The Pen is Mightier Than You Think

It's that time of year again--the Nebraska Unicameral is in session! It's time to tell your representation to remember that energy, conservation, and sustainability are important to you. But if you don't know where to begin, have faith in the fact that our state's legislative technology department has created one of the best websites to access state law in the country.

If you don't remember your civics class, and you find yourself interested in a topic brought to the floor of the Norris Legislative Chamber, you will find it helpful to re-learn about your Nebraska State Law here:

http://nebraskalegislature.gov/

In addition to the learning "About the Legislature," you can find your senator, find the agenda for the year and the day, watch bills discussed on NET, and read the actual copy of the bills and revisions proposed.

Now, when it comes to green/conservation issues, you may assume that in this time of economic confusion that your representation does not have time to consider your ideas. But now is EXACTLY the time to write and ask if there is something on your legislator's radar that you can support. To get familiar with laws already in play, check with the Unicameral Update through the Nebraska Chapter of the Sierra Club, for example. We have also had other concerned citizens raise our awareness in the Calls to Action category of our Forum.

We have also started a discussion about the pros and cons of "Fee and Dividend vs. Cap and Trade" this week. These are proposed solutions at odds with each other, and they appear to be influencing proposed bills at the Federal level.

In this day and age of hot-button issues fanned into flames, I have gone to my email to compose unscripted and concise letters in the hopes that the strategy keeps my writing in forefront of my representatives' minds. Amid stilted, copied form letters, cut-and-pasted from organizations, I can only hope that a thoughtful person who shows they know at least a little bit about how the process works weighs more heavily in the minds of a reader than the shoot-from-the-hip writers who accuse first and never ask questions.

And in more cases than not, I have been right. You don't realize how a hand-written (or typed) letter stands out--especially if you have put the topic in your subject line, put your address in the top of the page to prove you are a constituent, and get to the point in the first line.

Because I felt like I got informed responses from state legislators, I decided to write to City Council members this past November in regards to the Lincoln Electric System's proposed rate increase to fund their Sustainable Energy Program. It was also the first time I testified as a citizen in support of a small increase to help individuals fund their retrofits. I went to find my representative, looked up the agenda to find when they would talk about the increase, and followed up by writing emails to each member.

When the City Council Members each spoke on their vote and what they hoped LES would do with their increased funds, almost each and every member spoke about SOMEthing I had written.

Now, a lot of us don't have the time or the intention of writing and showing up in person with each and every energy issue before us. So it's important to speak, write, and act to the things you DO have time to write towards.

For example, did you know that Black Hills Energy (your gas supplier) has proposed a price increase? And they intend to model it after consumption, not conservation or retrofitting old, inefficient appliances. The more gas you use, the more you save. So they are in effect and deed asking you to use more gas than conserve it. And there ARE ways to testify, write, and even get yourself off of using gas entirely as a home-owner before that happens. It appears the rate increase begins with proposals to the Nebraska Public Service Commission's Natural Gas Commision.

What's important is to write concisely, respectfully, and do a little bit of homework on the issue. Make sure that you are writing to the correct authority on the topic (should you be writing to your city council member instead?). I have only really had one curt response from my legislator, and what helps is to persist politely. When I have written state senators asking if other state senators are interested in new energy models and conservation, I have literally received replies that were forwarded to several other representatives who show interest in green solutions to energy costs. Every bit helps to form a picture of who is in your corner.

And after we have written to officials, I also think it is important for us to write Letters to the Editor of our local paper. It takes guts to put your name to your opinion in a public forum. But if you do it, you call on your best qualities and convictions--UNlike those who like to hide behind their anonymity and attack and use the same arguments as popular propaganda.

Please consider writing to your Nebraska Public Service Commission about the Black Hills rate incre....