Special Edition: Climate Election Links
No, it's not Thursday. This is a special newsletter edition.
Every week I keep a running list of local climates stories I want to share alongside the weekly story or Q&A, but this week's list had already grown.... extensive by Monday. There's a reason: next Tuesday is Election Day and this upcoming weekend is the start of the annual Conference of Parties (COP), the worldwide climate conference. It's a one-two punch of local and international climate coverage.
I've written before that I particularly dread COP news cycles because you get so much more of "I just read the headlines and we are all gonna die" talk without a lot of context around it. One of the reasons I started The Planet You Save is to bring some more context to the climate story -- both realistic in how far behind we are collectively but also where the solutions and changes are happening where you can see them.
Last week, I had a very good conversation with a reader of this newsletter about climate doomism, and I'd love to hear more about where readers of this newsletter are thinking about climate and have them share the newsletter with friends. You can always reply to these newsletters or say hello by hello@theplanetyousave.com.
Here's the best of the best this week so far. On Thursday, I'll have a story about something that's big, yellow and electric as well as more links.
Climate change on the ballot this Election Day:
Grist has a good outline of California's EV ballot issue and New York state's climate investment bond question
Arlington,Virginia: A transportation ballot question
Denver: Using all the money from a climate initiative (Question 2J in this guide)
Texas: One of three seats on the Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees the oil and gas industry, is up for grabs this election. Democrat Luke Warford is betting his campaign on the issues of electric grid reliability, regulatory enforcement and reducing emissions.
Ann Arbor, Michigan: As discussed in my interview with Planning Commissioner Ellie Abrons, property tax funding for the city's climate and sustainablity efforts is on the ballot
Maine, Masshusetts and Maryland: 3 Governor's races set to remake "clean" energy.
Democrats passed a major climate bill. Why aren’t more political ads touting it?
On House and Senate races: Fossil fuel interests have long favored Republicans in their giving. But this cycle’s oil and gas donations to Republican-aligned super PACs are particularly notable because they overshadowed most other interests.
Other local climate change stories
Volunteer-made window inserts are keeping New England homes snug, cutting down on energy use.
A new “rideshare” program is bringing electric tractors to farmers.
Nickel mine could open in Minnesota amid rising electric vehicle demand, raising concerns
10 years after Hurricane Sandy, a stretch of New Jersey beach has been turned into an experiment to test resilience strategies for rising seas threatening New Jersey’s highly populated coast.
'Our horses are ready': Native Americans and white farmers form an unlikely alliance to oppose a pipeline in the Dakotas