Editorial

On the 5th of November, the citizens of the US go to the polls where the 47th President of the United States of America will be elected.

The outcome will define global climate action and policies and could mean making or breaking for a liveable climate.

In 2016, a lot of commentators and climate advocates, including ourselves, concluded that if Donald Trump won the 2016 election, it would be a ‘game over for action on climate change’. While it slowed down action globally and in the US, it was not as much of a travesty as predicted, mainly because it took the US three years to exit the Paris Agreement. Additionally, the Trump Administration, at least to begin with, was made up of several globalists and influential industrialists, who were well aware that if the US were completely to depart from climate action and accelerate clean energy, the country would be isolated. So, they did all in their power to slow it down. However, throughout his time as president, one after the other, the sensible voices in his government left, mainly due to Trump firing them.

This will be different

If Trump crosses the threshold of 270 Electoral College Votes on November 5th, this could be much harder for the US to recover from, as it is still reeling from his tenure from 2017 – 2021—both in terms of climate action and democracy. The analysis is that Trump, this time around, will waste no time, will not make the same mistake again of including sensible people in his team, and will go all gung-ho with his extremist agenda.

If we are to believe the polls, Trump and Harris are neck and neck only three days out from election day. Some election analysts point out that pollsters do not want to make the mistake they made in the past elections by underestimating Trump. In this case, they’re doing the opposite by overestimating him.

The only choice for climate action

Harris has pledged to carry on with Biden’s ambitious climate agenda and even go further. 

There is only one choice on Tuesday: to make Kamala Harris the first female president in US history.

There will be those on the progressive sides of politics who have been left severely frustrated about the Biden Administration and what the Harris campaign has promised on climate and issues such as Gaza. Many of those voters are saying they will either sit out this election or vote for the third-party Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

As the Independent socialist Senator Bernie Sanders says below and what the author and activist Bill McKibben has also argued, a vote for Stein is a vote for Trump. 

As this presidential campaign comes to an end, let me say a few words to the folks who have not yet decided who they'll vote for – or who have decided to sit the election out: pic.twitter.com/nk9e9NRcnM

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 1, 2024

As usual, @jamieclimate is making complete sense. If you care about the future of our climate, vote Harris, and then get to work getting her to work. https://t.co/DtW5ewtLhA

— Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) November 1, 2024

We could not agree more with that statement.

If you, like us, believe that tackling the climate crisis is the biggest and most pressing issue of our time, you must vote for Harris. All other actions will only enable another Trump presidency that we or the planet cannot afford. A vote for anything other than Harris would be a betrayal to current generations, future generations, past generations, and the planet—the only one we have.

You can catch our latest US election updates here.