“Lights, Camera, (CD-3 Takes) Action!”

By Jim Hooton, Colorado CCL co-state coordinator

A common refrain our lobbyist teams have heard from Colorado’s Republican Congressional delegation is that they don’t hear from enough constituents concerned about climate change.

In response, the Durango chapter led an innovative effort to bring more voices from Congressional District 3 to Rep Scott Tipton’s office.

Kathy and Mark Fackler, John Purser, and video editor Mark Renne, pulled together brief videos from 12 constituents explaining why they support climate action and carbon pricing. A shortened version of the video was presented in the June lobby meeting with Tipton’s office and the full-length version was shared afterward.

Tipton’s Legislative Director, Liz Payne, particularly liked the clip featuring Rancher Dale Ward and suggested CCL collect more clips from other traditional Republican allies.

The clips, all shot safely during the pandemic lockdown, featured a cross-section of constituents: a rancher, a 15-year-old, business owners, real estate professionals and seniors. Many of the videos were filmed outdoors, highlighting CD 3’s beauty in Durango, Dolores, Grand Junction, Creede, Aspen, and Montrose.

The videos were self-filmed on cell phones and uploaded to a shared drive for compiling. Even some less tech-savvy folks were able to contribute without too much challenge.

The project also turned into a fun way to connect multiple chapters and helped the contributors further articulate their own reasons for supporting climate action. The videos will also be repurposed for social media and chapter websites.

Kathy Fackler is considering future plans for the project and encourages other chapters to join the effort.

Watch the video: