QuinnThomas Public Affairs

CLIMATE SOLUTIONS. Bringing Together Disparate Interests Around a Common Goal. [Coalition Building]. CHALLENGE: Sometimes public policy objectives can bring together groups with a history of antagonism. Such is the case with bio-fuels, which are promoted by both environmental groups and farmers for their environmental benefits and rural development potential. Getting these groups to collaborate, however, takes careful outreach and finely-tuned objectives. SOLUTION: In order to harness the collective political influence of these disparate groups, the non-profit environmental advocacy group Climate Solutions engaged a partner at Quinn Thomas in an effort to boost federal funding for bio-fuels and energy efficiency projects. We formed a 4-state coalition of farm and environmental groups from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana in an effort to expand grant programs in the U.S. farm bill. The power of bringing together groups from across the political spectrum is that you can truly create bi-partisan momentum and achieve success. The coalition created an environment where these disparate groups could coordinate their advocacy, share intelligence, and move Members of Congress to support their objectives. SUCCESS: In this case, the Northwest Ag Energy Coalition was able to coordinate members of the Northwest congressional delegation to all sign on to their agenda items. The result was an increase in funding for the core programs we targeted.