You won't need to be woken up when September ends—we've got A LOT going on that you don't want to miss! You can look forward to our new monthly newsletter the first Thursday of each month. This gives us an opportunity to keep you in the know with both our work and our community. None of this would be possible without your support, so we want to give you the inside scoop every month.
This last month was a busy one for the o2 team, which left us feeling energized and excited. We are now proudly endorsing 20 candidates in 10 cities for the upcoming municipal election, and still meeting with more!
As you may know, our endorsement comes with access to our support in the form of in-kind donations. We offer field work, communications and campaign advisory. As we dedicate our time to this, we want to stay actively engaged with the voters who will determine these races. This means (safely coordinated) events, events, events!
In case you missed it, last month we had our Sip & Color Social, Ogden Edition! We were thrilled to partner with Taylor Knuth—who graciously hosted at his lovely home—along with our endorsed Ogden City Council Candidates. There's nothing like gathering together with likeminded individuals to color, sip, snack and chat!
o2 Utah proudly endorses Councilmember Angela Choberka, Priscilla Martinez, and Councilmember Marcia White for Ogden City Council.
If you couldn't make it last month, don't stress. We have plenty of upcoming events—read on for your invites!
For those of you who are new here, we do a biweekly interview series/podcast called O2 & You! Our Executive Director and host, David Garbett, meets with voices from both environmental and political spaces. We've had on some pretty incredible guests over this past year, and we invite you to get caught up! Each episode is presented as a Facebook Live event, but if you're unable to join you can access all episodes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
UPCOMING GUESTS
9/8 | O2 & You! feat. Councilmember Chris Wharton, an o2 Utah endorsed candidate running for re-election for Salt Lake City Council District 3. We're excited for another "Candidate Edition" episode!
9/22 | O2 & You! feat. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, former State Representative and former Executive Director of Better Boundaries. Currently, she serves as a Board Member of Utah Ranked Choice Voting. Together, David and Rebecca will discuss the upcoming RCV election. What is RCV? How does it work? Why are cities switching over? David and Rebecca will cover it all!
LAST MONTH GUEST RECAP
August was a jam-packed month for O2 & You—we had an episode every week! From renewable energy to the Great Salt Lake, from candidates to experts, these conversations were all about climate! If you weren't able to tune in, here's what you missed:
8/4 | O2 & You! feat. Mayor Andy Beerman. This was our first Candidate Edition of O2 & You this year! Mayor Andy is a leader on renewable energy for municipalities, and continues to be a key voice in the state on climate. Together, David and Mayor Andy discussed HB 411's history and his involvement, as well as tackling environmental issues in our state as a whole.
8/11 |O2 & You! feat. Christopher Thomas, the Senior Energy and Climate Program Manager for Salt Lake City. Together, David and Christopher discussed what the Community Renewable Energy Act is, how is gives us the chance to have carbon free electricity, and its process and status.
8/18 | O2 & You! feat. Councilmember Darin Mano, an o2 Utah endorsed candidate running for re-election for Salt Lake City Council District 5. David and Councilmember Mano discussed environmental issues plaguing Salt Lake City, how cities are the driving force for change here, and tales from the campaign trail. We're excited to enter a phase of "Candidate Edition" episodes!
8/25 | O2 & You! feat. Jaimi Butler, the Great Salt Lake Institute Coordinator at Westminster College. Together, David and Jaimi discussed one of the biggest climate red flags in our state this summer: the impacts of the dangerous lowering of the Great Salt Lake on our wildlife as well as air quality!
Each month, you're invited to join the o2 Utah team in a safely coordinated outdoor event! We see this as an opportunity to get to know this community we've only known behind a screen, and what better way than by enjoying the landscapes we work to protect.
You're invited to RCV Flight Night! This year, 23 cities across the state are trying out ranked choice voting (RCV) for the municipal election. This is a good thing, as it allows for more choice in the voting process. Only thing is, it can be a little bit confusing.
Voter education isn't exactly riveting, so we're putting a fun spin on things with the help of Mountain West Cider. Come join us at The Garden at Mountain West Cider on Wednesday, September 29th at 6:30 p.m. for a night of RCV practice using flights of hard cider!
