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Public Education for Transportation Choices

Sierra Club’s model of organizing to build environmental communities is designed to re-engage Americans in civic activity to protect their communities and the environment. Sierra Club Staff is working in Providence, Newport and South County to engage community members in taking local and state-level action to promote smart energy solutions.

One of the primary ways that the Sierra Club is engaging community members is through Community Action Teams. We know that the most effective messengers to soft environmental supporters are their friends, neighbors, and co-workers, and these teams are working in their own communities to reach out to and engage their neighbors in environmental issues on a one-to-one level. In 2009, community action teams will continue employing tactics like phone trees, house parties, and public meetings to engage members of a broader community network.

While there is ever-increasing concern about global warming, dependence on costly, imported oil, and skyrocketing fuel prices, the issue is so big that it can be difficult for people to see how their individual contribution can make a difference. By scaling down to the very local level, people are empowered to take on a manageable piece of the solution. Building on the leadership of Cool Cities Mayor Avedisian of Warwick and Mayor Cicilline of Providence, Rhode Islanders are working to reduce their cities’ global warming pollution to 7% below 1990 levels by 2012 through common-sense energy solutions, including reliable and affordable public transit, bicycle commuting infrastructure, and walkable communities.

For the next two years, Rhode Island Sierra Club will continue its work in these communities, with emphasis on Newport and Providence, the two most prominent Rhode Island cities. The Sierra Club mobilizes citizens and transit users through online action alerts and phone banks, urging them to advocate for better public information and infrastructure at RIPTA board meetings. RIPTA’s impending public hearings for service cuts in the face of record-breaking ridership and gasoline prices, will give us an opportunity to turn out large numbers of citizens demanding better transportation choices.

As a leading participant in the Metro Area Transit Study and as a stakeholder in the Aquidneck Island Transportation Study, the Sierra Club will advocate in favor of building effective bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. By the end of 2009, RIPTA will release the Transit 2020 Report. We will continue to work with RIPTA’s program manager to ensure that this state-wide vision report includes the best recommendations for improved public transportation from the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission’s West Side Master Plan.

The combined efforts of all these cities, schools, and townships not only add up to a sizeable reduction in global warming emissions, they also create a critical mass of support for smart energy solutions that cannot be ignored by decision-makers at the state and federal levels.

With the help of our national communications team, the Sierra Club uses communication frames that resonate with Rhode Islanders. Transportation Choices and Energy Independence appeal to Rhode Islanders values of independence and broader prosperity. The Club promotes these frames in its grassroots media work, direct contact program, and outreach materials, including our website and quarterly newsletter.