The Democratic and Republican conventions are history, and the epochal 2016 election is now before us. My general theory is less talk and more action, so I hope you’ll join me in taking this climate pledge, one that will power our efforts into the fall.
But since I’ve got the microphone, maybe I’ll say a few more words.
One is, Trump is truly bad news. His insistence that global warming is a Chinese manufactured hoax, and his declaration that he will abrogate the Paris treaty mean that he’s as much a nihilist on climate change as he is on anything else. In fact, no major party candidate since the start of the global warming era has been as bad on this issue, not even close. He’s also terrifying for many other obvious reasons.
Second is, it was a little hard for me to watch Bernie’s bittersweet speech to the Democratic convention. He’s my Vermont neighbor (where 350.org was born), and he was my candidate, and he talked about climate change as no presidential candidate ever has before, declaring forthrightly that it was the greatest problem the planet faced. I wish he’d won.
But his powerful showing meant, among other things, that he had a significant hand in writing the Democratic party platform for 2016. (In fact, he named me as one of fifteen platform writers. Did I say we were neighbors?) And though it’s far from perfect it is by far the strongest party platform on climate issues Americans have ever seen.
This is my third thought. In four years we’ve gone from an ‘all of the above’ energy strategy to one that explicitly favors sun and wind over natural gas. The platform promises a Keystone-style test for all federal policy: if it makes global warming worse, it won’t be built. And it calls for an emergency climate summit in the first hundred days of the new administration.All those changes are the direct result of your work, showing up to demand action over many months and years.
Last night Hillary Clinton pledged to enact that platform, and she said “we have to hold every country accountable to their commitments, including ourselves.”
“Accountability” is the right word. Will this platform mean anything more than words? That actually depends on you. If we vote as climate voters this fall — and if we then show up to demand that those promises are kept — this could turn out to be a ground-breaking political season. That’s why we need you signed on to this pledge, and lined up to get out the vote and do the other chores of an election.
But remember: election day is just one day in the political calendar. The other 364 count just as much.
Our job is not to elect a savior. Our job is to elect someone we can effectively pressure. And as tough as the work of this election will be — the real work starts on Wednesday November 9th.
That’s how it seems to me, anyway. There’s plenty to be scared of this election season, and plenty to hope for. And most of all there’s plenty of work to be done.
Bill McKibben