Third Act Educator's April 21st Newsletter
NEXT Educators Working Group Meeting:
May 10th, 6pm EST/3pm PST.
Register for the call here.
Our speakers are Brett Walker, creator of the Climate Action Now app, and Marianne Krasny, author of In This Together: Connecting with Your Community to Combat the Climate Crisis.
Opinion/Letter to the Editor Workshop:
Mark Wallach is hosting the next workshop to help Educator’s reach out to their local newspaper editors and spread the word! Contact markwallach@msn.com for zoom info.
Racial Justice Training:
Third Act Central is seeking 2-4 volunteers for their new Racial Justice Training Program, this form explains the program in more detail, please fill it out by April 28th if interested. Contact Bob Fulkerson at bob@thirdact.org with any questions.
“Emotional Resilience in the Face of Eco Grief”:
Bren Hardt, one of our Third Act Educators’ Coordinating Committee members, is creating a class series focusing on ways to use our climate anxiety and transform it into active hope. If you would like to be part of the design of this class, please contact Bren at bbhardt@gmail.com.
Sara Lasoff, Stop the Money Pipeline, shared two ways to get involved:
Post-up art during the Peoples’ Earth Week: Climate Justice Arts and Actions: If you received art for 3.21.23, you will automatically be sent beautiful art for Earth Day!
IF YOU DID NOT ORDER 3.21.23 ART, please order new FREE art here by April 6!
Sign up to receive art and participate in the week of action
Pressure your state's pension fund to vote the right way on these resolutions:
Sign the petition and share it with your group
Sign up to organize a petition delivery to your State Treasurer or City Treasurer’s office (April 4th - April 25th)
To get even more involved: contact Arielle and Alec
If you want to join their coalition, as a working group - you totally can! Third Act is a national partner but we also have tons of small groups who are a part of our coalition - you can sign up to join the coalition and join our coalition calls on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month.
Deliver Shareholder Petitions
Petition to state treasurers* in-person or by email with our partner Stop the Money Pipeline, April 4-25. Fill out this form.
Actions to look forward to:
May:
Senior-to-Senior Voter Registration “Cap and Gown Challenge” (continued)
Public Utility Commission/ Power Up Communities (PUC) Advocacy Actions*
Legislative Voting Rights Protection Actions*
Pension Fund Divestment Action*
Write Letters to the Editor for Older Americans Month, combat stereotypes, highlight elder action
* in participating Working Groups/ states
June:
Launch major Institutional Bank Divestment Campaign, building on 3-21-23
(An expanded effort to target businesses, universities, municipalities, and others to join us in pressuring their banks to divest from fossil fuels.)
Nationwide Public Education/Mobilization to Implement IRA Climate Bill
Wondering What You Can Do Now?
Start your personal Divestment journey.
Take your banking and credit cards out of Wells Fargo, Bank of America, CitiBank and Chase!!! Go as slowly and thoroughly as you need to, using the resources below!! Don’t do it alone! Join a free group with “Move Your Money” to get guidance and help.
You won’t have to do it alone, we have information for you!! Together we are stronger!
Steps to take:
Research new “green” banks/cards using the resources below.
Make a list of your automatic payments/direct deposits. Research how long each one will take to transfer (pensions, social security, etc.). Be aware that there are some automatic ones that are yearly or every 6 months. This takes a while to fully do.
Call or meet with favorites from potential new bank/cc list - get answers to your questions and make sure they will work for your needs. Establish backups in case your favorites don’t work.
Open new account(s)
Additional Divestment Information
Green America (banks and credit cards)
Third Act Toolkit resources (Part X #2)
Join our partner organization: This! Is What We Did
Take their free zoom classes: “Move Your Money” or “Effective Climate Conversations.” Each meets 3x for 90 minutes.
Welcome Your Friends and Family into Third Act
May 1st, 7:30pm EST/4:30pm PST
Learn from our volunteers how you can engage with other experienced Americans and join our activities. You’ll hear about Working Groups and Third Act efforts near you and plug into our growing network. Everyone has a role in Third Act’s campaigns to protect our climate and safeguard democracy!
A Conversation with Bill McKibben and Third Act Creatives
May 4th, 5:00pm EST/2:00pm PST
Mark your calendars now to attend a conversation with the Third Act Creatives Working Group and Bill McKibben!
A Fabulous Grant Opportunity for organizations focusing on Climate Change!
This is a grant opportunity from the Climate Reality Project. The grant is up to $20,000 for organizations working with frontline communities (low income communities, communities of black, indigenous, and people of color, and people impacted by environmental disasters) that have been and are being affected by climate disasters and environmental injustices. Although Third Act would not be an eligible organization because our leadership is not composed of those from frontline communities, perhaps you are involved in an organization or know of an organization that is led by and for frontline communities. Spread the word!
The application deadline is May 12th and the training date is April 27th.
Celebrations/Hope
Future housing for refugees made of innovative plant-based “plastic”
![A group of protesters with a sign that says "EPA: Don't delay. Deliver power plant rules now!"](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fA8k!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa6b1ba97-e237-4aeb-ac70-0fa69952bf26_931x698.png "A group of protesters with a sign that says "EPA: Don't delay. Deliver power plant rules now!"")
Climate rallies create immediate changes by EPA with the help of Rocking Chair Rebellion
Huge investment firm to vote in favor of climate resolutions at bank shareholder meetings
A huge European investment firm, Legal and General Investment, that manages $1.5 trillion in assets, announced that as a shareholder in 5 of the biggest banks in the world, it will vote its shares in favor of resolutions that demand that the banks stop financing fossil fuel expansion. The banks have encouraged their shareholders to vote against these resolutions, in the face of a growing worldwide movement demanding that the big banks stop financing fossil fuels.
Minnesota’s governor signed a universal school meals bill into law
Garbage Queen fights eco-anxiety by sharing uplifting climate news
Resource Showcase for March
Help Students combat climate anxiety
Drilled: A true-crime podcast on climate change
The Climate Action Handbook: A Visual Guide to 100 Climate Solutions for Everyone
Labor Network for Sustainability ECAN
View past newsletter resources here.
View our ongoing accumulation of Third Act Educator Resources here.
Twice each month you have the opportunity to share important information with the rest of the working group within the following categories: “Announcements”; “What to do in the next two weeks”; “Educators’ Initiatives at a Glance”; “Celebrations/Hope”; “Resources”; and “Miscellaneous”.