Climate Change and the US Elections

Things are really heating up in the tightly contested swing states of Nevada and Arizona where both are being aggressively sought after by Republicans and Democrats given the Electoral College votes on offer.? The door to door campaigning is placed against a backdrop of triple-digit-heat (Fahrenheit) with ongoing smoke pollution from a spate of wildfires in the region.? A recent rally by Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz in Reno, Nevada had to be cancelled due to evacuations prompted by a wild fire just south of the city.? His later visits that week to Las Vegas, Nevada and Phoenix, Arizona had daily temperatures reaching 38 degrees centigrade (100 degrees Fahrenheit) despite it being mid-September.? In previous Trump rallies in June for both Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona attendees suffered from heat exhaustion and other heat related illnesses.?

Contending with the extreme heat requires the use of novel campaigning strategies.? Democrat candidates have purchased specialized cooling vests that are able to hold multiple ice packs for their door-knockers to wear.? Others carry around fans and wet neck towels and have access to gallons of water, especially when the temperature soars to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, (43 degrees centigrade).? Kamala Harris’ campaign states that it will not let its team head outside when the temperature hits 112 degrees Fahrenheit.? (44 degrees centigrade).? In these extreme temperatures it is also necessary to place one’s smartphone in front of their car’s air conditioning outlets to prevent them from overheating. Many candidates and their teams strategically head out early in the morning, or later in the afternoon to be able to sustainably door knock the thousands of homes necessary to give their candidates the electoral edge in such a tightly contested campaign.??

Despite the impact that climate change is having on campaigning and life in general all over the USA, it is the Economy that continues to be front and centre in voters’ minds alongside other key issues of Immigration and Abortion Rights.? It’s almost as if people are oblivious to the apocalyptic scenes coming out of places like Florida and Georgia where Category 4 Hurricane Helene is causing widespread wind damage, flooding from 15-20 metre storm surges and power outages affecting 4.6 million as well as Orange County, Los Angeles and San Bernadino in California where over 100,000 acres of fire have consumed homes and livelihoods this past month.

Not to mention what has been going on globally.? South America is having its worst wild fire season since 2007 with the Amazon basin suffering from the impacts of its most extreme drought in 45 years.? Not only has this devastated the vital ecosystem wetlands of the Pantanal regions in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru, but fires throughout the continent have extended into Ecuador, Chile, Venezuela, Guyana, Paraguay and Colombia with over 350,000 active threats and the destruction of over 75 million hectares. (185 million acres.)

In the past two months catastrophic flooding has also impacted Asia, Europe, and Africa. Super typhoon Yagri recently decimated provinces in South China and Vietnam, (their biggest storm in 30 years), as well as impacting Thailand, Laos and the Philippines.? Shanghai also recently experienced its worst typhoon in seven decades.? Europe’s recent floods emanating from Storm Boris have extended through Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and southern Germany mounting a rising death toll and massive economic loss.? Furthermore, 5 times the average expected rainfall has deluged the Central and Western African countries of Mali, Nigeria, Chad, and Niger causing widespread flooding which has displaced over 2.3 million people with 4 million needing humanitarian aid.?

In the USA itself, floods caused by Tropical storm Derby caused havoc in Charleston, South Carolina with similar scenes witnessed in south-western Connecticut and Long Island, New York as prodigious rains fell up to a staggering 15 inches in 24 hours qualifying it as a 1-in-a-1000 year event by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (NOAA is the equivalent of New Zealand’s NIWA).? The latter storm is just one of three recent extreme rainfall events to strike the North-eastern USA due to the ongoing fallout from both Hurricane Derby and Beryl with Vermont in particular getting inundated on July 30th. Even today Hurricane Helene is approaching Florida predicted as a potential Category 4 storm with 20 metre storm surges, intense winds and a foot of rain in the surrounding states.

Trump and Vance are both openly campaigning as climate change deniers and chomping at the bit to replace all legislative and policy measures instilled by the Democrats to try and bring carbon and methane emissions down as prescribed by international obligations set by the Paris Climate Accords, (which the US re-joined in 2021 after Trump pulled out in 2017).? It’s not looking good for the future state of the planet if the Trump campaign wins.? He is specifically targeting the historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – a $780 billion investment which turbo charges green investment and was signed by Biden in 2022 after narrowly getting it through Congress.? Despite the IRA legislation being a major win for the Democrats in 2022, it is not often touted by Harris on the campaign trail as she attempts to moderate her climate policy stance.? This includes pulling back from the Fracking ban and support of the Green New Deal she promoted when campaigning for President initially in the Democratic Primary Election back in 2019/2020.? This is understandable given that a candidate will often shift away from a more extreme policy platform when thrust into the middle of a general election as is the case here for Harris.?

Trump and Vance also have their sights on systematically dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the federal body with the most power to take on the climate emergency and climate justice.? They have campaigned on directing other Federal Agencies to begin repealing and replacing climate regulations from their first day in office.? For example one EPA regulation being targeted sets tail-pipe emissions limits for cars and trucks and is so strict that it compels automakers to sell a lot more electric and hybrid vehicles in their fleets to abide by the tough targets set. (28% of all Greenhouse emissions derive from transport which is the highest contributor in the country making the rule incredibly important if the US is to hit its climate targets.)? Trump could again choose to vacate the Paris Climate Accords as well as withdraw US support from the United Nations Framework on Climate Change which it had signed up to alongside the rest of the world in 1992 leading to significant climate disarray and fallout.

The risks of climate change are undeniable.? Masters of risk assessment, Insurance companies are refusing to cover thousands of households due to the influx of disaster claims and inflationary costs, especially in high risk areas in California.? (This includes State Farm which is the largest property and casualty insurance company in America). The impacts to households and businesses alike are clear. Even if they are willing to cover, Insurance companies are hiking up their premiums to make the costs of purchasing policies prohibitive to many.?

As this ongoing battle between ‘humanity’ and ‘natural ecosystems’ plays out, and capitalism’s destructive catch-cry reigns supreme in this 2024 election campaign, it’s looking like a race to the bottom for both co-existing contestants.? For climate activists and those paying close attention to the global crises going on around us, it can be quite baffling that climate issues are not front and centre of the US political agenda.? But for those trying to secure the votes in such a tightly contested election, it makes sense not to alienate moderate voters which could tip the scale to the side of their opposition.????