Dear Friends,
In 2012, we watched as Superstorm Sandy ravaged the East Coast and over the summer as many suffered from ongoing drought, or from extensive fires in the west.
Among
many issues, Barack Obama’s legacy as 44th president of the United
States of America rests squarely on his response, his resolve, and his
leadership on solving climate disruption, which he committed to make one
of his top priorities for his second term. We need to fire up our clean
energy economy. We need to shut down carbon-intensive fossil fuels, and
the wealthy, powerful industries that promote them while undermining
our democracy. And we need to show that communities who are concerned
about climate change are coming together to hold him to his promises.
So—on Sunday, February
17th over President’s Day weekend – a weekend dedicated to the legacy
of great leaders and one month after the President’s second inauguration
– we are asking you join the Sierra Club, 350.org,
and many other groups in organizing a massive climate rally in
Washington D.C. Our goal is to create a space for all parts of the
movement that cares about stabilizing the climate to gather together in a unified call for immediate climate action, starting with a rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline.
We are writing to invite you and your organization to join us as allies in hosting this “Forward on Climate” rally.
Though the details of the day are still being nailed down, there are several important pieces in place:
• we will rally and march in Washington, DC on Sunday, February 17th
• we
• will be in downtown Washington and some part of the day’s activities
• will include making our presence known at the White House
• groups around the country are starting to organize buses to bring people to DC
• the website is launched- forwardonclimate.org – and more details will continue to be added
We’ve
already started major recruiting efforts, and as of this writing more
than 16,000 people are signed up to attend what will be the largest
climate rally in history– but we can’t do it without your help. Below,
you’ll find an outline of what we are asking of participating organizations.
Our biggest priority is having a strong showing at the rally itself from the broad range of communities concerned about climate change —
this will show the Obama administration that we are serious about the
work that they must do in the President’s second term. So, if you can
do nothing else as an ally in this effort, your help in recruiting
people to the rally is paramount.
If your organization is interested in becoming a participating organization, please let us know by being in touch with Rachel Butler, the Climate Forward Rally Ally Outreach Coordinator, and we will follow up with you.
Please forward this on to important partners that you think would be interested in joining us.
Thank you for all that you do,
Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club
Bill McKibben, President and Co-Founder, 350.org
As a participating organization for the Climate Forward rally, we ask you to:
1. Identify an organizational point of contact.
2. Allow public use of your organizational name and logo in rally materials (including on the website, in press materials, etc.).
3. Recruit people from your membership and networks to attend the rally.
At a basic level:
• Promote the rally on your website, facebook page, and through Twitter
• Recruit for the rally through an email arc to your membership and/or your networks (FYI- the website forwardonclimate.org
• does not capture constituent registration information or add data to
• the any group’s database and email list. All data is added to a
• stand-alone survey and will be deleted immediately following the rally.)
At a more advanced level:
• Organize phone banks to recruit your membership
• Organize buses to bring people to the rally from locations where you have strong membership
• Other recruitment– whatever works best for your organization!
4. Participate in media efforts around the rally.
5. If possible, contribute to the rally fund for shared rally expenses. As you know, organizing an event
of this scale requires resources. No organization will be denied
participation based on money, but even a small donation will help with
buses for attendees/scholarships, rally signs, sound and stage, permits,
etc.
6. Help bring other organizations on board.
Materials
for you to use — including messaging, email templates, tweets, and
more — are available for groups to use and adapt as they see fit.
Rachel Butler
National Organizer, Green Transportation :: Sierra Club
rachel.butler@sierraclub.org :: 415.977.5652
sierraclub.org/transportation