Friday, September 20, 2024

so many reasons to [help others] vote

Greetings, all! I'm coming in heavy today from the throes of planning the local version of a UU Climate Revival event taking place at 350 congregations nationwide on Saturday, Sept. 28th. The aim is to help our folks, who are traditionally very active in all kinds of social justice activism, see that climate justice overarches all the "justices"--both in that if we don't have a livable planet, reproductive rights don't matter much, for example, and also that economic, racial and immigration justice are all deeply connected to climate change.

What applies to every one of us is the hour of advocacy action we'll take as part of Sunday's service: a nonpartisan Get Out the Vote effort. Why does it matter? Because we can support those affected "first and worst" by climate change to raise their voices through their votes.

Wanna hear something surprising? Loads of people who identify as environmentalists don't vote regularly! (I don't know; are they out kayaking on Election Day?) The Environmental Voter Project aims to change that.

"We estimate that over 8 million environmentalists did not vote in the 2020 presidential election and over 13 million skipped the 2022 midterms. We are a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on a simple, high-leverage solution to this problem: with an 8-year track record of success, we are accurately identifying these non-voting environmentalists and efficiently converting them into a critical mass of consistent voters that will soon be too big for politicians to ignore.

13,000,000
Environmentalists who don’t vote in federal elections

1,824,260
Non-voting and seldom-voting environmentalists whom EVP has helped turn into consistent super-voters"


You can help! Look at all these opportunities to contact the kayakers and get them to the polls! (Unfortunately, my favorite way is to write, and those opportunities are already filled.) https://www.environmentalvoter.org/get-involved


And if you need to know which candidates in your area are the ones to vote for, try these resources:
  • National Environmental Scorecard by the League of Conservation Voters, 501(c)(4), is a great topline review of members in Congress.
  • The National Climate Scorecard by the Climate Cabinet, 501(c)(4), may be the first tool that tracks and scores all state legislators across the U.S. by their votes on climate and environmental justice legislation.
  • Do you have a "Climate Mayor?" Check HERE to see if your Mayor is one of the 750 Climate Mayors or Climate County Executives. 
  • Do you have a climate Governor who is contributing to a state-wide climate action plan? Check HERE.
  • Have your community’s leaders already declared a Climate Emergency? Check HERE to see the more than 190 communities that have.
And now for the poetry...the only poetry book I know on democracy and elections is this one by Janet Wong from 2012--but it does the trick!




Go sow your own seeds, of course, and help others sow theirs. Thanks to Linda Baie at TeacherDance for hosting us today and celebrating maximum tilt!







10 comments:

  1. Heidi, amen! So many issues connected to climate change. The environment should definitely be at the top of everyone’s priority list. Thank you for sharing all those resources and Janet Wong’s poem – I hadn’t read that one! Most of all thank you for sharing your seeds of wisdom!

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  2. First, thanks for the book rec in your comment on my post, Heidi, ordered! And, from your post, thanks for so many great links. Colorado is on all the lists! I have Janet's book, time to share it again, and all those lovely seeds!

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  3. Heidi, thanks for all the wonderful links. It is time to voice our concerns. I looked up my government legislators and I found Jennifer Wexler who helped me navigate the disability issues when we first arrived in VA. It is good to know that she pro-environmental concerns. I love every stanza in the poem. It would be a good one to read with middle school children. Who knows- a smal project may come of this.

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  4. Yes to more seeds! The religious action committee has a similar nonpartisan get-out-the-vote effort. But yikes, I had no idea that so many folks who identify as environmentalists don't vote. I really don't get that... or why climate change isn't the number 1 issue in this election.

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  5. Heidi, SO many reasons to vote this year! I really had no idea that so many who consider themselves environmentalists don't vote. What?! It's hard to imagine not voting, especially when there is so much at stake. Thanks, as always for your passion and activism.

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  6. Whoa I had no idea so many environmentalists don't vote. Do they think their vote doesn't matter? And I didn't know about this Janet Wong collection!

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  7. ON IT! Thanks for the push to help the planet!

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  8. Thank you for your passion, Heidi, and for sharing Janet's great poem!

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  9. Fabulous post! Thank you for the resources and the umph!

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  10. Thank you for this post and links, Heidi! This election there's a huge difference in the environmental impact of the two parties on the ballot in every race from President on down. Thank you, too, for all your tireless work for addressing climate change!

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Thanks for joining in the wild rumpus!