Men on a four wheeler pass a storm damaged house along Mill Creek in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 30, 2024 in Old Fort, North Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
With the presidential election looming, conflicts escalating abroad, and devastating hurricanes affecting a swathe of southeastern states, I almost missed an unprecedented event happening in my own backyard: Last month was the hottest September ever recorded in Denver. Only now, in late October, are we beginning to feel a reprieve from abnormally high autumn temperatures, though the effects of such a hot and dry summer and fall may linger for months to come.
As a climate and environmental activist and a young Christian whose faith inspires me to care for God’s creation, I often have the impacts of climate change and the people they most affect at the forefront of my mind. Even so, I can see how the climate may seem like less of a pressing issue in the upcoming election, given everything else our country – and the world – has on its plate.
Nevertheless, as record heat and high fire danger days remind us, climate change remains an urgent crisis that we cannot ignore, one that should heavily influence how we approach candidates and issues all down the ballot this November.
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While climate and the environment may not be the top issue for many voters, taking a back seat to inflation, immigration, and health care – among other concerns – climate-fueled extreme weather events continue to increase, vying for the spotlight. In the 1980s, billion-dollar climate disasters occurred in the U.S. about every four months. Now, there is an average of one every three weeks. This year’s summer began with an unusually active tornado season, was marked by widespread dangerous heat, and concluded with the shocking destruction of Hurricane Helene. While these events may only spend one or two weeks at the top of the news cycle, they are devastating to the people and communities directly impacted by damage, negative health impacts, and loss of life. For those people, climate change is not a future threat but a present and dangerous reality.
Though voting with climate change top of mind may seem like a single-issue approach, this is far from the truth. The climate crisis, and how we respond to it, is closely intertwined with many of the issues affecting voters every day. Earlier this year, we saw how extreme heat drives up food prices, a phenomenon Grist magazine dubbed “heatflation.” Even the anticipation of an extreme weather event driven by climate change can cause a spike in grocery costs. The Fifth National Climate Assessment, released in 2023, predicts that climate change will continue to “make food less available and more expensive,” a consequence that is expected to hit women, children, older adults, and low-wealth communities the hardest.
I could go on about how climate change is tied to migration, as people are uprooted by new extremes and natural disasters, or how The Lancet medical journal has called climate change “the greatest global health threat facing the world in the 21st century.” Climate change is also an issue of environmental injustice, disproportionately affecting people of color, people of lower socioeconomic status, or other vulnerable communities. Whether you’re a person of faith like me, or just a citizen concerned about the safety and well-being of your family and community, climate change is already impacting the things close to your heart, and it must be a consideration as you prepare to vote in this election.
The good news is that acting on climate is not an all or nothing situation. While we’re already seeing the effects of the climate crisis play out, it’s not too late to act. The impacts of 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming are vastly different than 3, 4 or 5 degrees. Every election and every vote presents an opportunity for us to reaffirm addressing climate change as a priority and to support candidates and measures that will lead us toward much-needed action.
Fellow Coloradans, as you see another near-80-degree October day forecasted on your weather app, as you dread another expensive trip to the grocery store, as you see your Rocky Mountain views obscured by wildfire smoke, I hope you approach this historic election with climate change in mind and all that it carries with it.
It is not too late to act, but every moment counts.
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