Elections and the Environment

ACES is a nonpartisan environmental organization with directors, team members, and community participants who may be Republicans, Independents, or Democrats. We admire the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt who established the US Forest Service, created five National Parks, established 51 bird reserves and 150 National Forests. Teddy was a Republican. His cousin Franklin, as a young politician, was becoming a leader in conservation. As chair of the New York State Senate's Forest, Fish and Game Committee, he introduced eight bills addressing conservation, including the Roosevelt-Jones Bill to regulate timber harvests on private land. FDR was a Democrat. Historically, leaders from both major parties have been conservationists.

With elections looming, ACES team members ask that everyone think about which persons running for office can do the best for us and all species in terms of climate, the environment, and the wellbeing of future generations. We must consider the local issues of beach erosion and river cleanliness that state and local officials oversee, as well as the global issue, driven by national and international policies, of reducing society’s carbon footprint.

Our president, vice-president, and congressional legislators’ matter. When the ozone layer was brought into public awareness by the scientists studying it, President Ronald Reagan listened with an open mind to his cabinet and to leaders of other countries and sought to protect the fragile ozone layer on Dec. 21, 1987 by urging Congress to ratify the Montreal Protocol, limiting ozone producing gas uses. Transporting dirty tar sand crude oil through the US was the key driver of the XL Pipeline plan. Thankfully from our perspective, in January of 2021 President Biden revoked a key cross-border presidential permit that stopped this financially driven but extremely harmful construction. Again, one leader was a Republican icon and the other a Democrat.

This coming US election and elections all over the world are at a very important crossroads regarding climate and the environment. Many established financial and social interests have benefited from the environmental damage done since the era of the Industrial Revolution. Those institutions often seek to use civic and political lobbying and power to keep their interests protected.

Whether it’s the British seeking to expand their North Sea oil drilling, India still maintaining 70% of its electricity running on coal, or the destruction of the Amazon rain forests, it will take a solid presidential and congressional approach to foreign policy to be helpful in reducing global warming. We must also recognize the United States’ responsibility in curbing carbon emissions should be a key component of our foreign policy. With just 5% of the world’s population, the US economy accounts for 30 % of global energy use.

Elections matter and who you choose is critical for the future, so please choose wisely and vote as soon as you can as the final day of our US election is November 5th. And all ACES team members request that regardless of your party affiliation or independence, you choose to make our climate, our environment, and the wellbeing of our future generations key considerations in deciding upon your vote.

Contributors included team members Ana Satir, Art Currier, Ben Iacono, John Elwell, Lon Hachmeister, Ron Martino, and Tom Starr.

ACES believes we can make a BIG difference together. Team members invite you to stay updated on environmental matters by subscribing to our monthly newsletter via the “Subscribe to Updates” link on ACES’ website – https://www.aces-alliance.org/. Please consider joining our community of stewards committed to Make Every Day Earth Day by contacting acesnewburyport@gmail.com.

This column was published in The Daily News of Newburyport on November 1, 2024