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Writing a letter to the editor in your local newspaper can help others understand energy issues. Your opinions help shape our movement and so when you send your letter, please also send us a copy —we would love to read it.  And, if your letter is published, please let us know.

Getting published

• Word count: A letter to the editor is normally between 150 and 200 words. 
• How to submit: These can be submitted as a handwritten letter or on the newspaper website.  It is a good idea to check the newspaper website to find out how they want to receive the letter.
• Tone: Letters are more likely to be published if they constructively add to the debate so stay focused on sharing facts and personal anecdotes about the issue and how it affects you.

Writing your letter

• Describe your perspective:
  • Some publications have this as part of the letter, and some include it at the bottom.
  • E.g., “As a mom of two, energy costs are important to me.”
• Try to tie your opinion to a recent news event or article that has been covered by that paper:

• A letter to the editor is more likely to get published if it is linked to a recent story or news event.
• E.g., “In response to R.E. Citizen’s letter ‘The High Cost of Shuttering New York’s Southern Tier,”, I’d like to say that I couldn’t agree with him more.”

• Be the reporter of your opinion:
  • Tell the editor what you think about the issue and your suggested solution. Expand on your opinion to the extent you think is necessary—but keep it as short as possible.
  • E.g., “There should be no glee over shutting down our Gulf energy production. This misguided decision hurts workers, families, and U.S. energy security.”
• Conclude:

• Remember to include your name and any affiliations.
• Example:

• Mary Brown,Owner of Brown’s Florist, Member of [town] Chamber of Commerce,Energy Citizen

A photo is worth a thousand words.  It can evoke emotions and it can change the world.  Here are some tips to help you take great photos.

Great photos have four basic elements in common:

• The audience can understand what the photo is about.
• The photo background is not distracting.
• The photo evokes an emotion.
• The photo is in focus.

Know your camera
Read the manual: Know how your camera works before you go out and shoot. Experiment with different modes and the flash. Take some test shots.

The “rule of thirds”
The “rule of thirds” is a very basic way to improve your photo’s composition or to help it look more natural.  See the frame below. Now, imagine the lines cut the image into thirds both horizontally and vertically in your viewfinder, like a tic-tac-toe game board.  What you end up with is 9 parts or squares. Place the most interesting elements of the image into the “points of interest” outlined below in red.

Fill the frame
Get close to your subject or use the background for context. Be aware that the audience will view the entire image, not just the subject. Remember too that although you don’t want a pole sticking out of someone’s head, don’t miss a great shot because you’re trying to stick to the rules.

Move!
Moving around can yield some really interesting results. So get down to your subject’s level, lie on the ground, stand on a box, move to the side, get behind them, get closer. 

Take candid shots
Posed shots are not always best. Catch your subject doing their best work — in the street trying to get people to sign a petition, holding a sign at an event, or talking to interested parties. Look for emotional, spontaneous actions and capture them.

Lighting
Experiment with different lights; shoot on cloudy days and on sunny days.  However, in general, unless you want to go for a silhouette, shoot with the sun or primary light source behind you.

Tell a story
Photography is visual storytelling. So think about what you want your images to say. If you are putting together a series of photographs, remember that stories usually have a beginning, middle, and end. 

Ethics in citizen-advocacy photography
Digital photographs can be altered. But in citizen advocacy, photos are meant to be a truthful record of a person or situation and so altering reality is considered unethical. That’s why it is important you don’t alter your photographs. This means you can’t use photoshop to remove a pole sticking out of a person’s head and you can’t add content that wasn’t there either; it is lying. Of course, you can remove red-eye, lighten the tone, or crop a photo to improve appearance and composition. 

Happy Photo Taking!

 

Wondering how you can help support US energy production during recess?  Personal, handwritten letters are highly effective and increase the chance your letter will find its way to your lawmaker’s desk.  Here are some tips for putting your thoughts on paper.

Getting started.

Be specific about the issue you are writing about. What change do you want to see? What message do you want to deliver?

Check out information on the Energy Citizens website and from other sources.  This will help you support your view and argue your case, and may include:

• Statistics—has any relevant research been done that could support your case?
• Context—what actions have been taken by the government?
• Other interesting facts—has the issue received any media attention?

