write letters to Sen. Warner. Before heading home, I scanned the online versions of newspapers throughout Virginia for news relating to power plants, and set up a system to quickly check these papers on a regular basis.

It’s been a good week; I’ve learned a lot and made some preparations that should get the campaign rolling. I look forward to the next few weeks, when I’ll be talking to citizens and volunteers and seeing our efforts start to pay off. With the work that’s been done on this issue for years, and the work that Green Corps organizers and countless others will continue to do throughout the U.S., I think we can win this one. Everyone wants clean air, a healthy environment, and less needless deaths and medical problems from air pollution. It’s just a matter of making our voices heard.