US voters want action on global heating. So why are midterm candidates ‘climate hushing’?
Polls show that Democrats and Republicans in battleground states want to hear more from candidates about the climate crisis Most Americans feel unease or alarm about the climate crisis and, in both red and blue states, want to know how political leaders are going to fix it. But in midterm election campaigns across the US, candidates have responded to this desire with near silence. People in the US have this year…
Key points
- Candidates in eight battleground states rarely mention climate on their campaign websites.
- Polling shows swing-state voters want more climate talk, not less.
- Some Democrats have dropped earlier support for renewable energy during this campaign.
Candidates in US midterm races are largely avoiding the topic of climate change, even as polling indicates voters in key states want to hear more about it. The Guardian reports that among all Democratic and Republican Senate candidates in eight battleground states, only Abdul El-Sayed and James Talarico mention climate on their campaign websites.
The article says Americans endured a record hot summer this year and faced roughly $2,000 per household in extra energy and mortgage payments tied to the country's fossil fuel dependence.
What candidates are saying
El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, told Fox News in August that he would not defend the Green New Deal, after previously campaigning for 100% renewable energy. Jon Ossoff in Georgia has dropped environmental mentions to focus on the Iran war and inflation, while Talarico, running in Texas, said last month that he supports the oil and gas industry.
In Alaska, Mary Peltola has called for restoring clean energy tax credits while also pushing for more in-state oil refining and approval of a large Arctic oil project, according to a spokesperson.
The climate hushers are dead wrong – voters want to hear more about climate change, not less
— Nathaniel Stinnett
What polling shows
A survey last month by the Environmental Voter Project found three times as many voters in the eight swing states want politicians to talk more about the climate crisis than want less of it. In Texas, 54% said they would be more likely to back a pro-renewables candidate, against 19% who said less likely; in Alaska the figure was 63%.
Nathaniel Stinnett, the group's executive director, said the climate hushers are dead wrong and that talking about climate change is a huge vote-winner. Anthony Leiserowitz of Yale University said the strategy is not a logical response to where voters are.
Disaster survivors frustrated
At a meeting of disaster survivors in Kerrville, Texas, last week, people who lived through flash floods that killed 136 people last year expressed frustration that politicians have tuned out. Georgia Bishop, 18, whose best friend Felicity Jarmon died in the floods, said the political indifference was infuriating.
