nless you’ve been on a digital detox for the last year, somehow made it through the holidays without discussing politics
at the dinner table, and missed out on the unexpected outcomes of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary elections, you know that 2016 is an election year. Numerous issues face our country and the resulting solutions or further challenges will be determined by the candidate who earns office, their ability to work with Congress and the Senate, and the quality of the new President’s staffing choices. With vastly differing views between the candidates across both parties, it is crucial that you make it to the polls (or mail in a ballot) to cast a vote that matters. The timing of this article is not accidental—March is when the majority of states participate in primary elections to narrow the presidential race to two candidates, one for the Republican party and one for the Democratic party. On March 1, twelve states will hold their primary elections and by the end of the month, thirty-seven states and territories will have voted. Since you’re reading a marine conservation magazine, I want to highlight the impact the choices America will make this primary election season could have on environmental policies before you head to the polls.
Beginning with the current Democratic candidates, Senator Bernie Sanders and former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both list climate change and clean energy as priorities on their campaign websites. Previous candidates Martin O’Malley and Lincoln Chafee also highlighted climate change as a major issue prior to dropping out of the race. Covered in the Democratic debates so far, curbing climate change and supporting a strong U.S. economy by promoting cleaner energy production is a major talking point of the Democratic platform. Hillary Clinton criticized climate change deniers in a video released this summer, saying the science is settled. Bernie Sanders went as far as to claim that climate change is the number one threat to national security during the debate on November 14.
Within the Republican Party, Marco Rubio is the only current candidate to list energy as a campaign priority on his website. Rubio’s energy plan, however, makes no mention of clean energy sources for climate change, but it does focus on the economics of increasing fossil fuel production and promising the immediate approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. Across the board within the Republican Party, claims against climate change pervade. Donald Trump has gone as far to claim that climate change is a conspiracy brought about by China while the other candidates dodge questions relating to the environment by claiming they are not scientists. Lindsey Graham did mention climate change as an issue prior to dropping out of the Republican race in December. While there is support beyond a reasonable doubt within the scientific community, the Republican candidates are choosing to focus on other issues as part of their platform during the primary elections, though we can expect the nominee to be forced into a conversation about climate change when debating the Democratic nominee.
While climate change is not the only issue facing our planet, our mission here at SEVENSEAS is to share information about conservation issues and current events, and climate change has been quite a hot topic lately. My hope is not to force any opinions on our readers, but to provide information necessary for our audience based in the United States to make informed decisions, to share our love for the planet we enjoy traveling around, and to back worthwhile conservation efforts. Regardless of your stance on climate change or individual presidential candidates, we can guess how each candidate may handle other environmental policies if elected. It’s great that President Obama committed to the Paris Agreement to curb carbon emissions last year, but the agreement is not legally binding. We also saw the power of the Supreme Court when the decision was made to halt climate change regulations last month. To add to the issue, President Obama’s predecessor can completely pull out of the agreement as soon as they enter office if they so choose. Other policies and initiatives vulnerable to a reversal from the next presidential elect include expansions of marine protected areas, funding dedicated to clean energy research and development, laws passed by working with a challenging Legislative branch, sustainable food initiatives, and a reduction in the number of federal land leases dedicated to fossil fuel exploration to name a few. Without sound policy from a logical administration and a cooperative legislative branch, we can’t solve the environmental problems facing our society today.
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