Personal Visits

One of the most important things we can do is to visit our alderman and ask him or her to support and co-sponsor the Clean Power Ordinance.  If you’ve never contacted your alderman before, you may be feeling anxious.  Many people get in a room with elected officials and get tongue-tied. Download our tips on how to lobby your alderman, and you’ll be a pro in no time!

Here are a couple of tips to help make the conversation flow freely.

• Yes, your elected officials do want to hear from you! Politicians aren’t that different from you and me. The important thing to remember is that many of them are very busy, so if they don’t have an hour and a half to talk to you, it’s not that they don’t care. It’s important to know what you want to talk to and stick to your script, but be prepared to answer questions.

• Make sure that you know what you are asking for.  The more specific you can be, the better your chances of obtaining support.  Remember – we want your alderman to support the Clean Power Ordinance, which will reduce emissions from the Chicago-coal-fired power plants (specifically particulate matter and CO2).

Click here and tell us whether or not your alderman will support or co-sponsor the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance, and let us know what follow-up you plan to do to obtain his or her support.

Phone Calls

A phone call to your alderman is next in line in importance after personal visits.  Here’s a script to get you started:

Call: Talk to the staffer or leave a message.

Say: Hi my name is ____________ and I am a proud resident of the _____ ward.

I am calling to ask Alderman ________ to co-sponsor the Chicago Clean Power Ordinance that will clean up Fisk and Crawford, the two largest stationary sources of air pollution in Chicago. These old, dirty coal plants stand in Chicago’s way of becoming the greenest, healthiest city in America. The Chicago Clean Power Ordinance will cut soot pollution that causes asthma, heart attacks, lung cancer, strokes and other respiratory diseases AND reduce global warming pollution by significantly cutting Chicago’s carbon footprint.

I hope that Alderman_______ will be a leader and agree to co sponsor this ordinance, keeping Chicago in the running for the ‘Greenest City in America’.

Tell us How It Went! Use the contact form to let us know who you called and whether your alderman will cosponsor or support the Ordinance.

Download the above copy:  Take the Next Step

Find Your Alderman

Do you need to know how to contact your Alderman? Click here and enter your street address to find out what ward you live or work in.