Sierra Club

• The news release did not mention the six coal plants that MidAmerican Energy owns and operates in Iowa.
• "MidAmerican Energy uses convenient math to make Iowans believe their energy is 100% renewable," said Karin Stein, Iowa Coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force.
• "MidAmerican is still selling almost 40% of their energy generation to other utilities, energy coming from coal plants operating within Iowa.
• Coal ash waste accumulates every day in Iowa as coal plants continue to burn coal.

• MOUNT KISCO, N.Y., Sept. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dandelion Energy , the nation's leading residential geothermal company, celebrated New York Governor Kathy Hochul signing a law to reform geothermal drilling regulations during Climate Week.
• "We are thrilled that Governor Hochul has signed this bill into law.
• "The state of New York has been ahead of the curve in supporting geothermal as the most efficient and grid-friendly heating and cooling technology," said Dan Yates, CEO of Dandelion Energy.
• Before passage of this law, New York regulated geothermal systems at depths greater than 500 feet like oil and gas drilling.

• ONTARIO, Ore., Sept. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A new campaign, Protect the Owyhee Canyonlands , launched today calling for National Monument designation before the end of 2024.
• Owyhee Canyonlands National Monument Campaign Calls on Biden, Sens Wyden, Merkley to protect OR's Owyhee Canyonlands
  The Owyhee Canyonlands is the largest conservation opportunity in the American West, boasting millions of acres of deep canyons, rolling sagebrush grasslands, and rushing rivers worthy of National Monument status.
• "Formed over millions of years, the Owyhee Canyonlands is a wild and iconic landscape that deserves permanent protection as a National Monument," said Nicole Layman, Deputy Vice President of Conservation Campaigns, The Wilderness Society .
• The national monument campaign launches at a critical moment in the three-decades-long effort to protect the Owyhee Canyonlands.

• As a citizen, I would praise your sense of civic responsibility and willingness to express your opinion.
• I teach communication and public policy at Michigan State University and study how constitutents’ communication with lawmakers affects public policy decisions.
• In today’s polarized political environment, is it possible to get through to policymakers from the other side?

Discounting opposing views

• But research has also shown that policymakers engage in what’s called biased reasoning, writing off communications from constituents who do not share their policy views.
• This discounting of constituents who disagree on policy could explain why policymakers tend to have biased perceptions of public opinion, believing the public’s attitudes to be more in line with their own positions than polling suggests.

Do your research

• We asked a national sample of elected local policymakers – among them city council members – to evaluate a hypothetical email writer randomly assigned to express support or opposition to raising the minimum wage.
• The survey was fielded by Civic Pulse, which specializes in samples of elected officials.
• We anticipated, based on research on biased reasoning, that providing clear evidence that the constituent is knowledgeable about the issue would prevent biased discounting of constituent opinion.

How to not be written off

• The effects of citing evidence are stronger than simply stating that one has read about the issue.
• Our study is important in identifying a way constituents can avoid being written off.
• When faced with evidence that their constituent knows the issue well, policymakers are less likely to discount their opinions.

How to be heard

• One way to do this is by citing quality evidence to support your position.
• When contacting a policymaker about an issue, be aware that they may discount your opinion if they disagree.