The Most Important Vote of Our Lives?
California's Recall Needs Our Attention and Action to Preserve Our Future
As America reels from one climate-fueled disaster to another, we are also at risk of an electoral disaster that would devastate our ability to address climate change in the coming years.
The recall effort to oust Governor Gavin Newsom is a bald-faced grab for minority rule in a time of crisis. Republicans in California are fired up and mobilizing while those committed to positive and progressive changes are far less engaged around what is likely to be the most important vote of our lives.
And why is this vote so important? While there are dozens of vitally important issues, California is THE key to addressing climate change in time. And we don’t have any more time to avert the worst-case scenarios depicted by virtually all the world’s experts.
California has the 5th largest economy in the world, the world’s greatest business innovation engine of Silicon Valley AND we have Hollywood, the most powerful media producer. Pairing those things with innovation at the level of government is what is required to turn the climate crisis around.
We can drive the changes required and spread them to the rest of the world much, much faster than anyone else can.
The Republican Party, sadly, has become the party of denial of reality. In this case, the denial of the reality of climate change prevents even thinking about the massive changes now required.
Electing one of the Republican candidates would be a kind of climate suicide because it will paralyze our public process right at the moment when we need to lead the way forward.
California cannot afford the gridlock of DC. We cannot afford to give power to the kinds of rogues, idealogues and outright criminals that surround Trump. We cannot afford a professional wrestling-esque spectacle in our halls of power.
While every policy (and person) is important, it’s clear that we need to have strong, unified progress on climate immediately. We need to have experts leading the way. We need to have intelligent policies that are pro-market, pro-people and pro-planet.
It doesn’t matter whether you love Gavin Newsom or the Democratic party. You don’t even have to like them much.
The truth is that if you care about your future and a future for your children and grandchildren, they are your only option. Republicans are playing a mind-game with the American public right now and that game involves pretending that our real challenges don’t exist, from making it seem the January 6th insurrection was a parade to acting like Covid-19 is no big deal, to thinking massive fires and hurricanes are just a bit of bad luck.
They are not living in reality. They have created a fantasy universe to live in. As a result, they are incapable of generating solutions to problems they don’t acknowledge.
We cannot come up with responsible, forward-looking solutions to the climate crisis if we allow them to throw sand in the gears of California’s government with this recall.
The truth is that California is the most visionary state. We’re all about the future. We build the dreams of tomorrow.
And because the Democratic Party has focused on being the party of the future rather than a throwback to the past, it has won the vast majority of votes in almost every California election recently. That’s really at the heart of why the Democratic Party is so dominant.
The largely outcast Republican Party of California simply hates that.
This recall election is not about a democratic process to enact the will of the people as a whole. It’s about a minority party whose ideas have been soundly rejected at the ballot box in California and which doesn’t stand a chance in a regular election attempting to use a recall election as a way to grab power while people aren’t paying attention.
Their leading candidate, Larry Elder, has no experience with governing. He is a talk-show guy whose policies make Trump’s policies look progressive. He wants to abolish the minimum wage and push women back forty years. Maybe he thinks our climate is changing… or maybe not. What he is sure about is that Trump is a great thing for American politics. If you believe that as well, then go right ahead and vote for him.
But for all of those of us who are awake to the real perils we now face, we have to see that Gavin Newsom is the best shot for our future.
He’s working on accelerating the timelines for a carbon neutral future to 2035. He’s leading rapid changes in our transportation, energy grid, and urban infrastructure. He sees where we need to go and collaborates with brilliant experts on how to get there.
California is the lever that can move the world by activating the technological, policy, and human changes that can leave a liveable climate for our kids. And it just so happens that those changes will makes us cleaner, greener, and more prosperous.
So it’s really simple. You need to vote no on the recall like your life depends on it. And then ask as many people as you know to do the same, confirming with you that they indeed voted. It is not recommended to fill out the section on who a potential replacement should be. Simply vote no and call upon all your friends and allies who care about our future to do the same.
If you live out of California, call your friends and allies and urge them for your sake as well to please, please vote.
In every normal election cycle, California makes a strong statement by voting Democratic but those votes are often symbolic because of just how strongly our state leans blue. The results are typically a foregone conclusion.
Now, in this election, when so much of our attention has been focused elsewhere, is when our votes count more than at any other time.
The recall is far closer than it should be.
Do not sit on the sidelines for this one. Do not think other people have it handled.
It’s coming down to the wire and future generations are counting on us.