Ideas for where to search:

• Energycitizens.org
• The website of the government department responsible
• Federal or state government websites
• Political party websites

Write to your politician.

Letters are most impactful if you write to the person who represents your district.  Senate.gov and House.gov both have features that can help you look up your Members of Congress and their contact information.

Putting pen to paper

Language

Use clear English but remember you are expressing your point of view, so it is good to use phrases such as “I feel” and “I want to see.”

Be polite

Being rude reduces the chance the politician will read the letter.  You can be firm and state your case without being rude.

Layout

Contact details:

• Include your mailing address so the lawmaker can write back.

Form of address:

• Dear President Obama
• Dear Secretary (last name)
• Dear Senator
• Dear Congressman
• Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms/Dr (last name)

Introduction:

• Briefly state your issue.
• Briefly state what you want the lawmaker to do about it.

Body:

• Focus on two or three main points that support your view. Use examples from your research as evidence.

Conclusion:

• Reiterate your view expressed in the introduction.
• Ask the lawmaker to keep you informed.
• Conclude with a standard, polite closing phrase (e.g. regards, yours sincerely) and your signature.

In an electronic age, people don’t send handwritten letters to Congress very often, which means your handwritten letters stand out.  It is easy to host a letter-writing party, and you can get people to take action while having fun and learning more about why we need to develop our own energy resources. 

Here are some tips to make your letter-writing party a success:

Make it fun.
There are many ways you can emphasize the “party” in “letter-writing party” to make it fun for your friends and neighbors:

• Have a potluck or a picnic.
• Make it a movie night or host brunch.
• Bring in a guest speaker to host a discussion on energy citizenship and our need for domestic oil and natural gas.
• Create a fun activity or game to help people get to know each other.

Of course, you can always come up with your own creative idea.  The key is to make being there a valuable experience for the people who come.

Get people informed.
Writing letters together allows people to share ideas, collaborate, and feel part of a movement.  As the host of the party, it’s your job to show people that writing letters is important and effective. Things to share include:

• Whom you are writing to and why.
• What you’re asking for and why.
• Why letter-writing works.

Be prepared.

Make writing letters as easy as possible for people.  You can provide everything or make bringing supplies part of the letter “potluck.”  Make sure you have:

• Paper
• Pens
• Stamps
• Envelopes
• Addresses of recipients
• Tips on writing effective letters

Ask people to do more.
If your letter-writing party gets people excited about taking action to support energy security, you’ll want to take advantage of that excitement:

• Encourage them to spread the word among other friends and neighbors. 
• Ask them to sign up on the Energy Citizens site. 
• Encourage them to hold their own letter-writing party.

These are just a few suggestions; you should feel free to be creative about ways people in your community can do more.

Get everyone’s contact information.

Your letter-writing party can lead to more participation if you follow up with everyone who attended.  Make sure you have everyone’s phone numbers and email addresses so you can plan other events in the future.  And don’t forget to let them know when there are opportunities to take action on the Energy Citizens site.  

Report back.

We want to share your action and successes with others, and be able to tell members of Congress about what you are doing in their districts.  Let Renee (info@energycitizens.org) keep track of the number of letters you generate and take photos so we can post them to our site. Your actions can inspire others to follow your lead!

WASHINGTON - House Republicans pushed through a bill Wednesday to bypass the president to speed approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. Democrats criticized the legislation as a blatant attempt to allow a foreign company to avoid ...read more

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Teaming up with other local grassroots organizations, Energy Citizens New York kicked off a series of grassroots educational gatherings to inform New Yorkers about the facts and benefits of natural gas development. 

The first big event was held in Albany in late March, with more than 60 people coming out to learn more about the importance of energy issues in New York and in the United States.

While most of the discussion focused on the need for the Governor to lift the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, attendees also expressed wide support for the Keystone XL Pipeline. By the end of the night, close to 50 attendees signed up to be Energy Citizens and agreed to take action to help promote energy issues.

More events are planned soon for the Southern Tier and for the Albany area. Look for emails from local Energy Citizen Captains about events near you.

