Food & Water Volunteer Network: How We Took On Manchin

It's truly impressive what feats we can accomplish together! Check out some of the work of our Food & Water Volunteer Network!

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by Katy Kiefer

Every significant win we’ve been able to achieve – from banning fracking in New York and Maryland, to getting arsenic out of chicken feed – wouldn’t have been possible without our incredible team of volunteers. The behind-the-scenes work that it takes to win real policy change doesn’t often get the spotlight, but it’s critical to our must-win fights for safe food, clean water, and a livable climate.

Our Food & Water Volunteer Network helps to build power on our campaigns from every angle: making calls and sending text messages to mobilize support from the public, lobbying elected officials to take the right policy positions, gathering petition signatures, speaking at community events, and getting our issues covered in the media. No matter where you are, how much time you have, or your experience level — we need you in this fight and we have a role for you.

Stopping Manchin’s Side Deal Was A Passion Project For Our Volunteers

In our recent efforts to stop Senator Manchin’s dirty side deal to fast-track fossil fuel projects, our volunteers played a major role in blocking initial attempts to pass this deal that would greenlight the Mountain Valley Pipeline and make it harder for communities to stop dangerous fossil fuel projects.

When we first heard that Senator Schumer had struck a deal with Manchin in exchange for his vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, it seemed like an insurmountable hurdle to block this deal. There was little to no public opposition from members of Congress, and it could have passed in secret.

When we let our volunteers know what Schumer and Manchin were planning behind closed doors, they dove into action – getting thousands of phone calls into Congress, showing up at rallies, and even getting arrested to take a stand against this deal.

People Working Together Build The Power to Win Against All Odds

All-in-all, we mobilized over 10,000 calls into Congress – an incredible amount of calls in just a few weeks – and over 80 Representatives and 8 Senators joined letters to Congressional leadership in opposition. This deal went from “likely to pass” to “politically unfeasible,” largely due to our volunteers working to mount such powerful opposition. 

There’s still a long road ahead to stop Manchin’s deal for good, but we know our team is up to the challenge.

Are you ready to join in? Check out our dashboard of upcoming volunteer opportunities and join a First-Time Volunteer Action Call to get started.

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