On Climate: Moral Scrutiny for Both Parties

When we launch a Climate Hope Affiliate in a district or state represented by a Democrat in Congress, it is not uncommon at some point to hear some variation of, “We don’t need to worry about them doing the right thing.” In bringing the lens of our faith and values to politics, there can be a place for affirming the policy stances of our elected officials while at the same time being careful to apply moral scrutiny to members of both parties. With this in mind, I often offer a couple of thoughts.

To move away from thinking of elected officials as simply being either good or bad, Climate Hope Affiliates regards every member of Congress as being on what we call a “climate ladder” with room to move upward toward becoming a partner in common cause with us. At the bottom of this ladder are climate deniers. Near the top are climate champions who regularly speak out on climate change and work diligently to advance climate legislation. Think Sheldon Whitehouse, the senator from Rhode Island who has delivered over 300 speeches on climate change from the floor of the Senate.  

A level below champions are supporters. Many Democrats have at times fit in this category—sometimes sinking lower and sometimes climbing higher. Supporters generally vote in a favorable way and might occasionally speak out on climate change. When launching a chapter, I point out that we will later research our elected officials during our training sessions. I observe that in past launches, we have often found that the last time many Democrats spoke out about climate change was when the Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022.

We can now say that this is more than an anecdotal observation. It has been proven by a statistical study conducted by Inside Climate News. With the help of graphs, one can now see the abysmally low and falling levels at which members of Congress mention climate change or clean energy in their press releases. It is not a fluke. As Inside Climate News points out, from think tanks to The New York Times, Democrats are actually being coached not to talk about climate change. Notably, Senator Whitehouse has publicly taken his party to task for this.

Earlier, I neglected to mention that one step below climate supporters on the climate ladder is the rung of silence. This is where many elected leaders from both parties like to hang out. Between now and November’s election, let’s encourage our elected officials and those running for office to move up a step or two on the ladder. We need climate champions, not wallflower politicians.

(By the way, the featured speaker for this month’s Climate Hope Affiliates webinar will be Grace Weatherall, who serves Sen. Whitehouse as Climate and Clean Air Counsel for the Environment and Public Works Committee. Looking forward to hearing from her!)