by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Zogby Strategies, 74% of voters ages 18-29 want state and local governments to do more about climate change, especially in the face of the Trump administration’s denial of the crisis and rollbacks of Obama-era climate policies. For the past few years, tens of thousands of young people have been turning out at marches, sit-ins, and demonstrations to demand that elected officials take climate action.
Campaigning on climate change in conservative-leaning towns and counties might not seem like the best way to get elected. But each of these candidates believes that voters are ready for local action on climate-aligned issues like resilient infrastructure, clean drinking water, and environmental justice.The effects of climate change are obvious in Grants Pass.
Across the country in Jacksonville, Florida, Hamm shares Ogier’s hope of flipping a seat in a Republican stronghold. Her district has not elected a Democrat to the city council since 2003. But voters have been responsive to her ideas for climate action, she says, which include developing urban green spaces, protecting local waterways from pollution, and investing in resilient infrastructure to defend local homes and businesses from flooding caused by rising sea levels.
So Hamm is also calling for restoring overgrown and inoperable storm drains as part of her overall plan to create climate-resilient infrastructure.Similar issues and disparities are present in the Berrien County, Michigan area where Bell is running for a seat on the board of commissioners.
“Using environmentally safe practices is the best approach” to solving these problems, says Bell, “rather than trying to put a band-aid on them. We need to think long term.”The city with the worst water quality at the time of the report was Benton Harbor, a majority Black community located just a couple of miles north of where Bell is campaigning in St. Joseph.
Although conservative white men have historically dominated the commission, Bell says voters are responding positively to his climate action platform. “When I talk to community members, they’re like, ‘yeah, we’d love to see the erosion stop, and our water quality better,’” he says.
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