The main climate action we should do is politics
The good news is your votes are quite a powerful tool for action! It does need more than just to tick the box every four years, though
“I Think of Voting as a Chess Move, Not a Valentine.” Rebecca Solnit
I’m going to argue here that the best, most effective and most urgent climate action we can take part in is politics. This is a positive action you can take and it is something you can do daily, weekly. monthly and more. As we all have a set amount of time/money we can put into action, I’m arguing this is the best place for it.
(Image - Solar farm near Blagdon, Noth Somerset)
A few caveats before I start on the why and how of my argument here.
First does not need to be the only thing you do, if you’re doing other things and they are working for you, great, I am also going to say it is work putting some time into politics. If you’ve got limited free time because of work/family etc - this is IMHO the best place to put energy.
Second I’m assuming as the reader you’re in a political system where you can influence the outcome. The main examples I’ll use here are from Uk and the US as that is what I know about. Would always be interested to read other’s points of view.
Third, I’m not saying if you’re not doing what I’m arguing that somehow you’re bad - not at all - if you’re doing something - anything - towards climate solutions that is always better than doing nothing.
OK let’s get into it. It has been apparent that humanity has needed to act for decades on climate. Year after year passes and yet the kind of meaningful global action we need to see does not come to pass. I’m not going to spell out the worrying situation we’re in, as plenty of others do so and very well. Over that time we’ve seen a plethora of different groups, tactics, actions over a range of different countries come to pass and yet nothing meaningful has changed. This is not an implicit criticism of all of those that have gone before, indeed I’ve taken part in plenty of them. It is simply an acknowledgement that the scale of the challenge is huge and getting action done is hard. But at its core, we need governments to act.
This is both a realistic and achievable course of action; as well as the huge rise in renewables, plus the fact that most people favour climate action, there are also solutions that are popular with voters and don’t cost taxpayers money - indeed they save us money - such as removing fossil fuel subsidies.
Our issue is the gap between these solutions and where we are now and what we need in the coming years. That gap is about political will and there are elections coming up that really, really matter!
So how do we close it?
We can help by making our up-coming climate action political. How? The theory here is pretty basic:
Find the next election of note to where you vote - local, national etc.
Find the politician there who has both a good chance of winning and who is better on climate issues.
Back the better climate candidate to win. This is where you can take meaningful action - volunteer for the campaign, donate to the campaign, advocate for them online and so on. But! As you help them make sure that they know that your support comes from them having a better climate position than the other possible victor in the race.
If they win, keep the pressure up on them to enact promises of climate action by writing to them to remind them of why they had your support. Whenever a big legislative vote on an item of climate legislation is coming up, write to them to ask if they will support it. Write to them to encourage them to go further on climate issues.
While that is happening, find the next election you can vote in. Repeat.
When there is no upcoming election - write to your incumbent representative on climate issues, even if they are not great on it, so they know that people do care about the issue
That’s it. That’s the strategy.
Some notes on the above.
So I’m based in the UK - next up for us is the local elections on May 2nd. This is for local councils and some other seats like police commissioner and some mayors. Then later in 2024 (no date as yet) will be the national elections where we vote to a Member of Parliament (MPs) and the party with the most MPs goes on to form a government.
This is not some silver bullet for climate action, I know. It is more like the Atomic Habits version where we’re focused on small but meaningful gains that over time, however they do become bigger and more potent the more we win.
It also means compromises. A lot of compromises. The reality of politics is about compromise and all too often, picking the lesser of two evils. It is sad but real. It means there will be other issues in the campaign whereyou really don’t agree with the candidate you are backing, yes not great, but getting climate solutions enacted is about being pragmatic at this stage. This is why letting that candidate know why you are backing them is so key.
A note on what candidates/party to back? Again, it's about being pragmatic. For example, what if there are other candidates/parties who are really good on climate but don’t really have a chance of winning? Sadly I don’t think that is the best place for our energy. We need climate policies enacted now and we need local and national governments who will respond to the inevitable climate disasters by going further on climate action. Which means you need to get people elected first.
What if there are no candidates talking about climate issues at all? You can go to political town halls and hustings and ask them. Contact the campaigns to ask? Put our climate on the agenda. Still not happening for you? Possibly even join the better climate policy party in your area which has a chance of victory and stand for election, running on climate as the issue for you.
What about the sense that all politicians are the same and the system seems broken? Totally understand that sentiment, however there is a huge difference, in climate terms, between a party that will do something and a party that not only denies that the issue exists but will actively aim to make things worse. Sure, I’d rather have big ambitious gains on climate policy, but if the alternative is between small gains and denial, I’ll take the small gains.
This view of taking action is echoed by top climate scientist Professor Michael Mann; “I push back on doomism because I don’t think it’s justified by the science, and I think it potentially leads us down a path of inaction … And there are bad actors today who are fanning the flames of climate doomism because they understand that it takes those who are most likely to be on the front lines, advocating for change, and pushes them to the sidelines, which is where polluters and petrostates want them.”
Ideally if you can find others in the area with the same concerns and act as a group of voters, the better! Plus there are always things you can do in a political campaign from online advocacy to campaign volunteering. One of the best things to offset feeling scared for the future, is to act for a better future - to borrow a slogan; Do More, Worry Less.
(Again, please don’t mean me saying not to worry as much as saying I don’t worry at all - I do - it's just that beyond the point of motivation for action, all worry does is just sap energy and morale. To steal a phrase, “Do more, worry less.” So when the worry hits, go up to the 6 point list above and do something there. There’s always a thing you can do - post, write, comment, upvote, like etc to advance your cause.")
Let me know your thoughts?
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