Energy Citizens coordinators have been invited to attend these rallies to spread the word about the need for energy policies that promote good jobs, growth, and affordable energy.

To say Energy Citizens have found an ally among Freedom Rally organizers would be an understatement.

At a recent gathering in Syracuse, some 270 rally attendees signed letters of support for the Keystone XL Pipeline and became New York’s newest Energy Citizens.

There’s a lot of talk about hydraulic fracturing but little action thanks to anti-hydraulic fracturing activists who may be breaking the law by lobbying without registering with the New York state government.

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By Josh - Energy Citizens New York

The headline in the Poughkeepsie Journal is appropriate: “Lots of talk, little movement” in the hydraulic fracturing  (“hydrofracking”) debate. As the paper points out, “In mid-February, state Health Commissioner Nirav Shah signaled he would complete his review of hydraulic fracturing and shale-gas drilling in the ‘next few weeks.’” It’s been over a month since he said this, and there is still no movement on the issue. Why not?

Maybe it’s because groups like “Artists Against Fracking” have been so successful in pressuring Gov. Cuomo to continue delaying any decision on hydraulic fracturing regulations. Their lobbying of the governor has certainly produced results, but they may be breaking state law.

According to news reports, any group that spends over $5000 in trying to influence the state government must register with the state government. There is no record of “Artists Against Fracking” having done this

These groups don’t to be content to merely ignore the truth about the safety of hydraulic fracturing. They also seem to be ignoring state law.

The governor should ignore the misinformation being put out by groups like “Artists Against Fracking” and listen to the science and the residents of New York. If he did, he would end the long delay that has plagued this process and promptly allow the shale gas revolution to come to New York.

Wealthy New York landowners are influencing Gov. Cuomo to ban hydraulic fracturing in order to keep land values down so they can enjoy their rich preserves, regardless of how this affects blue collar workers.

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By Josh - Energy Citizens New York

We all know that Gov. Cuomo just can’t seem to make up his mind about hydraulic fracturing. This is likely due to the fact that he’s surrounded himself with his friends from the Natural Resources Defense Council as well as other wealthy New Yorkers who oppose hydraulic fracturing. The science is clear that hydraulic fracturing can be done safely, but Cuomo’s advisors still oppose it. Could their stance be due to their desire to keep rural land prices low so they can continue to enjoy their large landholding?

Tom Shepstone of Energy in Depth makes a compelling case for this in a New York Post op-ed.

“By letting the NRDC and friends dominate his decision-making process, the governor is putting a lower value on the needs of middleclass landowners and union members than on the whims of some of America’s wealthiest. Will he continue to side with the bluebloods against the blue collars? The future of rural New York hangs in the balance.”

Many rich New Yorkers love to buy rural land cheaply and build palatial estates. There is nothing wrong with that. People should be able to do what they want with their land. But the wealthy advisors to Gov. Cuomo are going one step further – they are trying to influence state policy to ensure that their rural neighbors can’t make some money from shale gas development.

If the governor were to approve hydraulic fracturing, rural New York land would suddenly become more valuable. People would have less incentive to sell to wealthy people looking for a country estate. Those who did sell would be able to ask a much higher asking price.

The wealthy New Yorkers who oppose hydraulic fracturing have a direct financial interest in making sure this process isn’t approved. They are putting their interests to buy a country estate cheaply over the interests of rural landowners and workers. These landowners and workers have much lower incomes and much less wealth than those who are bending the governor’s ear. They are simply looking to see a little more income from their land or get a shale gas job to support their families. They don’t have time to serve on the governor’s boards or travel to Albany to meet privately with him.

It’s too bad that the governor cares more about the desires of a handful of elite New York bluebloods than he does about the needs of blue collar workers and landowners throughout the state.

WASHINGTON - House Republicans pushed through a bill Wednesday to bypass the president to speed approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. Democrats criticized the legislation as a blatant attempt to allow a foreign company to avoid ...read more

More The latest uptick in gasoline prices will cause Trevon Cegers, a courier who shuttles documents for law firms and receives a fixed per mile reimbursement, to spend less on other things. They... ...read more