Action Alert:
Stand Up for the Environment During this Election!

Climate Action Network Canada, Sierra Club Canada and Greenpeace and have compiled a list of ways you can help make the environment a priority in Election 2008. Please take a few minutes out of your busy schedule to review the list and think about how you can get involved.

Here are 8 EASY WAYS to stand up for the environment during this election:  

• Ask candidates in your riding to take the KYOTOplus Pledge for Politicians
  
  The KYOTOplus Pledge for Politicians asks candidates to commit to science-based greenhouse gas reduction targets and a credible plan to get us there.
  
  Find out which candidates have signed the KYOTOplus pledge.
  Ask all candidates in your riding to take the KYOTOplus pledge.
  
  You'll be joining a national effort that helps voters identify candidates that are serious about tackling the climate crisis.
  
  A copy of the Pledge (English / French) and background information can be found at www.kyotoplus.ca.
  
  
  
• Make climate change and the environment THE topic at All-Candidates Meetings.
  
  Raise the question of climate change at all-candidates debates.
  
  Ask candidates what they will do if elected to take effective action in the fight against dangerous climate change and for a clean renewable energy future that makes Canada.
  
  Be sure to ask the candidates for their endorsement of the KYOTOplus Pledge for Politicians before the debate begins!
  
  For information on how to organize your own all-candidates debate or town hall, check out: www.voteenvironment2008.ca/actnow
  
  You’ll find a few questions to ask at all-candidates debates here (English) and here (French). If you know who is organizing the debates, give them a call and suggest these or other questions. If not, coordinate with others to ask questions from the floor.
  
  
  
• Write letters to the editor
  
  This is an important way to let people know that you are voting for the environment. SCC's Election 2008 Letters to the Editor section provides advice and examples. KYOTOplus.ca can also provide you with a generic press release that you can adapt and circulate to local media outlets (contact ruth@kyotoplus.ca).
  
  
  
• Get a lawn sign.
  
  Let your neighbours and candidates know that you care about climate change by ordering a free lawn sign. To order, go to: www.vtacc.org
  
  
  
• Sign-up for Climate Action News This Week.
  
  Keep track of climate change news and activities during the election and beyond. You can sign up at:
  http://list.climateactionnetwork.ca/mailman/listinfo/climate-action/
  
  And for the latest in election issues and links to a range of excellent websites and resources, visit us at: www.climatevote.ca
  
  
  
• Collect signatures for the KYOTOplus petition for Concerned Canadians.  
  
  The KYOTOplus Petition for Concerned Canadians is the companion tool to the Pledge for Politicians. Both are being used to pressure the federal government to assume its fair share in reducing global greenhouse gas pollution.
  
  Our goal is to present the petition to the government at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, December 2009, where the next global agreement on climate change will be adopted. You can find the Petition for Concerned Canadians at: www.kyotoplus.ca/en/petition.html
  
  
  
• Check out CAN Canada members' analysis of party platforms
  
  Learn about the climate change platforms of the parties by reading Sierra Club Canada’s Voter’s Guide to the Climate Crisis Election. There will be regular updates posted on SCC’s Climate Crisis Blog (www.sierraclub.ca/climatecrisis/), as well as posters and flyers. Feel free to share the Voter’s Guide with your friends, to help spread the word.
  
  Read Pembina's analysis of party platforms. You can find links to Pembina as well as other CAN groups on our Election-2008 News page, or you can visit Pembina's election blog page here.
  
  
  
• Forward a link to this page to relevant e-mail lists and people you know.
  
  You never know who will take up the cause. This simple step is the key to ensuring that we reach as many people as possible in a short amount of time.
  
  

To become a KYOTOplus partner and stay involved right up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, contact arthur.sandborn@greenpeace.org (Quebec only), or ruth@kyotoplus.ca.