The overlooked votes that make a difference
Texas County Commissioner Brigid Shea on the importance of local climate action
In 1988, Brigid Shea's life changed forever. Until then, she'd been an NPR journalist for eight years before becoming the national press secretary for an organization committed to nuclear disarmament in Washington, D.C. In 1988, though, she read a front-page story on the congressional testimony of James Hansen, the head of NASA's Goddard Space Institute. Learning about the threat global warming poses to us all inspired her to head to Texas to fight for climate action in the land of oil and gas.
Over the last 36 years, Brigid has become a respected environmental advocate, a three-term County Commissioner in Travis County, and the US Board Chair of ICLEI USA-Local Governments for Sustainability. Her work has won four national awards for local resilience initiatives, including for Travis County’s water conservation efforts, expanding the reach of the region’s emergency notification system, and creating a neighborhood wildfire drill.
Through this, she’s developed a keen understanding of the crucial role local government can and must play in solving the climate crisis and better preparing their residents for the destructive impacts of climate change. For example, did you know that 99.9% of elected officials in the United States are not federal? Or that the Texas Railroad Commission is the one responsible for regulating (or more accurately, failing to regulate) the massive methane leaks from oil and gas wells across the state?
“Cities are responsible for 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, so we better be involved in solving the problem,” Brigid tells me. “Unfortunately, most local elected officials don't understand what real power they have to reverse climate change.
Take it away, Brigid!
GOOD NEWS
At the local level, there’s an incredible amount of climate action happening around the world. Groups like ICLEI, Climate Mayors, and C40 Cities are encouraging and supporting local elected officials to play an increasingly important role in the UN climate negotiations and in sharing best practices globally. Other groups like Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, Lead Locally, and Climate Cabinet are vetting and promoting local climate-friendly candidates.
According to Route Fifty, which focuses on state and local leaders in the United States, frustration with slow action at the federal level is producing more climate-driven local candidates. The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication has also found growing support over time for climate action with all registered voters no matter their party affiliation. As of this April, 39 percent agreed that global warming is a very important issue.
Voters are also more inclined to support candidates who take climate change seriously and will take action on it. A recent poll by several national environmental organizations found that climate denial is a clear political liability and voters increasingly believe climate change is impacting the country and want to see strong government action. And a study released this year by the University of Colorado Boulder concluded that climate change was a deciding factor in Democrats winning the U.S. 2020 presidential election.
Finally, more Republicans are acknowledging the scientific reality of climate change. An AP poll this summer found 40 percent of young Republicans agree that climate change is primarily human-driven, a jump from 26 percent in 2017.
NOT-SO-GOOD NEWS
There’s also a lot of not-so-good news for local climate-friendly candidates, especially in a presidential election year. One of the biggest problems is that, while many people turn out to vote for president or a national leader, they don't always go all the way down the ballot to vote for local candidates.
An organization called Sister District analyzed this trend in the U.S. and found that there's an even larger drop off “down ballot” by Democratic voters. This means a climate candidate could win at the top of the ticket but lose at the local level. (If you live in the U.S., to learn more about your candidates for office, visit Vote411.org, a project of the non-partisan League of Women Voters.)
In addition, climate change has not been featured as prominently this U.S. presidential election cycle as many had hoped that it would. In this year’s only presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, it was literally the last question, and it was not addressed in much detail.
Finally, there is a strange disconnect between registered voters who identify climate change as a top priority but DON’T vote regularly. As many as 8 million people fall in this category. The Environmental Voter Project is working hard at turning out these infrequent voters.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Support climate action at the level of local government! There is so much good work to be done to reduce emissions at the city and county level.
In my own work in Texas for the past 36 years, I’ve found that I can reach agreement – even with those who deny the reality of climate change – by focusing on the harm caused by extreme weather events locally. They see the wildfires, floods, and savage storms and they fear for their families and homes, as we all do, and they want their leaders to help minimize the harm from these destructive events.
I’ve found it is essential to enlist people in the solutions and give specific actions, like we did when we created a second emergency evacuation route in a large subdivision that previously had only one way in and out.
For areas that are running out of water from extreme climate-driven drought, there is a proven way to stretch your water supply. It’s called water reuse, or “purple pipe,” and it recirculates treated wastewater for non-drinking water uses. Travis County won a national award for swapping out the water supply for air conditioning in seven of our large County buildings. This will eliminate the demand for 45 million gallons of drinking water per year, leaving it in our reservoir and stretching our water supply.
Groups like ICLEI-USA, where I serve as US Board Chair, help local governments share model resilience programs, like Philadelphia’s toolkit to “Beat the Heat” or Santa Cruz’s Resilient Coast Initiative.
Finally, as my shero Dr. Katharine Hayhoe says, the most important thing we can do to fight climate change is talk about it, as she lays out in this TED talk. Her work should inspire all of us to create a more hopeful future.
Thank you, Brigid, for such a powerful reminder that our local elections are key to climate action. Your vote, no matter how small it may seem, can drive the change we all need.
To learn more about the great work Travis County is doing, sign up for Commissioner Shea’s newsletter here.
Thurs., Oct. 31 at 11am ET - Mapping the Future of Biodiversity with Esri UK and Oxygen Conservation, live on LinkedIn.
Thurs., Oct. 31 at 12pm ET - Understanding the Acceleration of Climate Change Around the World with the The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States (AFPC-USA) and Peter Schlosser from the ASU Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory. Webinar, register here.
Wed., Dec. 4th at 7pm ET - Building Hope in a Warming World with Dickinson College - in Person at Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium (ATS) or view on live stream.
This was so great. Thank you for talking with Brigid Shea. So many good story ideas for local journalists here.