The Earth Needs Your Vote!

Up until now, I’ve avoiding injecting politics into my posts about the Climate Crisis.  However, getting involved in politics could be the most important thing an individual can do about the climate crisis.  Now, I’ll be the first to admit that politics has increasingly become an unpleasant activity involving a number of unpleasant and divisive people.  I don’t blame you for wanting to steer clear of the mess and limit yourself to passively watching the nasty business unfold on the nightly news.

 

                        Source:  huffingtonpost.com


But here’s the catch:  we have a big election coming up in a year and the Climate Crisis is going to be a central issue in the campaign.  Purveyors of disinformation in the press, the political arena, and social media will attempt to discredit candidates who accept the consensus of mainstream scientists regarding the human causes of the crisis and who want to take strong but reasonable actions to address it.  These misguided individuals will continue their denial of the climate crisis or attribute it to sunspots, normal earth cycles, or Dog-only-knows what other flimsy, unproven excuses.  It is critical that they and their preferred candidates do not prevail in the 2024 elections.

So, I’m encouraging you to get involved in the election in a way that feels like the right way for you personally and draws on your strengths.  That might mean doing volunteer work for a campaign, writing letters to the editor, sponsoring a fund-raising party at your home, or simply making sure that your friends and relatives are educated about their candidates’ positions on the Climate Crisis.  And, of course, make damn sure they vote!  Well, except for your Uncle Harry who is a confirmed climate change denier – maybe it would be best NOT to encourage him to vote!

 

This is it for my Climate Crisis blog for now.  Thanks to all who have been reading my posts and for your comments.  I may have more to say on the subject in the future but I am currently getting ready for a one-month trip to Chile and Argentina. (Yes, I'll need to purchase some carbon offsets!)  I leave on November 7.  Stories about my trip will appear on my original blog:  “Perspectives of a Wandering Geographer” (http://wanderinggeographer.blogspot.com/).  Hopefully, I will have an opportunity to post some stories while I’m there; otherwise, they will have to wait until I get back in December.                 

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