Dear John,

2020 has been a rough year, but the progressive movement tackled the most pressing item on its list - engaging millions of people across the country to defeat Donald Trump.  This was a huge task, and climate champions can breathe a bit easier as we prepare to welcome a climate realist to the White House. You earned this. This is worth celebrating.  

And yet our movement did not win enough political power at the federal level to achieve the victories we dreamed of for this election cycle like the Green New Deal. So our work to build more political power for the climate movement remains as critical ever. Can you support us with a year end gift so we can start next year in a solid financial position?

With a leader in the White House who recognizes the need for climate action, we’re building a movement to create model policies in Massachusetts, delegitimize the fossil fuel industry nationwide through campus activism, and work with trusted anchor institutions to better prepare communities for the inevitable impacts of climate change.

350 Mass has played a critical role in launching the Mass Green New Deal roundtable, a collection of labor, environmental justice, youth, and climate groups working together to advance a Massachusetts Green New Deal. Over the next two years, we will focus on building up our political power as a network while working to pass key parts of the Green New Deal into law. We are buttressed in our efforts by recent victories in referenda that our 350 Mass members led in getting on the ballot, which include:

• Endorsing 100% renewable energy in Massachusetts by 2040 (passed with more than 80% of voters in 19 MA House districts), and
• Endorsing transparent House committee votes, a procedural obstacle to our efforts, (passed with more than 90% of voters in 16 MA House districts).

Divest Ed has continued supporting the university fossil fuel divestment movement. In February, we hosted Fossil Fuel Divestment Day, which had over 40 actions on campuses across the country. Plans for large April Earth Day mobilizations were waylaid by the pandemic, though we were proud to play an important role in Earth Day Live, helping several campus divestment speakers speak to an audience of 4.8 million people while also supporting our student leaders through the challenging early days of the pandemic. Over the summer, we hosted our most diverse group of fellows through our first digital summer fellowship to learn about fossil fuel divestment, campaign strategy, and explore and expose the connections between divestment and white supremacy. This fall, we have begun efforts to challenge fossil fuel industry recruitment on campus, while also working to undermine other pillars of support for the industry such as law firms and public relations firms.

Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW) has launched our Climate Resilience Hub program, with almost 20 hubs in Massachusetts and an additional 25 hubs in 18 other states, thanks to our partnership with the American Library Association. These hubs are working to prepare their communities for extreme weather events and other impacts of climate change through community engagement, outreach, and education. We were excited to partner with the Massachusetts Library System to host and support 50 well-attended virtual events during Climate Preparedness Week 2020 in September, and partnered with the Authentic Caribbean Foundation to help Caribbean immigrant communities in Brockton gain access to remote cooling support during the Covid era. 

We have some big plans in 2021, but need good people like you to support us to make them possible. 

Please give generously.

Craig S. Altemose
Executive Director

Better Future Project