Canvass Your MP

Posted by bluemoon on 16th June
Tagged with: bill bloggers canvassyourmp.com carbon change climate emissions green steve webb
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Earlier this month Lib Dem MP for the Environment, Steve Webb, took the unprecedented but commendable step of inviting 10 green bloggers down to Parliament for a brainstorming session, on how social media can be harnessed to persuade MPs to take a tougher stand on the Climate Change Bill. In just a matter of weeks, MPs will be voting on whether to set a new target of an 80% cut in carbon emissions by 2050, rather than the outdated proposal of 60%, which scientists and environmental organisations say just simply won’t be enough to prevent the greater than 2C rise in global temperatures that would lead to catastrophic climate change.

So, as a testament to what can happen when passionate individuals come together with a shared purpose, just a week later Canvass Your MP was launched. The idea: to turn the tables on your MP and turn up on their doorstep (at their surgeries, not their homes) for a face-to-face, frank conversation as to why a stronger, more effective cut in carbon emissions is needed. In case you didn’t know it, absolutely anyone can go along and have a chat with their MP anytime.

The website has 3 simple steps for taking action:

1) Find out who your MP is if you don’t know already

2) Search for contact details and surgery times so you can set up an appointment

3) Once you’ve met with them, report on their response, as to whether they will or won’t support the 80% cut in carbon emissions. 

Please go along and check it out. The issue is just too important to leave to chance in the hope that MPs will vote the right way. And there are good reasons why this approach is likely to work. Firstly, it puts the power back where it belongs – in the hands of the people. Secondly, if there’s anyone MPs will want to keep face with, it’ll be their constituents. Thirdly, personal dialogue between two individuals will always have more impact than a faceless email or impersonal petition.

You can read more about the science behind this and the report by the IPPR, WWF and RSPB here.  And you can also join the Facebook group here.