Happy Spring RE-AMPers!
We are excited to announce that the 2022 RE-AMP Annual Meeting will be held online September 21-23rd. A stellar planning committee has formed to pull together a unique virtual meeting and you can learn more about it in Connections. We also welcomed several new members to the Network including TRUST, Cory Neeley, Waukesha County Green Team, Jackson Koeppel, Miranda Leppla, Just Transition Fund and We Want Green Too. Finally, get to know one of RE-AMP’s Annual Meeting Planning Committee members, David Vitse from Outrider.
Exercising your civic duty is important and it’s time for our Full Member organizations to do the same. Nominations are now open to run for the RE-AMP Steering Committee! Find out more in Collective Strategy. We’re also sharing funding opportunities including RE-AMP’s Rapid Response Fund, Emerald Cities Emergent Communities Capacity Building Program and the Department of Energy’s Renewables Advancing Community Energy Resilience (RACER) funding opportunity. David Vitse also shares an invitation for organizations to join Back from the Brink coalition who is working to abolish nuclear weapons.
We’ve got some exciting upcoming events including a Network conversation about how we equitably eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and a conversation with CEED about the new Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool in Capacity Building.
Connections
2022 RE-AMP Annual Meeting: September 21-23rd
The dates are set and the programming is underway for our 2022 RE-AMP Annual Meeting. We have a fabulous committee this year working to put together a remarkable program:
- Deirdre Courtney, West Michigan Environmental Action Council
- Sarah Dehart Faltico, Climate + Energy Project
- Nicole Donaghy, North Dakota Native Vote
- Erica Flores, RE-AMP
- Kelly Nichols, Respiratory Health Association
- Gregory Norris, ACES 4 Youth
- Elissa Schufman, Move Minnesota
- Pastor Booker Vance, Elevate
- David Vitse, Outrider Foundation
- Miguel Yanez, Environmental and Energy Study Institute
The committee’s goal is to make this virtual meeting remarkable by utilizing best online meeting practices and experimenting with a few new ideas. We’ve been collecting suggestions on this jamboard. If you have suggestions for topics, speakers, or other ways to make this meeting the best yet, please add them! You can also email suggestions to Director of Community Management, Sarah Ann Shanahan at sarah@reamp.org. Stay tuned as the planning unfolds.
Meet David Vitse, Outrider Foundation
This month I had the pleasure of talking with David Vitse from Outrider. David began deeply engaging the past couple of years through our community strategy conversations, helping organize a Story of Impact about Outrider’s communication work and serving on the Annual Meeting Planning Committee for two years. He wrote an article for this month’s newsletter, Back from the Brink, sharing Outrider’s work to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Get to know David and his work in this excerpt from his interview. – Sarah Ann Shanahan, Director of Community Management
Tell us a little about yourself.
David Vitse: I’m a father of two daughters, Stella and Sasha, which means I’ve become an expert in great dad jokes. I was born and raised in Madison, where I still live. Even though the Midwest is a cold place, it has warm people and that’s what I love about living here. My friends often call upon me to be a tour guide whenever they visit Madison, so remember that RE-AMP friends! My favorite place in Wisconsin is Door County. I spend as much time as I can in my hammock overlooking the lake, walking over the dunes, or just enjoying the sunshine on a pier.
What does Outrider do and what is your role?
David Vitse: Outrider is a private foundation in Madison. Our goal is to stop nuclear weapons and reverse climate change. We have a small staff and primarily create video content. We focus on trying to find authors and voices that are underrepresented and balance climate policy, organizing, and inspiring people so that we can interject hope and optimism in people’s lives. I’m the Management Associate which means I help produce content, line up authors, find stories, develop messages and messengers.
You’re serving on this year’s Annual Meeting Planning Committee. What are you most excited about for this year’s meeting?
David Vitse: I enjoy participating in social hours. I love art, even if I’m not great at it, I want to see that come out in the meeting this year. I like interacting with other people and it’s inspiring to bring people together when you are working on the same problem but with different tactics. It’s cool! I like supporting the good work RE-AMP is doing and learning about the good work other organizations are doing. It is a great opportunity to learn about people and policy.
So, What’s your favorite dad joke?
David Vitse: Why did the bicycle lay down? It was too tire-d.
Editor’s note: Sarah’s favorite is Why did the guy start his car on fire? Because he wanted a hot rod!
Anything else you want to share?
David Vitse: I want to thank RE-AMP members for their work and inspiration! If you’re interested in learning more about my work or collaborating contact me at david@outriderfoundation.org. Otherwise, I’ll see you at the Annual Meeting in September!
New Members
Transit Riders of the United States Together (TRUST)
Primary Contact: Joel Batterman | joelbatterman@gmail.com
“Like RE-AMP, TRUST is a network that seeks to build the capacity of our member organizations. We feel we can learn a lot from RE-AMP’s approach, and look forward to participating in RE-AMP’s Transportation Hub. Many of our members are in the Midwest and we’d like to better connect them to the broader climate justice movement.”