Keep an eye out for additional details, but for now, be sure to register. We look forward to seeing you there!
It's time you got to know our remarkable board members. This month, we're spotlighting Jamie Henn, a climate activist, strategist, and communicator.
He is the director of Fossil Free Media, a nonprofit communications lab that supports the movement to end fossil fuels. Before starting Fossil Free Media, Jamie co-founded the largest grassroots climate organization in the world: 350.org. Yeah, you may have heard of it.
He spent 12 years there, helping build global support for the organization and championing the climate movement with some of the decade’s biggest strides. From the fight against the Keystone Pipeline to the People’s Climate March to the Global Climate Strikes and beyond, Jamie has proven to be indispensable.
Oh, and not to mention, he is basically the CEO of Climate Twitter.
We are extremely lucky to have Jamie in our corner!
We're enacting change with bold environmental policy. Each month, we want to keep you updated on our policy development: what we're focussing on, facts to help connect the dots, and progress on o2 Utah policy.
A question we've been hearing lately: are we actually going to be effective on policy? The short answer, yes.
Our advantage is that we're a new organization. We're free from some of the typical stereotypes placed on environmental groups, which allows us to foster open conversations with key stakeholders. As an example, we've had the privilege of working with Senator Kirk Cullimore on rooftop solar with S.B. 245, which was introduced in this year's legislative session, and we have more coming down the pipeline.
In order for us to pass critical policy, we've been actively meeting with a legislators of all ideologies. This last month, we completed our first round of outreach to our targeted decision-makers. Here are some of the excited things that have come out of these conversations:
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We were informed that we're the "talk of the town," (and we'd be lying if we said we didn't high five each other after).
- Legislators of both parties have either offered to sponsor or co-sponsor the policy proposals we're bringing to them.
- We've had legislators approach us directly about partnering up on renewable energy action.
These takeaways are important because it means we're on the right track, and we're just getting started.
We're thrilled at the opportunities we've had to get involved in with cities. As you may know, last month we worked with Bountiful City on paving their way to 100% renewable energy. Bountiful City leadership makes all the decisions about their energy—and the residents want to go clean.
If you or anyone you know lives in Bountiful, mark your calendars for these two upcoming events. Be sure to register for each below:
The way we see it, you don't get what you don't ask for. So, if you want your city councilmembers to care about clean energy, then ask them to! There's strength in numbers, so grab a friend or a neighbor and come engage with the people you're electing to listen to you.
If you care about clean air, renewable energy, water rights, etc., but don't know what to do or where to start, get started here with us. We're hard at work on passing effective policy, and like we said, there's strength in numbers. We need you!
If your last year and a half was anything like ours, you blew through just about every show, book, podcast, and playlist—leaving you searching for something new. Worry not, we've got you! Every month, you can look forward to recommendations for listening, watching, and reading from our team.
WHAT DAVID IS READING
Book |Short Circuiting Policy by Lead Cardamore Stokes
"Stokes has great detail on the nitty gritty of clean energy fights in the states and how ambitious legislation is not the end of the story."
WHAT TRAVIS IS WATCHING
Documentary | "Fantastic Fungi" on Netflix
"This doc explores the world of fungi, from mushrooms that clear oil spill to undergound fungal networks that help trees communicate."
WHAT COREY IS READING & LISTENING TO
Article | "Faux Friendship" by William Deresiewicz
"This is an article I read in my freshman sociology class and revisit every year or so. It's a great reminder on how to approach interpersonal relationships and reminds me of how thankful I am for those close friendships I have in my life."
Album | What's Life Without Losers by Mikhael Paskalev
"A 5 year old album I'm just discovering. The song "I Spy" is especially good."
WHAT MARCUS IS READING
Book | "The Political Brain" by Drew Westen
"It talks about why campaigns don’t succeed in their messaging. It’s focussed on how to use emotion in campaign messaging. I recommend this book because well…losing sucks."
WHAT BELLA IS LISTENING TO
Band | Beach House
"Just Beach House, that's all. These guys are on repeat for me always and forever. They never cease to make my heart beat a little harder!"
Thank you for being in our corner. We'll see you next month!
