E134: Inside Denver's Local Climate Action Playbook

May 7, 2026

Chelsea Warren, Marketing and Communications Manager at Denver’s Office of Climate Action, uses behavior-change campaigns to make local climate work relatable. She discusses how Denver turned federal rollbacks into voter-funded programs, quirky outreach like ice cream pop-ups, the power of incentives and social comparison, and framing climate action around health, savings, and everyday quality of life.

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ANECDOTE

Voters Created Denver's Dedicated Climate Fund

Denver created a voter-funded Climate Protection Fund via a 2020 sales and use tax to cut pollution and adapt the city.
The fund supports solar on nonprofits, e-bike and heat pump rebates, demonstration projects, and policy changes.

ADVICE

Design Campaigns With Behavior Change Research

Use behavior‑driven marketing to make climate action feel everyday and doable.
Chelsea built the Denver Climate Project from two years of behavior research and hired a behavior-change agency to design messaging.

INSIGHT

Keep Taglines Simple And Universally Inclusive

Simple, flexible taglines work across audiences; testing found one clear winner.
'Do more, do less, do something' beat five alternatives in English and Spanish during focus groups.

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Washington and the COP conferences get all the headlines, but some of the most creative and effective climate action in the world is emerging from city halls — and Denver's Office of Climate Action is one of the best examples of what's possible.

This week, Molly zooms in on the Mile High City as she talks with Chelsea Warren, Marketing and Communications Manager for Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency.

Chelsea has spent years building one of the country's most effective city-level climate communications programs, making the case that local government is where climate action gets real.

We talk about:

Why local government is the frontline of climate action, and why local action matters more than ever
How Denver used the rollback of federal climate policies to motivate voters to fund local climate initiatives like solar, e-bike rebates, heat pump programs, and more
Using the science of behavioral change to effectively promote climate action
Goodwill pop-ups, ice cream collaborations, and other non-traditional ways Denver activated around a climate campaign, and delivered 128 million impressions in the process
Why financial incentives and positive social comparison beat education every time when it comes to motivating climate action
The perception gap: most people wildly underestimate how many of their neighbors care about climate action
How effective, human-centered storytelling can combat pessimism and inaction
The co-benefits frame: reaching people through health, savings, and quality of life, not just the environment

E134: Inside Denver's Local Climate Action Playbook

Voters Created Denver's Dedicated Climate Fund

Design Campaigns With Behavior Change Research

Keep Taglines Simple And Universally Inclusive

We talk about:

Links: