Over the years thousands of Americans have cowered and hoped for escape at the approach of a climate disaster caused by nature – hurricane, wildfire, air pollution, flooding. Hope, prayers, and the question: ‘Have we done enough to keep safe?’ all running through their minds as they wait.
Next week tens of millions of us will be hunkering down, hoping to escape a climate disaster caused by ourselves – by Americans’ choice at the polls. Hope, prayers, and the question ‘Have we done enough to avoid the climate disaster that could fall on us if Republican politicians gain sway in Washington and state capitals?’
No, we won’t have done enough if our country’s efforts to slow climate change and protect against its effects are trashed on Election Day. And this will happen if Republicans can implement even a small part of their Project2025. For instance:
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The avowed closure of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other agencies organizing America’s fight against emissions and climate damage.
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The suspension of current community projects to build local protections against heat, flood, drought, and infrastructure damage when federal funding through the Inflation Investment Act is cut off.
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The long-term dangers of unrestrained ‘drill-baby-drill’ fossil fuel emissions.
If we’re already cowering and waiting for the election results, and those questions haunt us, there are still five days in which we can influence the outcome.
Maybe we can join one of these eclectic, sometimes quirky, efforts across the country:
The Environmental Voter Project, Lead Locally, Charge the Vote, Pizza to the Polls, Climate Voters for Harris, Climatechangemakers, 350.org Climate Vote Project, or the Sierra Club Mobilize Project.
Or we can simply type into our search engine something like
I think these groups can help us answer ‘Yes!’ to the did-we-do-something question when we’re hunkered down with our fingers crossed in front of our favorite media on Tuesday night.
If it seems unlikely that any campaigning efforts can make a difference so close to the election, that’s not the case! It’s time to Get Out The Vote. At this point we’re not trying to convince anyone to become a climate voter. We’re reaching identified sympathisers and pushing them to actually vote – to mail in their ballot, get to the polls, maybe take someone with them to the polls. If those registered voters who have said they worry about the environment and climate but who don’t bother to vote turned around and actually voted this year, the results wouldn’t even be close!
Buddy and I published our first ClimateDog three years ago this weekend. Roughly 150 newsletters later, I checked to see how many of the topics we covered are still relevant to our lives – and to the lives of our grandchildren. Sadly, almost all of them! In a few days I will know if upcoming ClimateDog letters will be about fighting impediments to the climate safeguards we need or about the open and growing opportunities to build those safeguards.
Whether after next week’s election, American emissions go up or down, whether our local safeguards become easier or harder to implement, and whether our community is breathing a sigh of relief or is grinding its teeth in anguish, it will be nice to be able to tell ourselves, “I really did try to do enough to make a ddifference.”