Voting to Help Change the Climate

CoolMom Kimberly Christensen didn’t set out to write a voter’s guide, but after failing to find political endorsements that included information on global warming, she did! Kimberly wrote a “Climate Change Voter’s Guide for King County”.

"Climate change is a moral issue, not a partisan issue," said Christensen. "Voting has become so polarized in the past few elections, and people often vote a straight Democrat or Republican ticket. However, global warming will profoundly affect all of us, Democrat, Republican, Independent and Green. That means all Americans must unite in order to elect leaders that understand the enormity of climate change and who have the intellect, farsightedness and courage to confront it."

Christensen said that she has found the Bush administration’s lack of action on climate change, especially its refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocols, frustrating. However, as she looked at what was going on in Washington State, she began to feel more hopeful.

"Washington State has become a national and regional leader in fighting climate change. We helped develop the Western States Initiative, which is setting goals for reducing greenhouse gases, promoting and developing renewable energy, and looking ahead to help Western states and provinces address the impacts of global warming on our communities and environment," said Christensen. "When I realized what was happening in our own state, and that Washington could become a model for other states to follow, I wanted to support the politicians who would make strong climate legislation a priority."

With the economy slowing down, Christensen was also worried that voters might not support measures like Sound Transit Proposition 1, “Mass Transit Now!” out of concerns about cost. However, from a climate change perspective, and a green economy perspective, nothing could make more sense to Christensen than voting for more light rail, better bus service, improvements of highway to reduce traffic congestion and additional park and ride locations.

"With gasoline costs likely to increase over the next few years, and with many families struggling to buy both gas and food, we absolutely need more public transportation options," said Christensen. "We also need to reduce our carbon emissions, and in order to do that we need better public transit. And, we have a need for more jobs, especially in construction, so now is the time to build a better mass transit infrastructure. I keep thinking about the Public Works Projects from the Great Depression. This could be our generation's chance!"

With these politically-connected thoughts keeping her awake at night, Christensen decided to start looking for voter information that would help her figure out how she wanted to vote on other candidates and issues. She didn’t find much, and so her own voter’s guide began to take shape. In the evenings, after her children went to bed, she would read archived newspaper articles and candidates’ websites, examine how her lawmakers had voted on various climate change legislation, and learn what environmental organizations thought about a particular candidate or initiative. She hopes that her labor of love would help other concerned voters find the information that they are looking for.

"The lifestyle changes that we each make are important," said Christensen. "But our elected officials have the ability to make changes that far surpass what any of us can do alone. Voting smartly is the most significant statement we can make about climate change and our commitment to solving this problem!"