Issue: Environmental/Climate Justice

Recommendations from messaging research about climate change and the Green New Deal and how to communicate and engage people in the rural America include:

Every message must be embedded with Appalachian values (such as kinship, independence, resiliency, and resourcefulness) – whether it focuses on jobs or on health.
Show respect for the people who worked in coal and what they built.
Name entities behind the problem. Use the active voice.
Avoid alarmist messages. Show what the community gains. Offer local solutions that connect to regional values. Give examples of local people doing the work.

This flipbook was written from the perspective of frontline communities to help leaders evaluate four themes of energy democracy within their own communities: social justice, regenerative energy, moral economy, and governance assistance.

The Energy Democracy Scorecard was developed through a collaborative process to help activists, policy wonks, and community leaders rate how well they are doing in achieving energy democracy in their own communities.