Roles of Organizations

Lead Organizations
Multiple experienced national march/rally organizers, such as the People’s Climate Movement, the Women’s March, etc. working together to take the lead on the logistics of organizing rallies around the country.

Network Builders
Multiple national organizations with local chapters, such as 350.org, the Sierra Club, the NAACP, etc. engaged as stakeholders and network builders, activating their networks to engage their members in the Month for Action, and to spread the word in advance, and show up in force for the Rallies for Action.

Political Activators
Multiple established political organizations, such as the Citizen’s Climate Lobby, the League of Women Voters, etc. to provide online and printed information at the Rallies for Action to connect the dots for the participants that want to ensure their voting and lobbying efforts are supporting representatives and candidates that are representing their interests.  These organizations will have an expanded role around the Gatherings for Action.

Invited Stakeholders

Here is a selection of the stakeholders we’re inviting to participate in the Month for Action.

This is not a comprehensive list.

This is a list of organizations and individuals that we’ve already identified for their outspoken support of climate issues:

  • national climate organizations, such as:  The Climate Reality Project, The People’s Climate Movement, 350.org, Indigenous Environmental Network, The Sierra Club, etc.
  • national activist organizations, such as:  Women’s March, ACLU, NAACP, National Organization of Women, National Urban League, Native American Rights Fund, etc.
  • political organizations, such as:  The League of Women Voters, Our Revolution, Indivisible, MoveOn, Rock the Vote, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, RepublicEn, etc.
  • corporations that publicly expressed support for the Paris Climate Accord before the withdrawal announcement, such as:  Apple, Facebook, Gap, Google, HP, Intel, Levi Strauss, Mars, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, PG&E, Salesforce, Tiffany & Co., etc.
  • campaign creators, such as:  The Ad Council, The Amplifier Foundation, etc.
  • public officials, current and past, such as:  Al Gore, Bernie Sanders, Mike Bloomberg, Bill de Blasio, Andrew Cuomo, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown, etc.
  • high profile environmental advocates, such as:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Bill Nye, Ed Norton, Matt Damon, Ed Begley Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Jessica Alba, Don Cheadle, David Letterman, Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Jack Black, America Ferrera, Lesley Stahl, Gisele Bundchen, Richard Branson, James Cameron, etc.
  • foundations, such as: Barr Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Energy Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, UN Foundation, etc.
  • media – newspapers, magazines, television shows, etc. that want to create featured stories, such as:  60 Minutes, Megyn Kelly, CNN, Fox News, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, Newsweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, etc.
  • filmmakers, such as:  Michael Moore, Ken Burns, National Geographic, etc.
  • art activists, such as: Steve Cutts, Shepard Fairey, etc.

Please help us add to this list by Advocating for Action.

Levers that Move Society

  • industries
  • laws
  • regulations
  • governmental officials
  • political parties
  • political action committees
  • investors
  • lobbyists
  • unions
  • elected officials
  • polls
  • media
  • corporations
  • foundations
  • celebrities
  • art
  • education
  • grassroots movements
  • social media
  • events
  • content – movies, songs, videos, books, etc.
  • non-governmental organizations
  • science

Up Until Now

Everyone has been playing their own tune.

Competing for attention.

Trying to play louder than the next to be heard.

The only thing possible was a cacophony of noise.

It’s been difficult for anyone to hear anything.

It hasn’t been pleasant to tune into.

Changing the Experience

Who wants to create a symphony?

We’re organizing.  We’re agreeing on music.  We’re practicing together.

We’re preparing to dazzle our audience and create a compelling performance that effectively inspires and moves our audience to hear us, to buy our music, and to dance with us.

Month for Action

  • organizing and coordinating efforts of leaders
  • leveraging the power of the collective
  • increasing organizational capacity
  • increasing media attention
  • increasing corporate/foundation/individual support
  • providing clear and consistent calls to action
  • engaging, activating, and mobilizing advocates

Reasons to do this now:

  1. When will there be a better moment for attention on climate than the release of a feature film about the Paris Climate Accord in the wake of the withdrawal from the Accord?
  2. Having major organizations organize and coordinate around this gives us such a higher jumping off point to create something much bigger.
  3. It gives us something to bring to major corporations, foundations, etc. to get them involved.
  4. It gives us a rallying point for the public to plug in and help build something bigger.
  5. It allows us to build databases of resources for future efforts.
  6. It builds capacity for each participating organization, as well as the collective.
  7. It gives us a framework and roadmap for next time.
  8. It establishes relationships and lines of communication.
  9. It eliminates duplication of efforts.
  10. It eliminates competition for resources.
  11. Up until now, the focus has mostly been on protesting what people don’t want; this is focused on taking intentional, coordinated actions together to create what we do want.

Why create the Month for Action?

On the Surface

Address climate change with the organized, coordinated, and urgent response required to preserve life as we know it.

The immediate actions making up the Month for Action are the:

  • Events for Action
    • Watch for Action
    • Rally for Action
    • March for Action
    • Gather for Action

Major plan components:

  • organized watch parties for An Inconvenient Sequel – August 5th & 12th
  • engagement with congressional representatives on recess & candidates
  • nationwide, multi-city climate marches and rallies on August 19th
  • nationwide, multi-city, multi-issue town-hall-style gatherings on August 26th
  • the launch of the Year For Action – announcing plans for the year leading up to 2018 elections

 

All of the Events for Action are designed to instigate and habitualize the following actions across the population on an on-going, continuous basis:

  • Actions for Action
    • Unite
    • Inform
    • Share
    • Choose
    • Invest
    • Vote
    • Lobby
    • Advocate

On a Deeper Level

Develop and execute a comprehensive plan that marshals resources across society to match the size and scope of the challenge.

Organize all interested climate stakeholders around a long-term Strategic Plan that effectively addresses climate change.

The Strategic Plan is outlined on the Unite for Action page.

On an Even Deeper Level

Organize all interested stakeholders associated with all issues around:

  • a comprehensive long-term strategic plan
  • collective cooperation
  • necessary technology infrastructure

to effectively addresses all large-scale social and environmental challenges.

The Strategic Plan is outlined on the Year for Action page.

Month for Action Objectives

Public Awareness

  • elevate climate awareness and urgency
  • keep climate in the local and national news cycles for an entire month
  • inspire climate conversations for a month
  • have more of the population become engaged
  • create more social capital for advocates of climate issues
  • create awareness that dissent and protest is not enough; creating alternative options and taking action are required

Empower Organizations

  • grow the scale of our national climate response
  • coordinate operations amongst stakeholder to create greater efficiency and effectiveness
  • build capacity for participating climate organizations
  • create greater collective results than any individual stakeholders could create on their own

Elevate Advocates

  • build and activate a national network of advocates
  • create more social capital for advocates of climate issues
  • encourage corporations be more engaged in their support of climate issues
  • create high-visibility campaigns across all media:  television, radio, magazines, social media, etc.
  • have celebrities and public influencers leverage their influence to increase public support for climate issues, and make it “trendy” to support climate issues

Create Results

  • have the population be engaged with politicians during the congressional recess
  • make climate change a non-partisan issue
  • provide more political cover for politicians taking the lead on climate change
  • create greater public and political support for “putting a price on carbon”