Embracing a Posture of Climate Citizenship
on Election Day and Beyond

“A vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children.” 
— Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia

When Election Day arrives and millions of Americans head to the voting booth, people in Florida, Georgia, Western North Carolina, and other parts of the Southeast will still be confronting the painful realities of loss and recovery, while those in the West battle out-of-control wildfires and many parts of the country contend with record-breaking temperatures. Every day we are bombarded with stark reminders that we are living in a climate-changed world — that the pace of climate change is accelerating, that the impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly widespread, and that much of our human infrastructure is fragile.

In the face of staggering loss and spiraling fear, it’s natural to wonder: What can we do?

One of the things we can do, of course, is to vote — and to vote with clarity of purpose and priority.

Every Election Day is an opportunity to pause and to ask fundamental questions about the world we desire for ourselves and for our children. We believe that this election, upcoming in November, has the potential to be an inflection point in the work for a just and livable climate future. Much change is irreversible, and so much has already been lost. And yet, in this upcoming election, we can still choose leaders who have proven that they trust scientists, understand climate change, and are prepared to support policies that will posture the United States toward greater climate resilience.

These choices come with tremendous weight and urgency if we wish to avoid the most dire scenarios of our collective climate-changed future.

Voting is important — and it’s only one aspect of citizenship. As Election Day draws near, and long after it has come and gone, we want to invite all who are part of The BTS Center community to adopt a posture of climate citizenship. 

Being a climate citizen is an invitation to respond in spirit and action to these questions and more:

• How does climate change affect deeply intersectional issues of justice?
• Who will bear the heaviest losses as climate change progresses and climate impacts grow more severe?

• How can we tangibly care for our neighbors in times of great challenge?
• In the great web of belonging that connects the human and more-than-human world: can we perceive harm to this web as a deeply spiritual and moral issue?
• How do we persist as engaged citizens within the context of our communities — including our congregations and other spiritual communities — so that civic engagement does not stall as an individual activity?

• How do you understand your community? Does it include your city, state, or nation? Does it include your watershed, the entirety of the earth, and all living beings?
• How might we bring the lens of climate consciousness, a commitment to intersectional climate justice, and a priority for the common good to every aspect of our civic engagement?

Whatever the outcome of the elections this fall, we will need to engage in sustained, creative, loving, imaginative work for the coming days, years, and generations in order to pursue the most beautiful, just future possible. We will need to make space for our grief, to be propelled not by fear but by love, and to nurture awe and possibility. 

And so, as we embrace a vision of human hearts renewed, justice established, and creation restored, we invite you to join us in voting as a climate citizen this November and in committing to the ongoing work of love and justice for all beings.

Resources:

Vote.org: 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan voting registration and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) technology platform that helps voters to register, verify their registration, request a mail-in ballot, sign up for election reminders, find their polling location, and stay up to date on the laws or policies that affect their ability to vote

Vote.gov: Official website of the United States government – register to vote or update your registration, and learn about your voting rights

Can I Vote: National Association of Secretaries of State website where eligible voters can figure out how and where to vote

Know Your Voting Rights: A comprehensive guide prepared by EcoAmerica

Considerations for Voters in the 2024 Elections: A voter guide published by the Children’s Environmental Health Network

The Environmental Voter Project: Identifies non-voting environmentalists and seeks to turn them into consistent voters

The League of Conservation Voters: Builds political power to influence policy, hold politicians accountable, and win elections in order to create safe and healthy communities protected by a just and equitable democracy

Citizens Climate Lobby: A nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy climate change organization focused on national policies to address the national and global climate crisis

Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2024: A report published by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, presenting findings from a significant survey of United States voters

Understanding Pro-Climate Voters in the United States: Summary of the findings of the “Climate Change in the American Mind” survey

350.org’s Climate Vote Project: An effort to turn out environmental voters to the polls

What 2024’s Historic Elections Could Mean for the Climate: A global perspective, published by the World Resources Institute, detailing how upcoming elections will impact the worldwide response to climate change