State Organizer Starter Kit

State Organizer Starter Kit

 

Power Dialog3

Presents:

State Organizer Starter Kit

 

We at the Power Dialog are thrilled to have you on our team! Thank you for joining us and for your commitment to making student voices on energy policy heard by those in power. As a state organizer you have the opportunity to make a tangible impact on your state’s energy policy. This State Organizer starter package should help you launch your efforts to build a strong Power Dialog in your state.

 

Here you will find:

  • Several tweets and facebook posts for you to reach people through social media
  • A sample blog post for you to use and share  as you see fit
  • A spreadsheet of state regulators working on state Clean Power Plans
  • Power Dialog logos and graphics
  • A non-capital starter kit for those who want to participate, but cannot make it to the main event

 

Please reach out with any and all questions you have about organizing your state’s Power Dialog. There is no such thing as over-communication! We are here to help you organize the most powerful Dialog possible.

 

Sample Tweets

Do you want a voice in your state’s #CleanPowerPlan? Join #PowerDialog2016 and make your voice heard! http://www.bard.edu/cep/powerdialog/

Take #ClimateAction and take part in #PowerDialog2016! Join over 10,000 the #CleanPowerPlan http://www.bard.edu/cep/powerdialog/

If you are concerned about #ClimateChange take part in #PowerDialog2016 and speak with state regulators directly http://www.bard.edu/cep/powerdialog/

Join #PowerDialog2016 and show state regulators and politicians that students care about the #CleanPowerPlan http://www.bard.edu/cep/powerdialog/

Show the planet you care by joining up with #PowerDialog2016  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Kp0g9j2TOLx2IhUrDv5-uYU_axGXP98DYZTb8AShM_w/viewform

Want to be part of a pivotal moment in history? Join #PowerDialog2016 and together we can take #ClimateAction http://www.bard.edu/cep/powerdialog/

 

Sample Facebook Posts

On April 4th, 2016, The Power Dialog will support 10,000 students to engage in face-to-face dialog with state-level regulators in all fifty states. The topic? Implementing the Clean Power Plan, requiring 32% cuts in global warming pollution by 2030. How will it work? Hundred of faculty will take their classes on coordinated field trips to their state capitols. The Dialog gives students a voice in critical decisions that will determine their future, and the future of the earth. Do you want to help? A team is being organized in your state capital, contact me for details and to learn how you can make a difference in the future of climate policy.

We are here to get students involved in having a say about their own futures. The Power Dialog is not a lobbying effort. We have no collective policy agenda for which we are advocating. Rather it is a learning opportunity and a chance for students to develop and share their individual thoughts and policy insights.  Encourage your state officials to welcome visits from unusual suspects. Are you interested in contacting policy officials and state representatives? Are you a student who wants to contribute to the future of climate policy that will directly affect you? Join our team, and help us make the best future possible.

 

Sample Blog Post

An exciting and important event, the Power Dialog, is happening in your state capitol! Students and faculty can join in conversation with state regulators and politicians, and have a voice in the implementation of the critical energy policy initiative, the Clean Power Plan.  Sign up here.

 

What is the Power Dialog?

On the week of April 4th, 2016, The Power Dialog will support 10,000 students to engage in face-to-face dialog with state-level regulators in all fifty states. The topic? Implementing the Clean Power Plan, requiring 32% cuts in global warming pollution by 2030. How will it work? Hundreds of faculty will take their classes on coordinated field trips to their state capitols. The Dialog gives students a voice in critical decisions that will determine their future, and the future of the earth.

Here is the basic vision: environmental studies, economics, politics and sociology classes from across each state participate, five hundred students total. Each school nominates one student representative. At the Power Dialog itself, the 15 student representatives are on stage with the state officials in charge of implementation for the Clean Power Plan. The University President introduces. State officials spend 30 minutes presenting the Implementation Plan. Student representatives then engage the officials in 45 minutes of Q&A. This is followed by half an hour of Q&A from the floor.

 

Why is the Power Dialog worth joining?

We are at a pivotal moment in the history of U.S. energy policy. The Clean Power Plan is an ambitious attempt to change the nature and direction of energy production in an effort to make the U.S. more sustainable and to set an example for the international community by reducing our domestic greenhouse admissions.

The Power Dialog is designed to take advantage of this window of opportunity and add thousands of voices to the discussion of the Clean Power Plan at a critical moment for U.S. energy policy. The Power Dialog is not a lobbying effort. We have no collective policy agenda for which we are advocating. Rather it is a learning opportunity for students, and also a chance for students to share their own individual thoughts and policy insights.

The Power Dialog will allow students an opportunity to speak directly with state legislators and politicians about the Clean Power Plan and to add their voices to the national discussion. The main point, of course is to bring a larger awareness of the importance of the Clean Power Plan and to generate a conversation between students and those in power about the best ways to implement the Clean Power Plan. One great side effect of the Power Dialog is that it offers students a wonderful learning opportunity. Students will be able to learn about one of the most important and influential pieces of environmental legislation ever drafted, and to put their knowledge into action through discussion with other students, faculty, politicians, and state regulators.  The Power Dialog has a real potential to spark policy change, but also the life-long passion of our student participants.

 

Logistics: what you need to do to hold a Dialog

  • Reserve a room in your capital building
  • Organize transportation to and from your capital building
  • Draft a spoken version of your written plan for effective conversation
  • Connect student representatives from different universities, so all talking points are covered and equally represented
  • Schedule a meeting with your university president to ensure his or her support and involvement
  • Hold debates and discussion prior to the event so students feel comfortable speaking to government officials in front of audiences
  • All students involved should draft questions to present on the day of the power dialog during the Q&A. These questions can be in response to what is presented by the state official the day of, or can be formulated prior to allow for deeper clarification or further explanation of points raised by the individual student representative
  • Contact representatives for your state that may be responsible for drafting their versions of the power dialog: reach out to them, invite them to your dialog, meet and get the chance to speak your mind about what is important to you
  • Send out our non-capital starter kit to your colleagues in other cities and at other universities so they can join you in making a plan

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