Cory Neeley, neeley.coryj@gmail.com
Cory was recently hired as Director for SolarShare Wisconsin Cooperative and his application was sponsored by Slipstream. “I believe that I have a lot to offer on a variety of topics because of my past working with utilities and in energy efficiency. I am also looking to build my network within the state, connecting with people who care about democratizing clean energy investment and growing Wisconsin’s state’s solar industry.”
Primary Contact: Joanna Salinas | josalinas2014@gmail.com
“As a small, locally focused organization, we don’t have the internal capacity to participate on a statewide or Midwest basis on our own. We are excited to be a part of the RE-AMP Network and the Wisconsin Climate Table because it enables us to broaden our perspective, understanding, and work on a statewide and national level.”
Jackson Koeppel, jkoeppel.consulting@gmail.com
“I’ve been a part of RE-AMP through organizations for a long time. I have a deep appreciation for the work RE-AMP has done towards self transformation. I want to support the Network and utilize it as a space for my own continuing learning as well as relationship with the friends and colleagues I’ve created over the years.”
Primary Contact: Rachel Young | ryoung@justtransitionfund.org
“We would like to expand our work in the region and value the RE-AMP Network as a space for values-aligned relationship building and shared learning that can help to inform our work.”
Primary Contact: Gloria Lowe | gloria@wewantgreentoo.org
Gloria has been an active member of the Empower Michigan table, leading her to be introduced to RE-AMP. After attending an Annual Meeting and a couple of Community Strategy Conversations she decided to go through the process to become a member. She’s looking forward to building alliances with like-minded people.
Miranda Leppla, mrl157@case.edu
Miranda was an active RE-AMP member while she worked with the Ohio Energy Team. She recently took a position at Case Western to teach law but wanted to continue working with RE-AMP partners in Ohio and Midwest.
Collective Strategy
Be A Network Leader!
We’re looking for a few good people to serve on RE-AMP’s Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is a team of members who guide the Network toward our North Star Goal of equitably eliminating greenhouse gasses in the Midwest by 2050.
Five seats are open and two of the current Steering Committee members are unable to seek re-election because of term limits. If you’ve ever thought about running or have run in the past and are with a Full Member organization, we want you to throw your hat in the ring! Don’t let the ‘Midwest nice’ hold you back from submitting an application.
Several Steering Committee members have offered to talk with anyone who would like to know more about what it is like to serve. Contact Director of Community Management, Sarah Ann Shanahan at sarah@reamp.org for more information.
If you would like to nominate yourself or a fellow member of the Network, please complete a nomination form by May 3rd. Candidates will be announced in May and primary contacts of full RE-AMP members will be sent a ballot in late May.
Back from the Brink by David Vitse, Outrider Foundation
Outrider Foundation is a private operating foundation in Madison, WI working toward a world where people can live without fear of a nuclear weapons or climate induced catastrophe. These two existential threats to humanity are deeply and fundamentally connected. Outrider’s work to confront and bring attention to both reflect our desire for a hopeful, secure, livable future – with a thriving democracy and where human health and our environment is protected. Russia’s war on Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling has put a microscope on the real and urgent risks posed by nuclear weapons and the imperative to abolish them.
Outrider is well-positioned to be a connective agent that links these global concerns together thereby creating a powerful collaborative effort ensuring that humanity not only survives but thrives. With this in mind, Outrider is a proud partner of Back from the Brink (BftB) , a national grassroots coalition working in local communities to end the threat of nuclear weapons. The campaign has been endorsed by 400 local, state and national organizations and 326 local and state elected officials while 58 municipalities have passed BftB resolutions.
If you would like to learn more about how you or your organization can support or endorse the Back from the Brink campaign and help stop the threat of nuclear weapons while fighting the climate crisis please reach out to David Vitse at the Outrider Foundation.
RE-AMP Funding Opportunity: Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Rapid Response Fund
We are interested in supporting non-profit organizations that encounter unexpected needs or changed circumstances in the course of ongoing campaigns or multi-state initiatives. Grants from the fund will be prioritized for needs that require rapid turnaround. The fund is not intended to cover core operating budgets or to address shortfalls in annual fundraising efforts. The fund may only be used for non-lobbying expenses of 501(c)(3) organizations.
Key Areas of Interest
- Defend against emerging attempts to weaken or eliminate existing Energy Efficiency Resource Standards (EERS), Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) or other utility sector clean energy policies.
- Take advantage of unexpected opportunities to expand or strengthen those policies.
- Intervene in rate cases that present new opportunities to incentivize energy efficiency or renewable energy including vigorously opposing increases in fixed charges.
For more information login to the Commons and go the left hand side menu → Resources → Funding → Rapid Response
Emerald Cities Emergent Communities Capacity Building Program
Emerald Cities is excited to announce the launch of our Emergent Communities Capacity Building (ECCB) Program. This year-long program is for BIPOC or frontline communities who are recently/newly incorporating energy, energy systems analysis and energy democracy into their intersectional justice lens. This is an opportunity to take the work deeper through a small grants program, community learning, as well as organizational and financial technical support. The ECCB program will support communities who may also want to leverage the Justice40 initiative through the lens of Energy Democracy.
