The Polls Are Underestimating the Importance of Climate Change
Polls are underestimating the importance of climate change to the average American. Every election cycle, pollsters hone in on core issues top of mind for the American public. These topics can make or break the American family as parents are getting kids ready for school in the morning and trying to figure out how to pay their bills at night.
Traditionally, we call these “kitchen table” issues, and they encompass everything from the economy, to education, to housing, to health care. But this election season, our climate is driving decisions on where to live, how to consume, whether to rebuild, or even evacuate, for voters right now. What pollsters miss from their ranking of top issues is the fact that if we do not address climate change, every other major issue on the American mind will get worse.
Economic and scientific models paint a challenging future. In the era of the climate crisis, costs skyrocket as harvests fail from droughts and extreme heat. Insurance premiums explode as flood and fire risks become guarantees. Real estate values plummet as beach-front properties become submerged by the very beaches they once adorned. As climate change worsens, we can expect human health to take a toll from increased spread of infectious diseases, worsening air quality, and declining mental health from climate anxiety. We see a particular environmental justice burden on women, youth, and people of color, too.
The reality is that climate change is no longer a distant issue. We are living in the era of the climate crisis right now, and we are seeing alarming impacts across our nation. Fatal disasters like Hurricanes Helene and Milton have devastated the Southeast, with ocean warming exacerbating the severity of storms. Fire season continues to spread across the West, displacing thousands of Americans from their homes. At this point, none of this is novel, and Americans are constantly addressing these issues at home.
These intersecting crises have taken a toll on national morale. Young voters are feeling particularly disillusioned as a spring Harvard Poll found that only 9 percent of young Americans felt the nation was generally headed in the right direction. Meanwhile, a July survey from Climate Power found that two-thirds of voters consider extreme weather a kitchen table issue in their household.
As a leading progressive legislator and climate movement leader, we agree with that majority. Concepts of a plan are not enough when the American public is being berated with one climate disaster after the next. It is time to treat climate like the kitchen table issue it is, rather than confine it to the margins.
In the pages of her most recent policy plans, Vice President Kamala Harris is doing just that. As Evergreen Action recently synthesized, Harris has begun to formalize the connections between housing, health care, economics, and climate policy that the American public and climate movement have been making for decades.
For example, her new economic plan advocates for “America Forward” tax incentives that promote cleaner steel and cement, protecting jobs for American unions while simultaneously reorienting our industrial sector around decarbonization. Her housing policy would build 1.2 million units of affordable, energy-efficient homes, expanding American housing access while cutting back on energy consumption. Finally, her plan ties health care, child care, and education to our green future, affirming the fact that we can only raise safe, happy, healthy, children if we protect a planet that fosters those conditions.
In each of these policies, Harris makes a bold step toward centering climate as a major issue this election cycle, as core to the American voter as the schools their children attend and the price of their grocery store haul.
It might seem odd to see a congressman and an activist team up on an essay like this. In some ways, we’re opposites. One of us is on the ground mobilizing a grassroots movement of voters around a systemic climate agenda. The other is a member of Congress representing Silicon Valley, working within the system to affect national change and drive clean tech innovation.
But we are both fighting for bold action on inequality and climate. For both of us, the climate crisis is personal. Like Harris, we are both South Asian, and our communities are experiencing disproportionate environmental justice burdens as disasters unfold. We are unified in acknowledging that we can no longer hesitate on climate action. Together, we are pushing for top-down and bottom-up systemic change.
And that starts with changing our national discourse so that it truly reflects the reality of everyday Americans. Climate justice frames every other issue on the ballot this fall.
The tough decisions that climate change is forcing on American families are not an inevitability or an abstraction. They’re real, they’re ubiquitous, and they’re actively unfolding. We need to start legislating — and voting — accordingly.
In this election, one candidate has a history of fighting for climate justice. The other is deep in the pockets of the oil industry, selling out the American public for campaign contributions. Harris has made great strides on climate policy, and voters should keep pushing her to keep it front and center: right on the kitchen table, where it has already emerged.
More from Rolling Stone
Kamala Harris Is the Only Candidate Who Can Take on the Climate Crisis
Leo DiCaprio Endorses Harris Over Climate Policies: Trump 'Denies the Science'
Best of Rolling Stone
Sign up for RollingStone's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
