Environmentalists’ top priority should be finding agreement with diverse players
Forgive me for putting a damper on your (too) hot summer, but I’m back with an obvious and urgent reminder. We are facing a climate emergency. Time is not on our side.
Yes, there have been some victories. In the US, the most important was the IRA bill, which can deliver trillions of dollars to build out the clean energy system we need.
But we face two timely and huge obstacles that need more attention.
- Diverse climate-concerned advocates are struggling amongst themselves to agree on how to accelerate the buildout of clean energy. Tough decisions need to be made quickly about where new energy infrastructure is located to minimize adverse impacts on biodiversity, communities, watersheds, and open space. But this is not happening quickly enough. (See this article from Heatmap News to read more).
- While Democrats broadly support climate policy at the federal and state levels, Republicans do not. This endangers even the policy wins we’ve made thus far, not to mention thwarts future progress.
Now is the time to prioritize tackling these two problems. There is a real opening, as these specific policy matters are being debated and as we begin in earnest work on the 2024 election.