If you’ve read through some or all of the content on this website, you can probably see why politics is so important to tackling climate change. Especially in a highly regulated market like energy, policy choices at the local, state, federal, and international level can affect the information and products available to consumers, and of course the economics of any purchase.
You may have also noticed that I’m not offering any explicit policy prescriptions or political rhetoric. At least, that was the goal. I have many friends who work hard – from a range of positions on the political spectrum – on the task of figuring out the right regulatory and market frameworks for enabling a transition to carbon-free energy. There are myriad organizations out there engaged in policy advocacy on climate issues that are doing vital work. But my view is that it’s just as important — if not more — for those concerned about climate change to tackle the problem in the marketplace as at the ballot box. No matter what policies are in place to support carbon-free energy or home electrification, your decisions as a consumer can make those a lot easier or harder to implement.
At the same time, those of you who tackle the real-world work it takes to “decarbonize, electrify, and automate” are in some ways the best able to productively participate in the political sphere — because you’ve actually experienced how current policy works (or doesn’t). Almost every government decision-maker I’ve met, whether a climate hawk or a dedicated Second Amendment warrior, is often open to hearing about situations where existing policy isn’t accomplishing its intended purpose, or is actually doing harm.
That means just like in all the other steps before this, there’s a “when” and a “how” to effectively translating your own climate experience into political engagement. As I said, there are plenty of organizations around that can help you on that front — but since I obviously can’t keep myself from giving advice, here are a few tips to get you started.
The When
I’m guessing you’re aware of this whole thing called voting. Do that! And talk to candidates in your area — if they know their potential supporters care about climate policy, that’s always a good thing. But I’m going to focus on what to do when there’s not an election in the next few months or a bill on the floor of the legislature or city council. You’re working your way through the steps and want to know when to switch over to the political sphere — when is that?
Here’s three suggestions:
When you’re having trouble getting the information you need to know what you should spend your money on.
When you aren’t allowed to spend your money on what you want.
When you try to take advantage of a helpful government policy and it’s hard or impossible.
In each of these situations, you’re running into problems not as a climate activist or treehugger — but as a constituent. If there’s one thing all policymakers in a democracy should do, regardless of political orientation, it’s listen to their constituents. And most will, if you take the right approach.
The How
There are really just two questions to answer here:
Who are you a constituent of?
What should you tell them?
The first one may actually be hardest to figure out, since the energy world is a highly regulated space with a range of government policymakers. But for most of the topics covered here, your first stop should probably be whatever agency regulates public utilities in your state. You can find a list with website links here. These are the folks whose have the delightful task of making sure energy companies are providing their customers with what’s often called “just and reasonable” service — basically, doing an okay job. So they’re likely to be interested if you’re having trouble figuring out how to decipher the “green” energy offers available from those companies, or you’d like to charge your EV off-peak but there’s no program or rate where you can do that, or you’re considering switching to a time-based rate but don’t know how it might affect your bills. Most importantly, they’ll usually have a dedicated department set up to take complaints and offer at least some general guidance on what’s causing your problem — and whether there’s any solution to be had.
Sometimes your public utility regulator won’t be your final stop. For example, in a number of places (like my own state of Ohio), they don’t oversee municipal utilities or rural electric cooperatives that are run by separate public boards. Or you may have a problem like a homeowners’ association that won’t let you install rooftop solar, entirely separate from any utility rules. In an ideal world, the state agency will tell you if something is not in their wheelhouse and point you toward whoever might be able to help. But if not, I’d recommend contacting a state legislator for your district (representative, senator, or whatever the case may be).
Do you know what state legislators are pretty good at focusing on? Constituent services. Whether you voted for them or not, they’re often representing a small enough area that they’re sensitive to the accusation of not being responsive to real-world constituent issues. Also, they may actually have run for office because they want to help people! Either way, if you contact their office you’ll hopefully get some kind of substantive response — or at least get suggestions as to who else to talk to — and have an opportunity to push for changes that can help you move toward a climate smart home.
Once you’ve got the right contact, what comes next? (Other than sending them the link to this website and just saying “I want to do this.”) While I can’t give you a detailed script without knowing what problem you’re facing, here’s a starting framework:
Describe what you’re trying to do. Sign up for clean energy? Install an EV charger? Find a time-of-use rate?
Tell them what went wrong.
Explain why you think there’s a policy problem. If you’re talking to someone who has the desire or mandate to directly address climate change, great — tell them how policy is getting in the way of that, whether it’s poor design or poor execution. If not, connect your issue to basic consumer rights, like having access to information about what you’re buying and being able to buy what you want for your home.
Do you have to propose a solution? No — that’s not your job, it’s theirs! If you do want to offer some ideas, you could try reaching out to a local or state environmental group that seems like a good fit with your goals. These organizations will often be active on the policy side and be able to provide suggestions. Or you may be able to help these policy advocates identify a problem that’s affecting a lot of people and get them to start working on the issue directly.
Whether you have a proposed policy reform in hand or not, I do have to tell you that an immediate fix to your problem is not likely. The gears of government turn slowly, and often leave ground-up victims in their wake. But if you want those gears to move at all, you have to get engaged. I once had a conversation with a state legislator who told me he got far more constituent contacts on gun and education issues than energy — which he wouldn’t have mentioned if it didn’t matter. So that’s my final advice: don’t hesitate to complain to whoever will listen. That’s our hallowed right as American consumers (isn’t it in the Constitution somewhere?), and it can be put to good use in the policy sphere.