The Independents Candidates Pushing for Serious Climate Action

Climate change is already here, and its impacts are set to shape the lives of Americans from now on. In particular, southern parts of the U.S. are expected to become drier, whereas northern areas are projected to become wetter, with nationwide extreme weather events also on an upward trend. Climate change not only affects human health and economies, but also harms the ecosystems humans rely on to survive and thrive. 

It’s therefore not surprising that robust climate action is increasingly a top priority for the nation’s voters. In fact, 37% of registered U.S. voters are pro-climate voters, while 25% are more likely to vote for candidates who support climate action even if it’s personally not one of their main concerns, the Yale Program on Climate Communication reveals. 

Senate Republicans recently pushed back against a series of climate and energy policies enacted by the Biden administration. Environmental advocates, on the other side of the coin, are also concerned that the incremental climate initiatives favored by Democrats aren’t good enough. Fortunately, several independent candidates may offer effective alternative solutions as they put climate action and sustainability at the forefront of their agendas. Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein, and Cornel West, in particular, are promising independent candidates that vow to enact real, positive, sustainable change that benefits the planet and Americans alike. 

A Push for Fairer, Greener Homes 

Vermont independent senator Bernie Sanders co-sponsors the Green New Deal for Public Housing, which aims to solve two problems in one: climate change and rapidly-increasing housing costs. The act seeks to invest up to $234 billion into the decarbonization of all public homes and the construction of green new ones within the next ten years. Old units would be repaired and harmful pollutants like mold and lead eradicated. They’d also be made energy efficient through insulation, weatherization, and renewable energy. Plus, green spaces would also take precedence over concrete areas. As green spaces can absorb heat and heavy rainfall, the units would adapt easily to climate change. Ultimately, the Act would slash carbon emissions by 5.7 million tons — which equates to the removal of over 1.25 million cars from the nation’s roads annually — as well as provide public health benefits and generate jobs. 

The Real Green New Deal

Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential nominee, endorses the Real Green New Deal as a genuine alternative to the Green New Deal (GND). Notably, Stein prefers to call the Green Party independent rather than a third party, as it's not funded by big-money donors. According to Stein, the non-binding GND promoted by Democratic senator Ed Markey and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is too lax on sustainable issues. For instance, the GND sets a 2050 deadline to achieve zero-emissions, while the RGND aims for 2035 at the latest. Similarly, the GND also won’t ban fracking or the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure.

Under the Real Green New Deal, Stein would declare a climate emergency and issue executive orders to speed up climate actions. For example, $650 billion would be used to fund the development of renewable energy and clean transport technology. As it stands, the typical gas-powered car generates roughly 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually in the U.S. A widespread switch to low- or zero-emission models is therefore essential to prevent climate change.  

Plus, sustainable vehicles are usually cheaper as they don’t require so much fuel. A fully-electric vehicle (EV), for example, can save drivers up to $2,200 a year. As EVs are also now made with longer ranges, drivers also no longer have to worry about battery depletion before they reach their destination. Generally, the average range for most EVs is almost 300 miles on a single charge.

Inclusive Green Reconstruction

Progressive activist Cornel West, an independent presidential candidate, endorses Green Reconstruction, which merges anti-racist and sustainable agendas. 

“The intersection of white supremacy on the one hand and ecological collapse on the other can be the catalyst for a movement that is multiracial — that keeps track of the very ugly consequences of predatory capitalist processes, where it’s just money, money, money, whether it’s fossil fuels, it could be oil, it could be coal, it’s just profit, profit, profit, over satisfying people’s needs. But it’s rare that people make that connection,” West told InsideClimate News. 

The original New Deal under Roosevelt excluded Black people, as it didn’t provide agricultural workers and domestic servants (and therefore most Black southern employees) with Social Security. Alternatively, Green Reconstruction aims to support everyone (including the most vulnerable demographics) through the creation of renewable and regenerative fair-wage jobs and investment into homes and education. 

“The New Deal ended up with just another kind of managerial politics, you know, in the name of diversity or whatever, but it didn’t talk about fundamental structural transformation,” noted West. “Green Reconstruction is more all-embracing and more structural in transformative content.”  

Independent candidates promise to put sustainability at the forefront of state and national policies. In many cases, a vote for an independent is a vote for the environment and genuine climate action.