For the first cohort, we are inviting applications from BIPOC/Frontline-led community-based organizations (CBOs) based in the United States or U.S. Territories that either are registered as a 501(c)(3) or have a fiscal sponsor. Those accepted into the program will receive:
- A $25,000-$50,000 operating support grant
- Monthly cohort workshops covering priority topics as defined by the cohort, which may include
- Energy Democracy / Community-driven energy landscape analysis
- Economic Inclusion strategies
- Civic Engagement strategies
- CBO financial sustainability
- Policy deep-dives into Justice40 and the Infrastructure Law
- Local, state and federal government engagement
- Access to organizational and financial planning assistance
For more information on the ECCB Program, eligibility and the application process, click here. Applications for the 2022-23 cohort are due by June 1, 2022.
DOE Funding Notice: $25M Available to Improve Community Energy Resilience with Solar
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the Renewables Advancing Community Energy Resilience (RACER) funding opportunity, which will award $25 million in funding for projects to enable communities to utilize solar and solar-plus-storage to prevent disruptions in power caused by extreme weather and other events and to rapidly restore electricity if it goes down. Projects will foster engagement and ongoing communication among multiple stakeholders such as utilities, municipal planners, emergency responders, community groups, and others, especially in underserved communities located in areas vulnerable to extreme events causing frequent energy and power service disruptions. In addition, projects will increase the durability of photovoltaic (PV) systems so they can withstand extreme weather conditions and demonstrate technologies that enable rapid recovery after an extreme event.
These research activities will help increase the resilience of energy systems, which will help meet the Biden administration’s goals for achieving a decarbonized electricity sector by 2035. As extreme weather events become more common and place undue stress on our electricity infrastructure, solar and other distributed energy resources can help communities rapidly recover.
DOE expects to make between 13 and 17 awards under RACER, each ranging between $500,000 and $3 million. SETO seeks diverse teams of universities, federally funded research and development centers, nonprofits, community-based organizations, utilities, state agencies, local governments, and solar developers. Additionally, SETO encourages the participation of underserved communities and underrepresented groups.
To facilitate the formation of teams, SETO is providing a forum where interested parties can add themselves to a Teaming Partner List, which allows organizations that may wish to apply to the FOA, but not as the prime applicant, to express interest to potential partners. Prior to submitting a full application for this opportunity, a concept paper is due on May 27, 2022 at 5:00pm ET.
SETO will host an informational webinar on April 27, 2022 at 1:00 pm ET to discuss the funding program and the areas of focus. Register for the webinar. Learn more about this funding opportunity and other open funding opportunities within DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Capacity Building
Let’s Talk Mapping: What is the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and Why is it Important? | May 10th at 2p CT/3p ET | Register here
Communities have a right to know about the pollution, toxics and other environmental risks where we live, work and play. Mapping tools can provide information about pollution and toxic risks and how they compare across communities with differing socio economic characteristics. Such tools can assist decision-makers in prioritizing services for communities facing environmental injustices.
The White House recently released a beta version of a new Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, which is designed to help federal agencies identify disadvantaged communities. The release of the screening tool is an important step in the Justice40 Initiative implementation process as outlined in the President’s Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.
Come join Center for Earth Energy and Democracy (CEED) to discuss Midwest specific environmental justice issues that should be represented on the screening tool and explore the possibility of submitting comments to the Administration on how the tool can better represent environmental justice concerns. Community based and/or BIPOC led organizations are strongly encouraged to attend!
Getting Fossil Fuels out of Buildings | May 4th at 1p CT/2p ET | Register Here
Eliminating fossil fuels from buildings in an equitable way will take many of us using many creative approaches, and since the Midwest relies so heavily on gas to heat our buildings, the challenge is especially great here. Please join us on May 4th at 1 pm Central/ 2 pm Eastern to hear how RE-AMP members are working to eliminate fossil fuels from buildings and to talk about how we can work together to accelerate the transition to healthy, safe, and affordable buildings that use no fossil fuels. If you currently work or plan to work on decarbonizing emissions from buildings, this call is for you!
Events
Getting Fossil Fuels out of Buildings | May 4 | Register here
Let’s Talk Mapping: What is the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool and Why is it Important? | May 10th at 2p CT/3p ET | Register here
Agriculture and Food Systems Hub Monthly Call | May 16 | Register here
RE-AMP Steering Committee Elections | May 26-June 13
Transportation Hub Monthly Call | 4th Tuesday of the Month | Contact gail@reamp.org
Transportation Hub In Person Meeting | June 8-9 | Register here
RE-AMP Annual Meeting | September 21-23
Jobs
Environmental and Energy Study Institute: Policy Associate ($52,000)
Fresh Energy: Senior Policy Associate, Energy Transition ($52,900-$66,100)
Labor Network for Sustainability, Executive Director ($100,000-$200,000)
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Digital Communications Manager ($45,000-$50,000)