Karen Carlson has graciously agreed to host two parties per week for folks to write postcards in the Arboretum Cohousing Community Room (1137 Erin St, Madison). Everyone is welcome! They will happen:
Every Thursday, 7-9 pm
Every Saturday, 10-11 am
Check the calendar (on this website) for changes to this event–the parties are currently scheduled through November, and we will remove the events once we’re out of postcards!
If Karen is busy, she will find a sub to host. However, it would be best for you to text Karen to confirm before making your way to the party. Text Karen at 608-515-6176 to confirm.
Bring a pen and your $0.53 postcard stamps and get ready to write! You can also buy stamps from Karen, she stocked up on them. We will be postcarding every week until the election.
Our personal outreach matters! Learn how to identify the people in your life that you want to have conversations with about being an environmental voter. There are more of them than you might realize! Then get the basics about how to start those conversations and keep them productive.
This is the first of a series of trainings and support sessions we will hold this year. Your RSVP will also give you access to the recording, though we encourage live participation if at all possible because we will be working in breakouts much of the time. It’s open to all CCLers and any new buddies who might work with you on your Courageous Voter Conversations this year.
Curious about our trainer, Brandyn Keating, and Wisconsin CCL’s climate voter plans? Watch this video of her presentation for Wisconsin CCL’s Giant Work Party on March 2, 2024
CCL Wisconsin kicked off its get-out-the-vote project with a Giant Work Party on March 2 in Stevens Point. Seventy-two CCLers from across the state met to hear about plans to engage with 30,000 potential voters in Wisconsin who care about the environment but haven’t voted consistently in recent elections. Dan Dieterich and the Stevens Point chapter hosted the event at the Frame Memorial church.
Madeleine Para explained how we’ll use postcarding and phone banking to reach all of these potential voters before the August 13 primary and the November 5 general election. Brandyn Keating from YOUnify spoke about effective outreach, Larry Sleznikow from CCL’s La Crosse chapter briefed us about Wisconsin elections, and Kathy Kuntz from the Dane County Office of Energy & Climate Change described the many opportunities for tax credits and rebates under the federal Inflation Reduction Act. (See speaker videos here.) Co-state coordinator Jill Mitchler was the emcee.
There were breakout sessions for outreach: postcarding, phone banking, courageous voting conversations, social media, and print media. There were also breakout sessions for building electrification and efficiency, faith voter outreach, student voter outreach, and writing postcards. (See breakout summaries here.)
Madeleine closed out the day by describing next steps. To get involved, you can:
Monitor the CCL Wisconsin website (cclwi.org) for information and materials.
Email Madeleine and CCL Wisconsin state coordinators Jill Mitchler and Dan Dieterich at cclwisco@gmail.com to ask questions and share information.
It was inspiring to see all the interest in getting out the vote. As Madeleine said: “We’ll have an impact on people who are worried about democracy, the election, and the environment.”
By Steve Lewis, first published in the Madison CCL newsletter.
Citizens' Climate Lobby Wisconsin 