The importance of voting for climate action
There are many important things anyone can do to help the environment and solve climate change: drive less and drive electric; improve home efficiency and reduce energy use; or eat a more planet-friendly diet.
But there’s one action that may be the most important of all, and it’s relatively easy: it’s to vote for leaders who pledge strong climate action.
No matter how you feel about it, politics matters. As I often share with audiences, our elected leaders can do more with the stroke of a pen than I can do in years of educating and advising. Perhaps the best proof in recent history is the Inflation Reduction Act, a massive spending initiative passed in the US two years ago. In spite of its unwieldy name (thanks to politics), its main focus has been to invest in sustainability and green energy technologies. It’s working: along with creating jobs in communities across the US, it’s creating spin off effects around the world and bringing us closer to the decarbonized energy future we need.
Politics matters, so, by extension, voting to elect the leaders who will implement the right policies really matters.
New Brunswick voters are heading to the polls next month, and Canadian voters will be heading to the polls within the next year. At the federal level in particular, we face a stark choice: on one side are several parties with modest to ambitious climate action plans. On the other side is a party with no plan, whose single policy on the complicated matter of climate action sounds more like a nursery rhyme for preschoolers and simpletons.
(To be clear: carbon pricing is well accepted as a leading way to reduce emissions by respected free market organizations around the world like the London School of Economics, The Economist magazine, the OECD, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization. A recent review of global climate policies found that those that involved putting a price on pollution were the most successful.)
So wherever you are, for the next election that faces you, please:
- Let candidates and parties know that climate action matters to you
- Take the time to learn the different climate actions and policies proposed by each party
- My big ask: strive to understand that long-term interests are far more important than short-term interests, and the greater good is a more noble calling than our personal gain
- If you can, get involved: volunteer for a party that meshes with your values and stands for climate action
Be sure to vote for climate action; it’s one of the most important things you can do
One last thought: in chess, the queen tends to get most of the attention, because she exerts considerable control over the board with the power of her moves. However, it’s the loss of the understated king, not the queen, that ends the game. In our human world, economic issues such as affordability tend to get most of the attention. However, I would argue strenuously that it will be our understated environment that will determine our long-term destiny.
In the news:
Eighty-five per cent of a sample of Canadian CEOs surveyed by Deloitte said they “worry all or most of the time” about climate change.
A new report concludes that solar could significantly help Canada meet its net-zero commitments – but only with the right government policies and support programs.
Imagine that: renewables could cut European power prices in half by 2030, predicts a new report.
Quotable
“Physics doesn’t get a vote in Congress, but it gets the only vote that matters in the real world.”
Bill McKibben, July 26, 2024