Tips for Writing Letters to the Editor
Submitting a letter to the editor of your local paper is a great way to voice your opinion about issues that are in the news. This is also a good way to make sure your legislators hear what you have to say since most legislators read their local newspapers and pay particular attention to Letters to the Editor.
Writing and sending a letter to your newspaper is easy. The hard part is getting the attention of the editor and getting your letter published. Editors pick and choose among numerous letters each week and select only a few for publication. There are things you can do to increase your chances of being one of the lucky few people who get to voice their opinion in print.
- Keep your letter short (about 250 words) and to the point.
- If possible, make references to a news article, editorial or Letter to the Editor that was previously published in the newspaper. Your letter is most likely to get printed if you refer to something that was recently published.
- Provides some key facts and relate them to your personal experience and/or events in your community.
- Include your contact information, including your telephone number. If the newspaper is considering publishing your letter they are likely to call you to verify that you submitted the letter. Your telephone number will not appear in the paper. A published letter will only include your name and city.
- Make sure you sign your letter, and type it if possible.
- Most newspapers will print contact information and instructions on submitting letters in the first section. In addition to mailing a letter, most papers also accept e-mail letters. Their online editions will generally have a “Contact” section with an e-mail address or form to submit your comments.
Key Message Points
Electricity from Coal…Affordable…Abundant…American
- We have more than a 200-year supply right here in
America.
- America has more coal than the entire Middle East has oil.
- America generates almost half of its electricity using coal.
- Coal is more affordable than natural gas. According
to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), in 2008 the
production cost of electricity generated with natural gas was
approximately three to five times more expensive than electricity
generated from coal. Natural gas is the most likely substitute for
coal.
Electricity from coal is getting cleaner.
- The coal-powered generating plants built today are much cleaner
than older plants. All new power plants must install the most advanced
pollution controls (called Best Available Control Technology under the
Clean Air Act) that older plants are not required to use.
- Over
the past 30 years, America's coal-based electricity providers have
invested more than $90 billion in technologies to reduce emissions --
while at the same time providing affordable, reliable electricity to
meet growing energy needs.
- Advanced clean coal technology called carbon capture and storage (CCS)
will capture the carbon dioxide at the source and pipe it deep
underground, preventing it from reaching the atmosphere, making the
coal plants of the future close to emissions free.
Clean Coal Technology means jobs for Americans.
- A study conducted
by a coalition of labor and energy groups in 2009 found that power
plants equipped with carbon capture and storage technologies will
create some five to seven million job-years of employment (one person
in a job for a year).
- A quarter of a million permanent jobs would be added during operations.