Climate Advocacy
Our members advocate for effective climate change legislation and policy.
The MIT
Alumni
for Climate Action group supports legislation establishing a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goal by 2050 or earlier and strong climate leaders to accomplish the net-zero goals and other important climate policies. We supported the administration's climate
team and their climate goals through the Build Back Better Act. Our position is described at a high-level in our recently completed document, A Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change, which is being used to promote net-zero climate policies through engagement
with the US Administration, House of Representatives, Senate, and other lawmakers and policy makers.
Baltimore Sun, October 27, 2018
Arizona Daily Star, October 28, 2021
Connecting with Elected Officials in State and Local Government and other Local Action
1) Create a Google Alert
- Set up an alert to catch local news and events related to environmental issues and the climate crisis (if you don't know how to set up a Google Alert, contact jgrace@alum.mit.edu).
- Get up to date on local and state measures, discussions, plans, etc. for addressing the climate crisis
2) Reach out to your State Assembly Member and State Senator
- Visit their websites to get a sense of their key priorities and where they stand on the climate crisis.
- Send an email (through the official's website) introducing yourself as a resident and a member of MIT Alumni for Climate Action.
- Request a meeting to discuss the climate crisis, climate legislation, or local efforts to address the climate crisis. If there is little or no activity on the climate front, then use the meeting to communicate the urgency of the situation. If there is engagement and support for climate action, discuss how you can help support the official's efforts.
3) Follow up on the meeting
- Thank the official and staff for meeting with you.
- Followup on conversation threads as appropriate – a productive discussion will result in some questions that you might need to research or some people for you to contact.
- Stay connected, by sending updates with any new information or insights.
4) Connect with Local Climate Groups
5) Write position papers, Op-Eds, and letters to the editor
MACA supports strong federal legislation and climate leaders in the administration and elsewhere to promote national policies toward net-zero greenhouse gases by 2050 or earlier. We support urgent action on the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement with Climate Reality and the National Strategic Planning Framework to create the U.S. Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE). We also support the recent Infrastructure Act and climate portion of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Other actions include:
-Support for the nomination of Gov. Granholm as a climate leader of the Department of Energy, partnering with NRDC.
-Support for the nomination of Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Rep. Deb Haaland, partnering with the Wilderness Society.
-Support for the nomination of strong leadership at the Environmental
Protection Agency (Administrator Michael Regan) and the Council on
Environmental Quality (Brenda Mallory), partnering with the
Environmental Defense Fund.
-Support for the nomination of Janet McCabe as Deputy EPA Administrator, partnering with Climate Action Campaign and Confirm Climate.
-Support for the nomination of leaders in the Department of Commerce (Gov. Raimondo) and NOAA (Dr. Rick Spinrad), partnering with Ocean Conservancy.
-Support for the nomination of Todd S. Kim as the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, joining Earth Justice.
General audience 45-minute video on addressing climate change by John R. Dabels