The Coming Thunder of the Climate Change Voter

The Coming Thunder of the Climate Change Voter
By William Rivers Pitt Truthout
Published August 9, 2018


I believe human-caused climate change is real and presents a direct and deepening threat to life on Earth as we know it. I believe the air, the food and the water are all in grave peril. I can’t believe saying that remains controversial, because the evidence of it is literally on fire in front of us. The images are broadcast into our homes each night by the nightly news shows, whose anchors are at long last uttering the words, now that it might be too late.

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According to recent studies, a full 71 percent of Americans believe climate change is real and happening; 47 percent are “very” or “extremely” certain of it. Some 44 percent believe, like me, that they have already experienced the effects of climate change. Most telling, 54 percent believe their families will suffer harm due to climate change, 67 percent believe the US will suffer harm, 71 percent believe people in developing nations will suffer harm and a full 75 percent believe our children, and their children, will suffer harm because of climate change.

In other words, there is more happening here than voters simply caring about the environment. A large and growing group of people see with their own eyes what is unfolding here at home and around the world. Many of those have already been personally affected or expect to be personally affected. Most of them believe their children will be affected. It is hard to see how blaming the trees for climate-caused wildfires can do anything other than offend and motivate this climate change voter bloc.

“Large numbers of latent climate voters have always existed,” writes Nathaniel Stinnett, executive director of the Environmental Voter Project, “with as many as 20 million registered voters listing environmental issues as one of their top priorities — but historically, few of them turn out on Election Day. Ironically, with the Trump administration explicitly denying the scientific consensus around climate change, the president may be accomplishing something the environmental movement has struggled to do for years — convincing environmentalists of the importance of voting.”

“Polling shows that US voters not only understand climate science, but more and more are increasingly worried about it,” writes Anna Fahey for the Sightline Institute, “including hefty shares of moderate Republicans and Independents. A Pew Research Center study confirms that millennial generation voters — ages 22 to 37 this election season — are considerably more liberal than older Americans. What’s more, that group now represents 28 percent of the US adult population. These voters are considerably more likely to support climate action and the Congressional candidates who talk them up.”

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https://truthout.org/articles/the-coming-thunder-of-the-climate-change-voter/