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The Terrifying Weight of the Philadelphia Vote

Writer's picture: Allen DrewAllen Drew

Updated: Oct 16, 2024



On November 5, the citizens of Philadelphia will make a decision that will have enormous consequences, for good or ill, on the trajectory of our planetary home and all the life it sustains.  I know that sounds insane – perhaps impossible – but there are very real reasons to believe it is true.

 

Right now, our world stands on the edge of a knife.  It may not feel this way to some, but the clean energy transition and the heating of our global ecosystem are each on the verge of accelerating tipping points.  The clean energy transition is pressing toward a good tipping point – with just a bit more of a nudge, the political, social, and economic drivers of the transition away from fossil fuels will have the potential to rapidly accelerate, reducing emissions faster and faster and laying the groundwork for a future that, while still challenging, has the real potential to be hopeful.  Global warming tipping points, on the other hand, would be catastrophic for all life on earth.  As human emissions heat the earth past certain points, there is the very real potential of creating feedback loops that accelerate heating beyond our ability to reverse it, plunging the world into a devastating future.

 

We are so on the edge that the trajectory of our world will likely be decided over the next 5 years.  And at this crucial moment in our planet’s history, the second largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world is holding an election that will choose a leader – and imbue him or her with great powers – for the next 4 years.  Of these two potential leaders, one accurately recognizes the climate crisis as an existential threat to human civilization and has a record of taking major action on it in the past.  The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act have both been historic legislation with huge incentives designed to accelerate our economy towards clean energy., and they are starting to take effect.  The other candidate, however, continues to stare in the face of planetary catastrophe and, incomprehensibly, write it all off as a “hoax” – standing in direct opposition to the entire global scientific community, not to mention the United Nations.  In his first term, he pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, and in a potential second he is promising to double down on fossil fuels and drill and burn more oil.

 

This is utter madness.  If we stopped all emissions globally right now, (which of course we can’t), our world would still continue to warm for decades – like a train gradually slowing to a stop.  The hurricanes, droughts, fires, and floods we’ve been experiencing recently would only continue to get worse.  And because we can’t end all global emissions today, this means that we can know that the trajectory for our children and their children will, in the best case scenario, be even worse than this.   

 

But even with all of this baked in, we are still in a window of opportunity where if we keep pressing our clean energy transition forward with everything we have, we have the real possibility of recalibrating over time as a human race and building, together, a future that, while still challenging, can yet be hopeful.   Voting for a climate-oriented president during these critical years can keep that hope alive for our world and the people living in it.  Voting for a climate denier – and giving him the power of the presidency of the world’s second largest emitter – has the very real potential of undoing us – of holding back the good tipping points just long enough for the bad ones to take hold.  Voting for a climate denier to be President of the United States is a very real threat to the future of our children, their children, and all future generations. 

 

We cannot do this.  This is not a matter of whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat.  It’s not a matter of what kind of economics you value, or whether you want big or small government.  It’s a matter of taking seriously the existential threat that all of us are facing and deciding whether to empower someone who will take that threat seriously and act accordingly, or one who will write it off and stand idly by as our world collapses around us.  And in the end, the kind of person who ends up in power at this critical moment will be decided by the United States’ presidential election system – the Electoral College – which brings us back to Philadelphia. 

 

Because of how the Electoral College works, and the politics of our current moment, whoever wins Pennsylvania is almost certain to win the election.  Philadelphia is a major population center in PA, and so the vote in Philly will have a major impact on who wins Pennsylvania.  Whoever wins PA will in turn likely decide who wins the White House, which will in turn have a huge impact on whether, during these crucial 4 years, the world’s second largest greenhouse gas emitter accelerates its transition away from fossil fuels, or holds the entire world back, perhaps long enough that global heating reaches tipping points that we can’t return from.

 

Brothers and sisters, climate denial and inaction – and certainly climate opposition – is not something that Christians can support.  And it is certainly not something we can choose to empower.  If we believe God loves this world and the people living in it, we cannot choose, through our vote, to give power to a person who will stand against what we and our world so desperately need in this moment.  The trajectory of planet earth and human and non-human life is so much bigger than the absurd bickering of two American political parties.  It’s so much bigger than the historic blip that is the United States.  There are redwoods in Southern California that were alive at the time of King David.  God doesn’t care about American political parties or American power.  He cares about human and non-human life flourishing in a world He loves.

 

Please try to detach from your political siloes and vote for a presidential candidate who will face this crisis and act for the good of our world.  This kind of candidate could be from any political party – the party is irrelevant.  But in this particular moment, we only have two specific people to choose from.  And of these two, only one is facing with open eyes the greatest existential threat that humanity has ever faced. Please vote for your children, their children, and the future of our world.

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The Climate Witness Project is a faith-based climate justice organization that is a joint initiative of the Christian Reformed Church, North America (CRCNA) and the global humanitarian organization World Renew.  We are motivated by our Christian faith to partner with church communities, other faith communities, and neighborhood, non-profit, and government partners to build the political and social will to take meaningful and urgent action on the climate crisis.

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