US Voters Want Climate Action—Candidates Stay Silent — SkimNews
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- Environmental Voter Project polling found voters in eight battleground states want more climate talk, not less, by roughly a 3-to-1 margin, with thumping majorities saying they'd back a candidate who prioritizes a clean-energy transition.
- Among every Democratic and Republican Senate candidate in Alaska, Maine, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas, only Abdul El-Sayed (Michigan) and James Talarico (Texas) mention "climate" on their campaign websites.
- Previously pro-green Democrats have retreated: Jon Ossoff (Georgia) has dropped environment mentions in favor of the Iran war and inflation, and El-Sayed told Fox News in August, "I'm not going to defend the Green New Deal."
- In Texas, 54% of voters said they'd be more likely to vote for a pro-renewables candidate versus 19% less likely, and 63% of Alaskan voters back a campaign prioritizing clean energy—yet Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) still demands more in-state oil refining and backs a major Arctic oil project.
- Speaking up has a cost: James Talarico has been branded "Tofu Talarico" by Ken Paxton and mocked by Donald Trump at a rally for his veganism, while Interior Secretary Doug Burgum declared last week that climate's "legs have been knocked out from under that movement."
- Survivors of last year's Kerrville, Texas flash floods—136 killed, including 28 girls at a riverside Christian camp—told a meeting last week that politicians "couldn't be bothered," as a developing El Niño already among the strongest on record threatens further extreme weather.
Why it matters: Senate control hinges on these eight states, so candidates' near-silence on climate—despite polling showing it would actually help them win—leaves a defining issue undebated in the midterms, even as Americans absorbed roughly $2,000 in extra per-household costs from a record-hot summer and as disaster survivors in Texas report zero political follow-through.
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