Our Climate Voter Conversations – One By One

by Holly Jorgenson, Madison CCL

I don’t know about you, but the flood of climate and political news in the past few weeks has kept me up at night. How are we ever going to keep the gains we’ve made and move faster and further from here given the political climate? It prompted me to think about what attitude I want to hold onto as a CCL member this fall and in the coming years. As we continue to speak out and persist, I considered putting more of my attention not just on what we’re fighting for, but on who we’re fighting alongside.

Based on 2023 Yale Communications Project figures for Wisconsin:

• 69% of us think global warming is happening.
• 60% are worried about it.
• 69% think global warming will harm future generations.

That means most of the people around me are aware to some degree and would supposedly want something done about it. They may affiliate with either party. Too many are not engaged or informed, and unfortunately many skip the polling booth. Our Wisconsin CCL Climate Voter Campaign and our Wisconsin Environmental Voter Project are geared to reaching out to those people.

We can talk to the people we know one at a time. I ran into an old acquaintance recently at our neighborhood farmer’s market. I asked if he planned on voting in the Primary; he wasn’t aware of that election. I told him about the two referendums aiming to modify our state constitution; how they could force the Governor to get approval from the legislature before allocating any federal money, which could hold up federal funds for disaster relief in Wisconsin. He listened, interested. I recommended he vote NO on both referendums to prevent that from happening. He enthusiastically agreed. I reinforced the August 13th date and the No and No for the amendments and I made a note in my calendar to remind him. It was easy. One by one.

See more information about having Courageous Climate Conversations and the other opportunities on our Climate Voter Campaign webpages.  Choose an action that fits your life. Give it a try!