Although we’ve all been more insulated from the weather this summer, the impacts of climate change only continue to grow year after year. While the impending 2030 deadline to make serious progress on emissions is probably the last thing anyone wants to think about, meeting this deadline would be deadly to procrastinate.
While COVID-19 will likely remain the primary issue at stake in November’s elections, climate issues deserve just as much attention, since a climate catastrophe would be far more devastating to our everyday lives than COVID-19 has been.
The purpose of this piece is not to scare you though. Rather, it should empower you to vote on an issue where you can have a real impact on your own future. North Carolina is one of the states that swings the most in the country, with the presidential race being essentially a coin toss between Trump and Biden. However, more importantly, our governor and one of our senators are also up for reelection, as well as every member of North Carolina’s legislature. I focus here on the statewide races, but you should look up the positions of your local representatives as well, as those are races where just a few thousand people can routinely change the outcome.
Gov. Roy Cooper has had his share of spotlight over the past few months, as his executive orders on quarantine closures and reopenings have defined our state’s response to the pandemic. Meanwhile his opponent, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, has unsuccessfully sued Cooper over those orders, specifically criticizing the governor for not listening to the North Carolina Council of State, an executive board on which Cooper and Forest both sit.
The two men take similarly antagonistic stances on climate change. Cooper has signed key solar energy legislation and multiple executive orders pushing for cleaner energy. He has also pushed for wider adoption of low-emission, electric vehicles through plans to build charging stations and proposing a tax credit of $7,500 on electric vehicle purchases. Although he supported the now-defunct Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the governor also worked to push Duke Energy to clean up its coal ash deposits, which have caused serious water quality issues due to past spills.
By contrast, Forest has expressed doubt that climate change even exists, falsely claiming that “climate change and global warming is very new to the world of science.” Indeed, Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish scientist, did experiments back in 1896 about the greenhouse effect and carbon dioxide, postulating that coal burning would eventually lead to global warming. Forest’s stance on energy overall is unclear; his campaign website does not mention energy policy and he has nebulously advocated for energy independence and tapping offshore energy sources. That said, given his climate stance, it’s unlikely that he would push hard for green energy if elected.
Back in 2016, Cooper won the governor’s race by just 11,000 votes out of the over 4.6 million cast, meaning that every vote will count come November. The governor and other members of the Council of State have considerable power to push for stronger energy policies, meaning this election could dramatically affect our state’s energy mix for the next decade.
The Senate race is both less likely to directly impact North Carolina and a bit less hotly contested on the climate front. While Sen. Thom Tillis has previously expressed opinions similar to Forest, he has since indicated greater support for solar energy as a source of jobs and greater hesitation on offshore drilling. That said, Tillis has also sided with Duke Energy over coal ash and supported fracking for natural gas, so he’s at best a fair-weather ally of clean energy initiatives.
Meanwhile, Tillis’ opponent, Cal Cunningham, has advocated for a carbon neutral economy by 2050, a position which aligns him with the internationally recognized threshold for avoiding dire climate consequences. He also supports significant investments in solar and wind energy and ending tax subsidies for fossil fuel companies
Previous Senate elections have been less close than the governor’s race, with Tillis winning his seat in 2014 by a 46,000 vote margin, though Cunningham has been leading by an average of 3 points in recent polls. With each candidate only barely clearing 40% support, the race has a long way to move and has important implications with how effectively either Biden or Trump will be able to govern. A Republican senate would support Trump’s nominees, while a Democratic senate would advance any of Biden’s green energy policies.
In both of these races, NC State students can play an important role in the future of the state, whereas the president will more likely be chosen either way in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Even more impactfully, if students go vote for local, climate-friendly representatives, they will be a decisive factor in normally sleepy races which have outsized impacts on the energy future of our state.
