Nashville Climate Advocates
“Just show up!” is powerful advocacy. More than 80 people came out for the key Metro Council vote in Nashville on three important pieces of climate legislation. (Photo courtesy of UM Creation Justice Movement)
National action on climate change is essential and the recent passage by Congress of the Inflation Reduction Act climate and health bill was a big step in the right direction. State and local action are equally important and can make major contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A good example came in the spring of 2019 when, after strong advocacy efforts by United Methodists and others, the 40-member Metro Council of Nashville, Tennessee, passed three ordinances to address the climate crisis.
The first bill set a “Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard” of 100% net-zero renewable energy sources for government operations by 2040 with specific annual targets leading up to that goal. The second established steps to electrify all government vehicles by 2050, again with annual transitional targets. The third set a timeline for establishing “Green Building Standards” for city property to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water use.
A strong coalition effort, including leadership from the Creation Care Ministry of the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference of The United Methodist Church, played a vital role in the passage of these three important pieces of legislation.
Here are some of the elements of the successful campaign:
The Creation Care Ministry, along with Tennessee Interfaith Power & Light, Climate Nashville, and other environmental organizations, agreed that given the lack of progress at the federal level at that time, local action to combat climate change was essential.
We had previously established a good relationship with a council member, Freddie O’Connell, who we knew shared this conviction. A few of us met with Freddie and learned of his plans to submit climate ordinances to the Council.
As Council Member O’Connell shaped the language of the legislation, he consulted with the Mayor’s Office and with the city Department of General Services, which would be responsible for implementation of the goals. Mayor John Cooper was by this time on record in support of climate action, and sustainability was already a key commitment of the leadership in General Services. O’Connell also lined up several key council cosponsors of his legislation from many different parts of Nashville.
Because another piece of climate-related legislation had fallen apart at the last minute earlier in the year, the coalition organizations were determined to demonstrate strong grassroots support for the legislation. So, we pulled out all the stops:
We sent fact sheets about the legislation to coalition members urging them to call or email their district council members and the five at-large ones.
We recruited a diverse lineup of our supporters to give three-minute speeches at the Council meeting where the crucial vote (second of a three-step process) was to take place. I was honored to give one of those.
We packed the guest section of the Council chamber with over 80 of our supporters wearing green shirts and stickers that read “Carbon Free Nashville.” Our group hung in there despite having to suffer through a long session dealing with other topics before the climate bills were voted on.
Council Member O’Connell gave a great speech and the three bills passed by voice vote with only one abstention.
A month later the final legislative step was taken when the three bills were signed into law by Mayor Cooper. We were, of course, ecstatic that Nashville’s city government had made these very tangible commitments to fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions in government operations.
Key components of our success were
- a clear understanding of the legislative process,
- a strong ally to champion the legislation,
- support from the executive branch,
- and a robust grassroots coalition to demonstrate wide support for taking climate action.
The Rev. Paul Slentz is a retired elder in the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference and facilitates the Federal Climate Policy Working Group of the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement. This post is republished with permission from the UMCJM website.