E-mail Tips compliments of ONE/NW

Most members of Congress have an email address, and with more and more conservation activists coming online, there is great interest in using email to contact these elected officials to comment on environmental issues. Being able to communicate electronically with Congress is a relatively new phenomenon, and the jury is still out on whether this is a very effective way to make your opinions and interests known. Generally speaking, in-person visits, phone calls, handwritten letters and other forms of communication are considered to be more effective in "reaching" members of Congress than email messages. However, because of the efficiencies of sending email, and the speed with which citizens often need to contact Congress on vital environmental issues, it is clear that online activists should also use this medium to make their opinions known in Washington, D.C. It would be a mistake to rely on email as the primary communication vehicle for your activism, but if you're online, sending email to congressional representatives should become part of your regular routine. It's easy, it takes very little time, and we believe the impact of email in conjunction with letters, phone calls, etc. will increase in the coming years.

How do you find the email addresses of members of Congress? As usual, there are a lot of resources for this on the Web. A good starting point is to review the government sites on this issue. Here are a few we like:

For a state-by-state listing of Senate addresses:
http://www.senate.gov

For a listing of House addresses (by zip code):
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

A general listing of sites related to emailing Congress:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/legislative/email.html

How do you get your message across in the most effective way? Here are a handful of suggestions for maximizing the impact of your email. These suggestions also apply broadly to all forms of communication with Congress, and with elected officials in general:

1. Make it clear that you are a constituent (in their state or district), and that you vote. This matters to someone who may be seeking re-election.
2. Be brief and to-the-point. Focus your message, make it clear what you want the recipient to do, and make it known early in the email. Try to keep your email to one or two screens (maximum).
3. Be informed. In preparation for sending your email, learn the bill number, it's current status and timeline, who sponsored the bill and who supports it. Mention these facts in your message.
4. Talk about what you know -- make your message personal. You'll make more impact by talking about your concerns and your feelings, and the impact an environmental issue may have on your community or yourself.
5. Be polite. An environmental issue may anger you, but an abusive message rarely has an impact. Don't temper your strong feelings, but remember that you are writing to have an impact, not just to get something off your chest. Use your passion constructively.
6. Be generous with praise if it is due. If your representative did something you like (especially something you asked them to do), send them a thank you message for a job well done. Above all else, support "friends" of the environment. In the current political climate, elected officials who support environmental protection need to know their efforts are appreciated.
7. Include your physical mailing address at the end of the letter. Due to the way most congressional offices are set up, it is highly likely they will respond to your email message with a letter. (Note: Many congressional offices use an automatic response to all incoming messages, so you can expect to receive an often generic form message back immediately from most of the addresses to which you send a message).
8. Follow your email message with a letter or phone call. Again, email is not the most effective way to make your views known. It is crucial to use other avenues of communication as well.