Voting For The Environment: New Critical Action (and some good news)
The runoff election for the US Senate seat in Georgia between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker is critical in terms of having a voice in the Senate that is sympathetic to climate and other environmental concerns. The election will take place on December 6, 2022.
This is not about partisan politics, there are Republican and conservative groups that acknowledge the issues, but about these specific candidates and having any hope at all for ongoing Senate support for fighting climate change.
Senator Warnock takes a religious view when explaining why he wants to protect the environment. Whether you share that perspective or not, there are many active in environmental protection in the religious community including the climate scientist, author and evangelical Christian Katharine Hayhoe and the group ecoAmerica.
From Reverend Warnock’s website:
“The flooding and extreme weather we have seen in coastal Georgia and across the South are sobering reminders of how devastating climate change can be in our daily lives. Reverend Warnock believes we must accept the science, invest in infrastructure, and combat the climate crisis that is already at our door. He sees climate change as a moral issue, which we must act on by ignoring Washington special interests, and instead putting effective, common sense policies in place.
Reverend Warnock’s emphasis on climate justice is guided by his faith and his understanding that “the Earth is the Lord’s.” He understands that the harm we do to the planet often disproportionately impacts marginalized communities. He believes environmental policy doesn’t just focus on addressing long-term challenges, but everyday problems. That means recognizing and resolving the lack of access to clean water and air many Black and brown families endure and the higher share of income those families regularly pay in energy bills.
In the Senate, Reverend Warnock has introduced the Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act to rapidly boost American solar manufacturing, accelerate the transition to clean energy, and support American energy independence.”
From Hershel Walker’s website:
“Gas and energy prices are skyrocketing as a result of bad Democratic energy policy decisions. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the past year, America cannot depend on other countries for our essential resources, including energy. Herschel will fight to make America energy independent once again, leading to lower gas prices, more American jobs being brought back from overseas, and stronger national security.”
A statement so vague as to be meaningless, but shows that he has no interest in protecting the environment in any way.
Walker’s response to the funds allocated to climate and health action in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was to decry planting trees, asking “don’t we have enough trees around here?” Not only was he showing complete ignorance of the value of trees, including a beneficial effect on urban heat islands, but also his misunderstanding, willful or otherwise, of the IRA. He gives an erroneous exageration of the tax burden on the middle class from the IRA, and in a bizarre non-sequitur demands money for law enforcement and complained about funding the Internal Revenue Service.
Walker said on 11/13/22: “What we need to do is keep having those gas-guzzling cars, 'cause we got the good emissions under those cars. We're doing the best thing that we can” showing a complete misunderstanding, again willful or otherwise, of what is at stake and what we can do about it.
While the actions that we can take are limited to citizens of the United States, the implications of the midterm elections are global and are already being felt at COP27
What can you do?
If you live in Georiga:
Vote
Talk to others who live in Georgia
If you don’t live in Georgia (but do live in the US), you can consider:
1. Phone bank, text bank, write postcards. There are many groups you can work with. Some are “get out the vote” campaigns that stress nonpartisan messages. Vote Forward has a letter writing campaign, and the Environmental Voter Project say they will have a campaign soon.
2. Talk to anyone you know in Georgia who may need a bit of encouragement.
3. Donate to Warnock’s campaign if you can afford to, or perhaps even better give to groups that are doing get out the vote efforts such as Black Voters Matter, a get out the vote organization based in Atlanta, or Fair Fight, a PAC that also has boots on the ground in Georgia.
On a positive note, check out these headlines:
Since nice things do happen and good news is good here are two positive stories:
In France it is now mandated that large parking lots will be covered with solar panels.
Take Action: If appropriate and possible, see if your employer or other organizations you are involved with would consider this for their open parking lots. Consider communicating with your representatives, local government officials or sustainability officers where you work or go to school about doing this for their open parking lots or rooftop parking where appropriate.
2. A 17-year-old designed an electric motor that is more sustainable that can be important because it doesn’t use magnets that rely on rare earth metals.