Welcome to the inaugural edition of “Overlooked in Climate Politics” — the Environmental Voter Project’s new monthly newsletter that gives you a quick rundown of 3 under-reported stories in climate politics. We hope you enjoy the newsletter and forward it to your friends (they can sign up here)! In this edition, we highlight a city charter amendment in El Paso, TX, a County Executive race in fracking country, and a bunch of new voting laws.
El Paso, TX: Don’t Frack with Our Water!
On May 6, the citizens of El Paso, TX will vote on “Proposition K” — an amendment to the city charter which would, among other things: (a) forbid the sale of city water for fossil fuel extraction outside city limits, and (b) study whether the city should take over its electric utility. As The Guardian points out, this charter amendment could seriously disrupt water-intensive fracking in Texas’s Permian Basin, an area which is responsible for 40% of all US oil production.
Allegheny County, PA: A Surprisingly Important County Executive Election.
May 16 is the Democratic primary for County Executive in Pittsburgh-based Allegheny County. County executives have significant environmental policy-making authority in Pennsylvania, including over public health, wastewater, public transit, and certain fossil fuel infrastructure. The current County Executive is term-limited but has previously tried to veto fracking bans in county parks. The winner of the Democratic primary is likely to prevail in the general election, so this May 16th election is the important one.
New Voting Laws: Good News and Bad News.
The climate movement is disproportionately young and people of color — exactly the same groups targeted by voter suppression campaigns — so ballot access and voting rights are crucially important to our political power. Bolts Magazine has done some extraordinary reporting on recent voting right developments, including: (a) in Virginia, felons will no longer automatically regain the right to vote when released from prison; now, the governor decides on an individual basis, (b) New Mexico and Minnesota are moving in the opposite direction, enfranchising 11,000 New Mexicans and 50,000 Minnesotans who can now vote while on probation and parole, and (c) New Mexico has also made Election Day a state holiday and expanded ballot access on Native land.
How You Can Take Action
Join the Environmental Voter Project on Zoom on April 27th, 7pm ET / 4pm PT to phonebank low propensity environmental voters to vote in the upcoming El Paso, TX charter amendment election. Training provided.
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