Write a letter to an elected official regarding an environmental issue of concern
Grades: 5th and 6th
Purpose: Elected officials rely on us, their constituents, to tell them how they should vote and what issues they should work on during their term in office. One of the best ways to tell an elected official what environmental issue you care about is to write them a letter!
Action Steps:
- Explore a local, state, or federal environmental issue of concern.
- National environmental legislation: National Legislative Information
- California environmental legislation: California Legislative Information
- Find your local, state, or national representative USA.gov will help you find your city’s website. On your city’s website, you will find the names of your local elected officials and their contact information. Open States will help you find the names of your state representatives and state senators and their contact information based on where you live. You can also find information for statewide officials like the governor and secretary of the state.
- The United States House of Representatives website will help you find your Representatives in Congress.
- The United States Senate website will help you find your Senator.
- Explore the Communicating with Legislators resource here.
- Share student letters with OSO.
Sample letter
Here is a sample letter to help students write their own letter to an elected official.
Students can fill in the blanks where they see words in [brackets]:
Dear [Mayor/Representative/Senator/Governor] [NAME],
My name is [NAME] and I am a 5th grader at [SCHOOL] in [CITY]. I live at [ADDRESS] in [CITY]. I am writing to you today because I am concerned about [ISSUE]. This is an issue that affects me, my family, and my community because [HOW IT AFFECTS YOU]. I believe that this issue is important because [WHY IT IS IMPORTANT]. I hope that you can help me find a solution to this problem in our community, and I hope that you will consider bringing this issue to our [CITY COUNCIL/STATE LEGISLATURE/CONGRESS].
Thank you very much for your attention to this issue. With your help, I believe that we can find a solution.
Sincerely,
[NAME]