One of the ways Colorado Mountain Mamas works to make change is through Colorado’s regulatory boards and commissions because a little bit of public engagement can go a long way. We have successfully mobilized parents to submit written comments, testify in favor of, and sign petitions in support of bold climate policies in front of the Public Utilities Commission and Air Quality Control Commission multiple times. It’s been key to some of Colorado’s more important actions to combat climate change and clean our air.

We worked to help Colorado’s shift to low-emission and zero-emission vehicles. We have supported and continue to work on methane emission reductions.  We support clean, renewable energy and retiring coal-fired power plants.

But there’s more to do and we need your voice in the fight!

Air pollution damages everyone’s health, but unfortunately kids are particularly susceptible to its damage:

• 1 in 12 kids in Colorado suffers from asthma.
• Smog damages the still-developing lungs of young children causing problems that can last a lifetime.
• Air pollution affects our reproduction systems, causes developmental problems, lowers the ability of our respiratory systems to fight illness, and can cause early death.
• The same chemicals that cause our Brown Cloud are also causing climate change.

IT HAS TO STOP.

Energy generated from renewable sources like wind and solar is cleaner than traditional fossil fuel sources like coal, oil and natural gas. Clean energy means cleaner, healthier air for our kids to breathe.

It also means addressing the looming climate crisis so we’re not saddling the next generation with our mistakes. That’s why we fight for more renewable energy, energy efficiencies and to retire outdated and expensive coal-fired power plants.

Candidates, elected officials, and decisions makers get saturated with information from a lot of different sources – especially industry interests who have excess time and resources to spend on educating them.

The best way to combat this within our current system? Be our own advocates. When decision makers hear from families in their area, it makes a big difference.

We mobilize parents to educate candidates and elected officials about opportunities to tap into federal funds for clean transportation projects, implementing the Colorado Climate Action Plan, how they can support important legislative bills, and other steps they can take in office to clean our air and combat the climate crisis before it gets worse. Each spring we even have a grassroots lobby day at the Capitol to pair supporters with their elected officials for important conversations! Until then, Check out our factsheet here and send it to your local elected officials and candidates [link to come].

This kind of civic engagement is one of the best ways to get our kids involved too! From hikes with elected officials to delivering a singing telegram to delivering coal with a real reindeer to creating a Girl Scouts Climate Change Patch, we are always thinking of ideas on how to make meeting with decisions makers effective AND fun for families! Join us and share your ideas.

Colorado has the potential to be a national leader in fighting the climate crisis.

The Colorado Climate Action Plan, passed in 2019, requires the state to lower our carbon pollution emissions, as compared to 2005 levels, by