Voting For The Planet
Written by Heidi Hutner and originally posted here
This has been one harrowing, nail-biting election season, with such hostile political debates!
As a mom who cares deeply about the environment, where our candidates stand on sustainability policies matters to me first and foremost in my voting decisions. I hope you will carefully examine where the candidates stand as you vote on NOVEMBER 8.
We are living in dangerous times — rising cancer, learning disability, and asthma rates, vast climate change destruction, and mass species extinction. It’s heartbreaking.
What kind of world are we leaving for our children? This question plagues me.
So from our political candidates, I don’t want to hear false accusations –a dog and pony show of one-upmanship about nonsense.
I want to hear policy. Real policy. Great policy. Our politicians need to be dreamers, visionaries, and they need to act on environmental protections.
I want to hear their substantive plans to solve our climate change, toxic pollution, and dirty air and water problems. I want to know that our president and leaders will work effectively with the EPA to clean up the mess we have made. I want to hear a solid clean energy plan and exciting new designs for transforming our outmoded current transportation systems. I want to hear about new policies for improving our dysfunctional and toxic food systems, systems that contribute greatly to climate change, soil, air, and water pollution.
Other countries are moving forward with making these vital positive system changes; the U.S. can, and must, too.
Andrew Freedman writes that election week will be unusually hot. That may be good for election turn out, but it’s not so great for the planet. We’ve seen more damaging scenarios all year: lack of rainfall in California, massive and devastating flooding in Louisiana, and the destruction of Hurricane Matthew.
This year, we’ve also seen story after story about high rates of water pollution harming our children. Lead in Detroit. Hexavalent Chromium-6 across the U.S. Uranium pollution in indigenous communities in the Southwest. Exploding pipelines, oil spills and fracking chemicals polluting wells and water supplies everywhere.
Right now our Native American “protectors” are holding the line at Standing Rock, North Dakota — to stop a dangerous gas pipeline from running through sacred Indigenous burial lands and threatening the Missouri River, a river that supplies water to thousands of humans and animals, and as well as water for vital farmland. We need politicians who will stand with these protectors.
Right now our brothers and sisters are fighting to protect millions of New Yorkers from an expanded natural pipeline that is slated to run right next to a nuclear power plant just outside of New York City (the Spectra pipeline). Engineers and medical experts say this pipeline threatens 20 million lives. We need politicians who will stand with these protectors.
I will vote for the Presidential candidate, congressmen and women, and senators who will dream, plan, and fight hard to protect our children and our planet.
Clean air and water — need to be the number one priority for all of our politicians.
Now more than ever, we need to pay attention to our candidates’ plans for caring for our mother earth.
On so many of these issues, the clock is ticking.
I pledge to vote for our planet, our mother earth. Will you join me?
