Don’t believe what you’ve heard. There is one single thing you can give up that will help address climate change: voter apathy. One-third of eligible voters - 80 million Americans - did not vote in the presidential election last time around. Why not? Because they just “weren’t registered” or they “weren’t interested in politics,” according to this Ipsos survey. It’s so much worse for local elections. Turnout in 10 of America’s largest cities was less than 15%, according to the Who Votes for Mayor project. In Dallas, just 6% voted in recent local elections. Earth Day is a perfect day to register to vote and to make sure people in your life are registered - and fully aware of what’s at stake in Election 2024. The first Earth Day in 1970 saw teach-ins, walkouts, and demonstrations grab the participation of 20 million Americans - about 10 percent of the total U.S. population at the time. That mobilization contributed to the creation of the EPA and bedrock American environmental laws. Earth Day is of course also the victim of egregious corporate greenwashing and PR marketing. Just ask any environmental journalist what it’s like to open their Inbox in April. Push that aside. Most Americans have real questions and concerns about climate change that should be engaged with on a day like today. Americans are most interested in learning about solutions to the climate crisis. To be exact, 44% of those surveyed by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communications said that if they could talk with a climate expert they would ask about solutions. They wanted to know specifically: “Is there still time to reduce global warming, or is it too late?” And they asked, “What can the nations of the world (especially the U.S.) do to reduce global warming?” This may be why we’re seeing a recent embrace in books and movies of what the sociologist Dana R. Fisher calls “apocalyptic optimism.” So, in the spirit of change-making this Earth... |