Voting Climate Resources 2020

 

(Originally published August 31 and updated October 19)

This is a singularly, urgently consequential election up and down the ballot for fighting the climate crisis. We hope this compilation of resources for voting climate is helpful to you.

We’ve organized this post into three sections: 

  1. Resources and Background

  2. The Importance of Voting Climate This Year

  3. What Happens Next: a Brief Note on the Fight for Progress After the Election

 
 
Photo: Sari Goodfriend

Photo: Sari Goodfriend

 
 

1. Resources and Background

As climate scientist Michael Mann writes in a recent article, “voting is a moment of activism that can have a years-long impact.” As the climate crisis accelerates, our vote this election will reverberate powerfully, in fact determinatively, for years to come. Fortunately, despite extraordinary anti-democratic voter suppression tactics this year, there’s evidence of very high electoral engagement and a significant climate voting bloc.

More generally, a growing “climate public” recognizes that in order to secure a healthier, safer future; protect our air and water; and demand environmental justice for frontline communities, climate must be at the forefront of our communal mindset this election. 

The fossil fuel industry, whose business model is incompatible with our own well-being, has been a major player in US electoral politics. It is time for this influence to end and for the climate public—you—to step in.

Please vote up and down the ballot for candidates who:

  • Embrace the overarching, urgent priority of climate action

  • Support ambitious, sweeping, and justice-centered climate policy like the Green New Deal

  • Refuse to accept campaign donations from the fossil fuel industry

  • Oppose subsidies for the fossil fuel industry

Below we outline several resources for voter information across the country and additional websites to support your assessment of candidates’ views on climate action. 

Make a plan for voting! 

Urge everyone you know to vote!

Tell your friends and family members you are voting climate! Grow the climate public!

•••

COVID-19 Voting Information — Rock The Vote 

Rock The Vote provides the latest voting information in regards to how voting practices have changed in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This site outlines the voting policies by state. 

Register To Vote — When We All Vote

Voter Registration for every state. As of October 19, the deadline for registration has passed in about 30 states, and in some places it is today. Please register if you  haven’t already!  

Democratic and Republican Views of Climate Change (2018) — Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (July 1, 2020)

This map provides variations in the climate and clean energy views of Democrats and Republicans on the national level and for all 50 states and 435 congressional districts. 

The 2020 Climate Test — 350 Action

“Our next president needs to be a real climate leader. That means supporting a Green New Deal to create millions of good jobs transitioning to the 100% renewable energy-powered economy we need, opposing climate-wrecking fossil fuel projects, and refusing to take big polluters’ money. See where all the candidates stand—then, take action.”

Voteless Not Voiceless — Bow Seat (2020)

A voting campaign led by “voteless” youth, who are inspiring “voters to cast their ballots for healthy environments, for resilient communities, and for a climate-safe future for all.” This site provides resources for voteless youth to get involved in the climate fight (while unable to vote).

2. Why voting climate is more important this year than any other election year

Prepare and arm yourself with the truth this election. Our climate is changing rapidly, endangering our communities and jeopardizing our common future. We must confront this threat with everything we have. Collectively, what side of history will we be  on?

It’s time for America to reassert climate leadership. It starts with voting. — Michael Mann for The Guardian (July 29, 2020)

‘We need collective action and systemic change. We need policies to incentive the decarbonization of our society. That requires politicians willing to support climate-friendly policies. And the only way we get them is by voting.’

Covering the 2020 Election as a Climate Story — Columbia Journalism Review, EcoWatch (July 17, 2020)

‘The election is also pivotal for the climate emergency—and its solutions.’

2020 Is Our Last, Best Change to Save the Planet — Justin Worland, TIME (JULY 9, 2020)

“Climate change has understandably fallen out of the public eye this year as the coronavirus pandemic rages. Nevertheless, this year, or perhaps this year and next, is likely to be the most pivotal yet in the fight against climate change.”

Climate Congress 2020 — 350.org 

350.org gives an overview of their top seven priorities to “ensure that COVID-19 stimulus legislation prioritizes people over polluters, and that communities are protected in both the short and long term from coronavirus and the climate crisis.”

Climate of Change: How to Vote Against Environmental Racism  — Complex World

“Two events that have defined the formative years of Gen Z: COVID-19 and the climate crisis. Young climate activists who are tired of waiting on the grown ups are amplifying the climate change movement; planning mass protests from childhood bedrooms and during school. In this episode of Complex World, we look at how Gen Z is navigating 2020, and what lays ahead in this year’s election season.”

Climate 2020 Podcast — by The Planet Project, INC., and BOOM

The Climate 2020 Podcast explores climate as the top issue in the upcoming election, sharing details and debates on climate policies and solutions. 

The Next Election Is About the Next 10,000 Years — Bill McKibben, yes! Solutions Journalism, (July 20, 2020)

“Every election that passes, we lose leverage—this time around our last chance at limiting the temperature rise to anything like 1.5 degrees would slip through our fingers. Which is why we need to register and vote as never before.”

3. What Happens Next: The Climate Fight Continues After the Election

Voting in the upcoming election is indispensable. But no matter the outcome, election day results will not be the end of our fight for a climate safe future. The last five years are the hottest on record. With hurricanes raging and the West burning—both more intensely and earlier all the time—we must reverse a powerful trajectory. 

We are in a climate emergency. We need all hands on deck.

The single most important day-to-day thing you can do, now and after November, is to talk about the climate crisis. Start with people who know and trust you—to your friends and family, you are the most effective climate messenger. You can use our Climate Ambassador Cards as a resource.  

Additional civic actions on climate to consider:

  • Join a climate focused organization

  • Advocate for climate action at your workplace or school  

  • Call your representatives at the local, state, and federal levels and urge them to fight for climate progress, turn down fossil fuel donations, and (at the state and federal levels) end subsidies to the industry. Let them know you’re a climate voter who demands to see policy at a scale pertinent to the crisis.

LET’S COME TOGETHER FOR THE GREATEST VOTER TURNOUT YET AND FOR CONTINUING MOBILIZATION IN THE MONTHS TO COME. VOTE AND FIGHT FOR A CLIMATE-SAFE FUTURE!

 
 
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Miranda Massie