Why is 350 Action engaging in the Presidential election?
350 Action has never gotten involved in a Presidential election before. We’re doing it now because no candidate has ever posed a greater threat to climate justice than Donald Trump.
Donald Trump wants to cancel the Paris climate agreement, build Keystone XL, and burn as much coal, oil and gas as possible. His Presidency would make him a one-man climate catastrophe, and if we hope for real action, we have to keep him out of the White House.
At the same time, the planet has never been this hot. Scientists are clear that we’re running out of time to address this crisis. We can already see the impacts: flooding in Louisiana, fires in California, heat-waves across the country, and we know that the way governments respond to crises often follow patterns of racism and classism. If a racist climate denier like Donald Trump becomes President it would be a disaster for the severity of future impacts and the quality of government response.
This election is critical for the climate and our communities.
What are we trying to accomplish?
- Make sure Donald Trump, the worst Presidential candidate on climate ever, will not have a path to the White House.
- Make sure our next President is one that we can effectively pressure to take stronger positions on climate justice, that gives us the best chance to continue building our movement and creating the climate action we need.
- Continue building a stronger, smarter, more connected climate movement that’s ready to continue pushing for more ambitious action through this election and beyond.
- Build stronger connections and mobilize with progressive allies working to stop Trump, so that our movements can come into the next administration stronger than ever.
What are we asking people to do?
We want people across the country mobilizing to make sure that Donald Trump will not have a path to the White House. Here are the ways you can help:
- We need your help calling and texting people in the key battleground states that will decide this election. We’re teaming up with the folks at NextGen Climate, who have offered their very best calling and texting tools to the movement. Click here to join the get-out-the-vote team to start calling and texting.
- Host or join a get out the vote house party in your community. Hey, this is more fun with friends, and nothing is more powerful than meeting face to face, building connections, and acting on plans together. These house parties will help us build a stronger, smarter, more connected climate movement that’s prepared for more ambitious action through this election and every day after that. If you want to host an event, click here. We’ll be emailing soon about opportunities to attend an event near you. If you’re not already on our email list join at 350action.org.
- If candidates are coming to your area, help push them to take stronger climate policies through birddogging. By constantly questioning her during the primaries, we got Hillary Clinton to come out against the Keystone XL pipeline, and now we’re making her a stronger candidate by getting her to oppose Dakota Access as well — but you can ask climate questions of any candidate. To get involved, contact Miles at [email protected].
- If you’re a student — especially if you live in one of the key battleground swing states — join the get out the vote effort on your campus. Help organize or attend an event with your classmates, or find other ways to join the get out the vote effort. To learn more and to get plugged in on campus, click here. And for a personal take on what the election means for the fossil fuel divestment and youth climate movement from campus organizer Becca Rast, click here.
Is 350 Action endorsing Secretary Clinton?
We are not endorsing Secretary Clinton — we’re endorsing our movement. We’re endorsing the idea that we have the power to make the change our climate and communities so desperately need, and hold off total disaster.
We don’t believe Secretary Clinton has yet embraced all of the policies that are needed for climate justice. But when compared with Donald Trump — and the risk of him becoming President if we sit out the election — there is no comparison.
We do believe that together, we have the power to push her to take stronger stances that are more consistent with climate science and justice. We’ve already proven we can pressure Secretary Clinton to take stands that keep carbon in the ground – like opposing the TPP, Keystone XL, and coal leasing on public lands. Donald Trump will never give us the opportunity.
So why vote for her?
Voting for Secretary Clinton is the only way we know we can defeat Trump and Trump-ism. With her in office, we can continue to push her with other progressives, just like we’ve done the past eight years, to build towards a different vision.
In addition to being the worst Presidential candidate on climate change ever, Trump is also racist, sexist, and unstable, making him a threat to social justice and communities across the country and around the world. His election would worsen many of the injustices that are at the root cause of the climate crisis.
We need to do what we can to make sure he will not have a path to the White House, even if it’s hard, and even if it’s uncomfortable.
How will we make sure Secretary Clinton keeps her promises if elected? How do we know we can push her?
We’ve got to organize, and continue taking ambitious action. We know that when we do, we can shift what’s politically possible in this country.
President Obama wasn’t a climate champion either — but we were able to push him to take more ambitious action than any president before him, and can do so again. In a few short years our movement has moved him from endorsing an ‘all of the above’ energy policy that embraced coal, oil and gas, to rejecting Keystone XL, rolling back coal sales on public land and staking his legacy on his climate record.
Together, our movements got Secretary Clinton to come out against the TPP and Keystone XL, commit to investigate Exxon’s climate lies, and pushed her team to adopt the strongest climate platform in Democratic Party history. It’s thanks to the leadership shown by local activists across the country fighting for climate justice.
350 Action has spent the election pushing candidates to take stronger positions on climate and climate justice — and we will continue doing so in 2017 and beyond.