The primary is over. What's next?
Like some of you, I have a little of the post-primary blues. OK, maybe NONE of you feel anything close to the blues in the wake of the June 8th primary, and I'm all alone here.
That's OK. The important thing to ask ourselves, bluesy or not, is, what do we do now?
When the California League of Conservation Votes launched the campaign to Build a Greener Governor in November 2009, exactly a year in advance of the November 2010 general election, our goal was simple: To engage as many voters who care about California's environment as possible in making the environment a major issue for all gubernatorial candidates in both the primary and general election.
At the time, there were three major candidates on the Republican side: former Congressman Tom Campbell, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, and former eBay chief Meg Whitman, and two on the Democratic side: Attorney General Jerry Brown and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom. Campbell dropped out of the governor's race to run (unsuccessfully) for his party's nomination for U.S. Senate, and Newsom dropped out to run (successfully) for his party's nomination for Lieutenant Governor.
Newsom's departure in particular made it challenging to bring up the environment as a major issue. Brown stayed relatively quiet, allowing the three, then two Republican challengers to fight amongst themselves, spending millions of their campaign dollars in the process. But eventually, it was Whitman who injected the environment into the GOP governor's contest, with her opinion piece in the San Jose Mercury News saying that as governor, she would call for a year-long moratorium on the state's landmark global warming and clean energy law, AB 32. In the end, Whitman and Poizner both moved further to the right on the environment, each in a quest to convince primary voters that they were more conservative than the other.
The biggest question that was answered on June 8, which perhaps we knew the answer to anyway, was which candidate Republican voters would choose to run for governor against the Democratic nominee (whom everyone knew would be current Attorney General and former California governor Jerry Brown.)
Now we are down to two major candidates, Brown and Whitman, one of whom will eventually be governor. Of course, there are also several minor party candidates, who don't have a realistic chance of getting elected but could certainly make the race more interesting and, more importantly, raise issues and develop policy proposals that the major candidates should consider and address.
So I ask again: What should people who care about the environment, want their next governor to care about it too, and want to know where the candidates stand on a host of environmental issues, do?
We should get involved. Sooner, rather than later. We should make phone calls, send emails, join facebook groups and "like" the candidate of our choosing. If we have the time and ability, we should volunteer for and give money to the candidate we think will best represent our values.
I don't have all the answers, but I have one more simple suggestion: Join this campaign. The campaign to Build a Greener Governor. Register on this site, and start contributing your voice to this conversation.
It's easy to be an environmental champion. (That's what you are if you sign up -- see, told you it was easy.) You can check in on the latest news about the race. You can participate in our polls. You can upload a photo of what you love about California's environment. You can write a post about the environmental issue closest to your heart, whether it's clean water, clean air, protecting open space and wildlife, access to parks, public transportation, or getting toxics out of food and consumer products. You can even donate to help make this campaign more effective at reaching out to people like you.
The more people who get involved and demand that the next governor be an environmental champion, the more important these issues will be to the candidates (even to a candidate who you may have written off as not representing your environmental values, but who could still be our next governor).
So shake off the post-primary blues (even if you never had it in the first place) and be part of the campaign to Build a Greener Governor for the Golden State. The environment will thank you.
(3 votes)
1 Comment
DavidinLA
Californians, indeed the entire country, face critical choices in the fall elections. The biggest question of our collective lifetime is whether we want to face the fact of dramatic changes to our economy, water supply, agriculture driven by mankind's impact on the Earth's climate and decide to make the necessary changes to mitigate and slow climate change? Or will we choose to follow the course outlined by some of the candidates seeking our votes, to deny that the crisis exists and to do nothing about it? While California has shown amazing leadership over three decades in facing and addressing environmental protection and change, this election, this time, occurs as the climate crisis approaches the point of no return and the candidates for Governor and US Senator seem to have completely divergent views. It is a time of economic pain and promise as well, offering the opportunity for candidates to present with plausible if exagerated trade-offs as they seek support. It is also a time when corporate interests will spend anything it takes to secure the greatest advantage to their bottom line. Voters need to inform themselves, to find and consult trusted sources, and to learn to fact check and follow the money.