The Environmental Defense Action Fund has declared the first week of March “Climate Video Action Week,” and is encouraging people nationwide to participate in a unique initiative to encourage the passage of climate change legislation.

With its slogan “Climate. Camera. Action.” the group is asking people to contact their legislators in a new way, by creating 30-second videos explaining why legislation with a cap on carbon emissions is important to them.

Many legislators are hesitant to pass such legislation, particularly with elections approaching, because they are unsure if they have support in their home states, said the fund’s spokeswoman Rebecca Rasch said.

“What we’ve been finding time and again is senators, whatever their personal views, are reluctant to vote because they don’t know if they have support from constituents,” she said. “We want to make clear to them that there are a lot of people that want this.”

ASU law professor Gary Marchant said passing legislation is key to solving climate change issues.

“Every day the problem is getting a lot worse. We’re putting way more carbon into the atmosphere than we can take out, and since it stays there for so long, the time to do something is now,” he said. “It’s only going to get harder, and there’s some sense that if we’re going to take action it should be now.”

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 in June, and the Senate is set to vote on a similar bill this spring.

This vote is what the Environmental Defense Action Fund has its sights on influencing through the video campaign.

Once videos are completed, constituents are asked to upload them to YouTube and post the link on the group’s Web site.

At the end of February the best videos will be complied and sent to the Senators of their respective states.

Joe Hoxie, a political science junior and president of ASU environmental-advocacy group EcoAid on Campus, said the video campaign is a fun way for students to get involved in what he considers a pressing issue.

“It’s all part of the political movement — lobbying, getting the voice out,” Hoxie said. “It’s definitely important to make laws and restrictions on the ways we use and abuse our environment, and there’s been a lot of talk, but nothing has actually been passed [into law.]”

Rasch said introducing creativity is part of the reason for structuring the campaign in this way.

“We want to encourage as many students as possible to join our campaign,” Rasch said. “There’s always the traditional methods [of contacting legislators] like letters and phone calls, but we thought the videos were a good way to do something different and be creative. We’re trying to encourage more people to reach out to senators and say ‘This is important to me.’”

Reach the reporter at keshoult@asu.edu