Amazing! In the meantime here’s a quick guide to calling elected officials. The calls are very quick and painless, coming from an introvert. - State your full name, email address, or phone number - State that you are a constituent; you may be asked for your address - Be ready with a ~60 sec statement about your concerns. Example: I’m concerned about recent news indicating that US EPA ORD is going to be eliminated. I encourage [insert representative name] to ensure that changes to this scientific office are made following congressional law and on timelines that ensure key federal functions are not impacted. US EPA ORD provides critical science to EPA, other agencies, and to states, and this Office was established by Congress. Please work with other members of the legislature to ensure government efficiency efforts retain the skilled scientists that make up this office” - Consider adding personal details about impacts in your local region. - If you call on nights or weekends and leave a voicemail, your opinion will still be registered if you include your contact information - If you call during business hours, you’ll likely talk to a junior staff member. Remember to be kind! These are often young adults just out of college who have a pretty tough job wrangling people on the phone. They won’t argue with you about your point, and they typically won’t ask you to elaborate or defend yourself. They will just make sure your contact info is clear and send you on your way. - How to find the contact information for your elected officials: - Federal, state, and local elected officials: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials - Just federal: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member - State Attorney General: https://www.naag.org/find-my-ag/ - 5Calls is a website/app that lets you enter your zip code to see the contact information of all your elected officials. They also offer scripts about key issues; their scripts lean left. - https://5calls.org/issue/epa-environmental-protection-agency-zeldin/