Early voting started Monday and runs through Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5. Photo by Julie Thibodeaux.

Oct 21, 2024

Early voting started this week. Most likely you have made up your mind on who you are voting for. But how do you know which candidates care about the environment?

The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club can help. David Griggs is the former political chair of the chapter and still chairs its political action committee — the club’s political fundraising arm. Griggs says that the committee helps raise funds to support environmentally friendly candidates.

“The Lone Star Chapter vets candidates,” he says. “We look at their public record and past accomplishments to see where they stand on environmental issues. We do research and then make recommendations based on their record and questionnaire responses.” 

Griggs says voters should check out TurnTexasGreen.org, the website of the Sierra Club  Political Committee of Texas. The committee is made up of state-wide volunteers who are helping to elect pro-environment candidates.

The Lone Star Chapter supports Texas state and local level candidates for elected office on a non-partisan basis. The chapter looks for those who share the environmental goals of the Sierra Club. They examine a candidate’s voting record as well as position statements. 

Griggs describes the vetting process. 

“Our staff in Austin tracks the votes of elected legislators. We follow their votes on 10 to 12 important bill, for example the Death Star bill.”

For those not familiar with House Bill 2127, the Death Star bill prevents city governments from passing and enforcing local ordinances in areas like agriculture, labor and natural resources where state law already exists. The environmental impact of the bill could affect a city’s ability to enact and enforce plans for water conservation, climate action, drought management and tree ordinances. 

Once the votes of each incumbent legislator are collected, Griggs says, “we grade them and come up with a score that determines whether we endorse that person.”

As for the challenger candidates, he says, “We send them questionnaires and then analyze their responses.” 

A candidate’s party has nothing to do with the endorsement, says Griggs. 

“In the past, we have had pro environment members of both parties.” 

Currently, Griggs  notes, “Conservative office holders tend to not be environmentally friendly but we welcome Republican support.” 

Griggs says the vetting process for the November 2024 election began in December 2023. 

“Once a candidate receives our endorsement, we provide them with a link to obtain a Sierra Club endorsement seal. Voters should look for these on a candidate’s flyers and websites.”

Among the issues the Sierra Club is particularly interested in:

Climate change. Does the candidate believe in taking legislative action to combat the problem?

Energy efficiency. What is their position on wind and solar power?

Drilling vs renewables. Where do they stand?

Fixing the electric grid.

Environmental justice. Helping low income communities fight polluting industries

Texas Railroad Commission. Strengthening enforcement of  how they regulate the oil and gas industry

“In a state where the oil and gas industry is entrenched in our economy, fighting for the expansion of green energy alternatives is a real challenge,” says Griggs. “However, we must elect law makers who are willing to invest in a renewable energy infrastructure to protect the health and safety of our citizens, strengthen our economy with green jobs, and combat climate change.”

THINK TANKS AND RESEARCH CENTERS

Many institutions that follow climate change agree that the 2024 election will be critical for the environment. The Brookings Institute, the nonprofit think tank that studies public policy, notes that “the 2024 election is an ideal time to examine how current U.S. climate policy is working and what the next few years could look like. For instance, many challenges remain in the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, while the impacts on major industries like automotive manufacturing are still being studied.”

The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication states that, “2024 is a critically important election year for the climate in the U.S. and around the world…Many important climate policies, including the transition to clean energy, investments in underserved and more vulnerable communities and participation in international climate trades, will be determined by voters’ choices in the 2024 elections.”

For the past eight years, the nonpartisan nonprofit Environmental Voter Project has focused on identifying non-voting environmentalists and “converting them into a critical mass of consistent voters that will soon be too big for politicians to ignore.” 

“Nothing motivates a politician more than the prospect of winning or losing an election,” states the EVP website. “If we want true environmental and climate leadership, we must flood the electorate and make it impossible for politicians to run for office without leading on the environment.”

Early Voting runs through Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5. Before casting a vote, educate yourself on a candidate’s environmental position. The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club is a good place to start.

RESOURCES
Sierra Club's Turn Texas Green
Vote411
Texas Voter Information
League of Women Voters Texas


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