A PLEA TO VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE AND ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO VOTE

It is October already, and it will soon be time to vote in our state and national elections.  We want to remind you to vote and persuade your family members and friends to vote also.  There are many issues at stake, so if we want to see sensible solutions we will need to make our voices heard at the ballot box.  Not voting is no solution to any issue you are concerned about.  You must vote to participate in our democracy.

Do your own research into the candidates for state Assemblypersons and state Senators, representatives in the US House and Senate, and also for President, so you can make choices that are consistent with your views on today’s issues.  Actions these elected representatives will take in the next year or two will have major effects on our lives and whether our planet can sustain us going forward.  Please read up on the history and positions of these candidates.  Don’t decide only because of ads you have seen on television or the mailings we have been receiving.  Some are very misleading.  You can find out more on the candidates by doing an online search for “learn about candidates and issues”.

As you may guess, I encourage you to give major consideration to what the candidates’ views are on the environment and climate change.  Because we only have 5 or 6 years to turn around our country’s over-use of fossil fuels before it is too late to stop irreparable polar ice melt and destruction of the Amazon forests, I believe that should be a major consideration in deciding how to vote.  There is also the important issue of Christ’s teaching us to respect and help other people, especially in this time when citizens and immigrants in our country are being attacked just for being who they are.  Think of the good Samaritan.  We are all descendants of immigrants, after all.

You can check if you are registered to vote by visiting the website vote.gov.  This is also where you can find out where and how to vote in the upcoming election. You may even decide you want to become a poll worker.

Sandy McKitrick,

Climate Care Team