We believe you have something important to say. Many of the issues being decided on the political level nowadays are being considered primarily from their value to business and either ignoring science or following science but still ignoring ramifications to quality of life.
Where is the faith voice? Where are the voices expressing other values in public, sharing what we love as a people, such as our concerns for our neighbors and our children – and their children?
Maybe you feel like your words are only heard by those who already think and feel like you. Sure you can blog, but do those words impact your local community?
One simple yet easy way for your words to reach their broadest scope is to write what is called a “letter to the editor”, or LTE, to your local and state newspapers.
It is a primary strategy in effective advocacy. Advocacy is simply the process of actively supporting what is important to you in a way which may actually change public policy.
The Letters to the Editor pages are often the most well-read and most talked-about sections of the paper. Newspapers value them as they reflect the concerns and priorities of the readers, and analyze them to determine how certain issues, opinions or decisions are being received in the general populace.
LTEs are very short and very easy to write. There are many online guidelines on how to write and submit an LTE. Soon we hope to offer a simple guideline as a resource on our website, as well as a monthly draft LTE that you can edit and use if you wish. LTEs are best when they address current issues.
Recently, two of our NCIPL Steering Committee members, Penny Hooper and Steve Jurovics, and a friend of NCIPL, Rachel Wooten, had LTEs published. Check them out here:
- NCIPL SC Member Penny Hooper, “Obligation to Future Generations”, published in Carteret County News Times on Sunday, April 20, 2014.
- NCIPL SC Member Steve Jurovics, “Averting a Crisis”, published in News & Observer, May 8, 2014.
- Friend of NCIPL Rachel Wooten, “Bad Climate”, published in News & Observer, May 5, 2014.
We hope to hear from you soon! Let us know if you write and submit an LTE. We now have a section on our website called “Share Your Actions“. We want to know if you write an LTE, hold or attend a meeting or event on climate change issues, or make any lobbying phone calls. Simply click here, and share what you have been up to!
Together, we can be heard and our voices can make a difference.
