There is an interesting phenomenon going on in the world today where celebrities are encouraging people to vote in the American mid-term elections at a rate that is quite unprecedented. Never before have I seen such a push to vote. Why now, after all this time, is voting so important, when trends among millennials and environmentalists show that it is not a priority to them?
There has always been a disconnect between environmentalism and politics, and current policy in America is no different. In 2017, President Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, an international agreement that tried to curb global warming. At that time, Trump argued that the agreement was getting in the way of running domestic operations in the United States. Naturally, the international community and environmentalists were outraged - and in their realm, they rightfully should be. When the country with the second-largest economy in the world pulls out of an environmental agreement that broad, the lasting effects could set an extremely dangerous precedent for other countries to follow. However, one good thing that came of the United States pulling from the agreement was that major private companies and large American cities started making their own efforts to go green. But how much of that was to “get back at” the Trump administration, and how much of it was intrinsically motivated to genuinely help fix the environment?
Another example of the politics/environmentalism disconnect is the Bears Ears National Monument controversy that took place in my own state of Utah. In December of 2016, literally days before he was set to leave office, President Barack Obama set aside 1.35 million acres of land in southern Utah to be protected. Utah’s representatives gave harsh criticism of the designation. They compared it to the proverbial middle finger that Bill Clinton gave to Utah in his final days in office, when he designated Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which was even bigger than Bears Ears. In any case, all of Utah’s Congressional representatives derided Obama’s decision. Fast forward a year, and President Donald Trump rescinded both Obama and Clinton’s decisions, reducing Bears Ears by 85 percent, and Grand Staircase-Escalante by half. Though President Trump is not the first president to shrink a national monument, the legality of such an action is disputed. Utah’s representatives praised Trump’s actions, claiming the majority of Utah’s residents supported that action. But the numbers tell a different story. According to a collaborative poll by the Salt Lake Tribune and the University of Utah, only a “slight majority favor[ed] a reduction” for Bears Ears (Mafley, 2017). For Grand Staircase-Escalante, the number is even more astounding, as only a quarter of Utahns favored the reduction.
So the real question is, why is there such a disconnect between what happens between politicians and their constituents when it comes to environmentalism? For the same reason that celebrities are imploring their fans to register to vote: voting rates in America are notoriously bad. In a study by Penn State University, only 58% of eligible voters in America turned up to the polls for the 2016 election. Among millennials, the numbers are even more alarming. According to NPR, millennial voters (commonly considered to be anyone born between 1980 and 1996) make up about 31% of the voting population. However, it is reported that only 29% of millennials plan to vote in the midterm elections of 2018 (Golshan, 2018). This is quite eye-opening, as millennials are the primary advocates of environment-friendly laws and initiatives. It certainly explains why elected officials do not represent the interests of their constituents. The constituents are not voting for policy-makers that represent their interests.
I am certainly not advocating for any party or person to vote for. I have always felt that neither the Republican or Democrat parties never represented my interests fully, which is a sad downfall of the two-party system in America. I encourage everyone to educate yourselves on the issues, then to vote for who you think will best represent your interests, regardless of political affiliation. And if your interests fall predominantly in environmentalism, vote for the people advocating for environmental change. One of the beauties of America is that every citizen has a right to vote. If you choose to have an opinion on any matter, it is not only your right, but your responsibility to vote. One of the biggest criticisms I’ve had of Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters was that they showed a lot of support during the election runs, but their support waned before the vote began. This allowed Donald Trump to win the presidency, as the Democrat party supporters fell into complacency.
It takes millions of years to create an arch or a canyon. If we truly want to affect a change as long-lasting and magnificent as a national monument, we must be active participants in the election process, or risk living with the consequences of other people’s participation.
Growing up in South Africa and moving to Utah, USA as a teenager, Scott is a graduate of Utah Valley University’s Outdoor Recreation program. Scott is currently a Master’s Student at the University of Florida. His research interests include ecotourism, sustainability, and tourist affect cycles. He has worked in multiple therapy, outdoor, and retail settings, and is a published author.