It's campaign season—isn't that aMAYzing? You can look forward to the O2 PUNCHLIST the first week of each month. This newsletter 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.
One of the things that makes o2 Utah unique is our involvement in elections. Elections are crucial. They are the most critical moment for influencing politicians, impacting policy, and improving environmental outcomes in our state. We have identified key competitive races throughout the state and have hand-picking legislative candidates who we know are dedicated to cleaning our state’s air and maintaining our quality of beautiful landscapes.
Meet our endorsed candidates for the 2022 Primary Election:
ENDORSED CANDIDATES
This is also one of the most critical times to get involved and make a difference on issues that matter to you. Help us ensure that environmental candidates are elected into office! Visit our Elections Page and sign up to join us:
We had some incredible events last month. Thank you so much to everyone who joined us at "Run to the Source" with Patagonia SLC, and to everyone who came out for our first-ever Twin Peaks Tuesdays!
April was filled with opportunities to meet new, likeminded people and make new friends. May is no different! Later in the Punchlist you will find our upcoming events for this month. You're invited to them all!
The o2 Utah team is about to embark on the first retreat with our new staff members! We will be out of touch Saturday through Tuesday as we team build and deep dive into strategies for the coming year. We'll be back to work on Wednesday, stronger and more ready than ever!
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
5/12 | O2 & You! feat. Dominique Thomas, a Training Manager at the Climate Advocacy Lab. Together, David and Dominique will cover the important work the Lab is doing to change the climate advocacy field, with a community of thousands of advocates in just a few years.
TBD | O2 & You! feat. TBD. We are working on getting a very exciting guest—stay tuned!
LAST MONTH GUEST RECAP
April was all about impactful changes, both big and small. From riding a bike instead of driving to fighting for cleaner building standards, we dove into all of the work being done both locally and nationally to ensure a sustainable future:
4/13 | O2 & You! feat. Stan Penfold and Ben Bolte. Stan and Ben make up the leadership team at GREENbike. Together, Stan, Ben and David covered the important work GREENbike is doing to offer Utahns an affordable and sustainable transportation option.
4/20 | O2 & You! feat. Tyler Poulson and Thomas Kessinger. Tyler is the Deputy Director at the Building Electrification Institute, and Thomas is the Beneficial Electrification Program Manager at Utah Clean Energy. Together, Tyler, Thomas and David discussed the favorable economics of all-electric new construction, both on a national level and right here in Utah.
Each month, you're invited to come hang with the the o2 Utah team! We have a busy year ahead of us, but continuing to engage with this community is at the top of our list.
We are entering an exciting new phase here at o2 Utah. As we stray away from singular monthly events, we're loading up the calendar with reoccurring opportunities to get together with likeminded individuals. You're invited to them all! You can keep up to date with all of our upcoming events on our new events page:
On May 17th at 6:30p.m., we're kicking off our first-ever Bikes & Brews!
Grab your friends and come hang with the o2 Utah team! On Tuesday, May 17th at 6:30 p.m., we'll meet at Kiitos Brewing and then take off on a bike tour of downtown SLC, bringing it back full circle to Kiitos for some good conversation and even better brews!
Don't forget about Twin Peaks Tuesdays! As we mentioned earlier, last month was our first-ever group hike up Avenues Twin Peaks. We were joined by local artist, Gillian Chapman, and this month we look forward to welcoming another local creative to help us capture the state of our air for this month's hike.
Grab a friend or come make new ones on Tuesday, May 24th at 6:30 p.m.. We love nothing more than getting outside and enjoying the landscapes we work to protect alongside community members like you!
We'll see you soon!
It's important you get to know our incredible supporters. This month, we're spotlighting Kara Rasmussen, who has been a super volunteer for some time now. She has attended various o2 Utah events, joined our team in canvassing, phonebanking for Prosperity2030, and more!
"o2 Utah unites voters of all parties to make real progress towards a healthy Earth. It has been incredible to join this wonderful team at their events and in their office and learn about how they are directing local and state government towards pro environment policies. Volunteering has connected me with people in Utah who are motivated to clean the air and heal the planet and it has been really fun and fulfilling."
We are so lucky to have Kara 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.
Wednesday, May 4th is the first day legislators are able to submit legislation to be drafted for the 2023 legislative session and we are excited to submit Prosperity 2030 for official drafting this week!
From June through December, we will be participating in the 2022 Legislative Interim Session. Each month, legislators will return to Salt Lake to discuss unresolved issues from the 2022 legislative calendar as well as strategize bills for next year's session. During this time, we will continue to advocate for Prosperity 2030 alongside our industry partners. Additionally, we will weigh in on important discussions related to building code amendments, natural resources, energy, and transportation. We are especially excited to advocate for home and building electrification standards within Utah building codes, which are updated every six years. Stay tuned and follow along!
We have been working alongside Sierra Club Utah, Utah Clean Energy and HEAL Utah to engage communities across the state to sign up for The Community Renewable Energy Program (House Bill 411). May 31st is the final day for communities to enroll in the Community Renewable Energy Program. We're excited to report that Oakley, Coalville and Emigration Canyon recently signed on, meaning 18 out of 23 eligible communities have signed onto the program. We are continuing efforts to enroll communities including West Valley City, West Jordan, Kamas, Orem, and Bluffdale.
Community Renewable Energy Programs are the most affordable option for homes to access renewable energy and provides the best community buying power when negotiating rates with energy suppliers.
We're excited to be involved in the next steps of this exciting program!
If your last two years were 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 | "Why We're Polarized" by Ezra Klein
"This book delves into some of the key factors and pressures that create our current political polarization. I think it is a key read for working in contemporary politics."
WHAT ELIZA IS READING (or will be soon)
Pre-Order Book | "Dirt Road Revival" by Chloe Maxmin and Canyon Woodward
"As we go into the 2022 primary it's important to understand how to bring rural voters along on issues like air quality and climate."
WHAT MARCUS IS WATCHING
Series | Parks and Recreation
“A rewatch of Parks and Rec for a good lol!"
WHAT TRAVIS IS WATCHING
Series | "Ozark" on Netflix
"This is still my binge show. Very Breaking Bad-esque but I was late to the game with this. I’ll never look at Jason Bateman the same!"
WHAT BELLA IS LISTENING TO
Album | "Ivory" by Omar Apollo
"Sounds like sunshine and velvet all at the same time. Listen all the way through, you won't be disappointed!"
WHAT GREG IS READING
Book | "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer
"A must-read for Utahns and those in the West. Chilling story of murder and history, with enlightening stories about the history of Mormons and what came to be the State of Utah. I recommend reading this before watching the miniseries. Discover what polygamist sects in the modern day mean to mormonism and how they shape the communities surrounding them."
WHAT BRONTI IS LISTENING TO
Podcast | Broken Record
"Get an in-depth dive into some artists and their thoughts."
Thank you for being in our corner. We'll see you next month!
