Vote Climate and Choice: Vote Climate U.S. PAC Announces Historic Change to National Climate Change Voter’s Guide, Adding Support for Roe v. Wade
PRESS RELEASE, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information Contact: Karyn Strickler President, Vote Climate U.S. PAC
“The right to choose safe and legal abortion is a fundamental human right. On June 24, 2022 the U.S. Supreme Court took away American women’s essential right to bodily autonomy when they overturned Roe v. Wade. Just like climate change, the inevitable compulsory pregnancy that results from losing access to abortion, poses an existential threat to Americans. It threatens women’s lives and health, imposing crippling economic hardships on them, their partners, and their families. Unwanted pregnancies and births stress the environment, driving climate change and related weather extremes,” said Karyn Strickler, President of Vote Climate U.S. PAC.
“The dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, is about a totalitarian regime which arose out of a potentially unlivable environmental crisis, leading to the subjugation of women, including forced pregnancy. Reproductive justice is collateral damage in humankind’s panicked attempt to survive. Reproductive and climate justice are inexorably linked in this cautionary tale and in real life. In order to help voters snatch America from the jaws of the fictional Republic of Gilead, Vote Climate U.S. PAC made the historic decision to combine two powerful, electoral issues — climate change and reproductive choice — and add support for Roe v. Wade to our national climate change voter’s guide,” according to Strickler.
In addition to the disgraceful Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade and taking away American women’s constitutional right to choose safe and legal abortion, the decision in West Virginia v. EPA guts a critical provision of the Clean Air Act and inhibits the EPA’s ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, one of the most significant contributors to climate change.
“Since huge majorities of Americans support Roe v. Wade and prioritize climate action, we think this will be an historic mid-term when voters reject the idea of 5, unelected justices making these existential decisions by fiat in our democracy, adversely impacting millions. With the addition of support for Roe v. Wade to our national climate change voter’s guide, Vote Climate U.S. PAC will help to inform voter’s decisions. We are currently in the process of researching and updating our Voter’s Guide for 2022, for release in October of this election year.” according to Strickler.
In every election since 2018, Vote Climate U.S. PAC has developed our national climate change Voter’s Guide, giving every incumbent and challenger for every seat in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate a — Climate Calculation — a score ranging from Climate Hero to Climate Zero, helping Americans to vote climate.
Like most Voter’s Guides, we score incumbents on pivotal climate votes in Congress. But it goes well beyond that to assess a candidate’s position: what do candidates say about the issue; leadership: what do they do; and putting a fee on carbon polluters. In 2022 for the first time, voters will also be able to see if a candidate supports Roe v. Wade.
In 2021, we scored the 2 races for Governor in Virginia and New Jersey. In 2022, we will score the remainder of Governor’s races nationwide, incumbents and challengers. In addition to making climate change a top priority issue reflected in Gubernatorial candidate’s public position, leadership and support for a U.S. fee on carbon pollution, we will look at their climate plan. (For more detail, please see our 2022 U.S. Governors Voter’s Guide Scoring Criteria.Roe update coming soon.)
On Earth Day, April 22, 2022, Vote Climate U.S. PAC added most critical, swing state legislators nationwide to our voter guide, courtesy of Climate Cabinet Action’s Climate Scorecard, whose research is now available on our website under Voter’s Guide State Government.
Coming in October, 2022, the Gubernatorial Voter’s Guide, along with our updated 2022 Congressional Voter’s Guide, will make Vote Climate U.S. PAC the only website in the country to provide a climate change Voter’s Guide for candidates for Statehouses (partial, no indication of support for Roe.), Governors, U.S. House, U.S. Senate and U.S. President (in presidential years) all in one convenient, user friendly site, making it an unprecedented resource. Our Governors, U.S. House and U.S. Senate voter’s guides will also include support for Roe v. Wade. (Always click the green + button to the left of the candidate’s name, for detailed research and sources.)
The following categories from 2020, analyzing the politics of climate change, will also be updated and coming in October, 2022:
“From a personal and professional standpoint, in anticipation of the overturning of the1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, I led the effort in Maryland to codify Roe v. Wade 30 years ago. We went through the legislative process, an 8-day abortion filibuster, the 1990 elections and ultimately a statewide referendum in 1992. They call Maryland America in miniature, for our geography, but also for our politics, so victory was not guaranteed. After a brutal, marathon battle, we won with 62% of the vote. Today Maryland women are protected, but women in more than half of the U.S. are in jeopardy. Voters want to prioritize the issue of climate change and reproductive rights in the voting booth in 2022. This will likely be an historical mid-term election if we vote climate and choice, for Congress and Governor’s mansions nationwide,” said Strickler.
Authorized by Vote Climate U.S. PAC, Mary Gill Treasurer, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
