The Environment Isn’t A Partisan Issue
Some things aren’t partisan.
Basic civics. Voter engagement. Separation of Powers. And one I always add…
The environment. Air, water, and land must be healthy and accessible for ALL. Every living thing needs them. I am ordained in the American Baptist Churches, USA, and I see this call to protect and honor Creation woven throughout the Bible. From the stones that cry out the Glory of God to the river that runs through the trees of all nations to the still small Voice of God that moves in the wind. In my tradition, Creation is sacred.
And for much of our history as Americans, the environmental awareness and protections that have emerged have not been defined by partisan politics, but rather from a deeper call to this kind of faithful action in the public sphere. In this election, there is no contest between Biden and Trump. Trump is currently destroying public lands, water, and air and Biden will stop these practices. But conservation is not partisan.
Richard Nixon established the EPA and the Republican President Teddy Roosevelt established the National Park system. Clearly-a-Democrat Al Gore became the public voice of global warming when he released “An Inconvenient Truth” in 2006, although environmental justice work was long a part of his Senate and VP agenda. When his face and voice became the primary eco-target, a partisan divide was almost required.
To believe in climate change was to align yourself with Gore, and the Democratic Party, and leftists like me. This divide has only grown, and is now added to the many constructed and engineered walls between us. This divide casts groups and interests into categories of “Other” and “Them” rather than a common family of humanity seeking an abundant life for all. This division stands directly against the Gospel, and the actions it compels me to take in the world.
The money behind the fossil fuel industry, the corporations commodifying water, and the political interests shoring up these interests with legislation actively work to ensure the people do not unite to protect our precious natural resources. We turn away from the Native wisdom of fire abatement because we do not understand it. And California burns. Colorado too, where I live. Although care for Creation permeates the sacred stories and scriptures of virtually all people of faith, we rarely hear this from the pulpit and most faith leaders are silent on the issue.
And the division between us becomes a chasm.
Meanwhile, hurricanes swirl in the Atlantic Ocean, Colorado is experiencing its largest fire in recorded state history, strange and severe weather patterns devastate the country (Derechoes and Polar Vortexes come to mind), and Flint still can’t drink from its municipal water supply. The Climate Crisis is here, slower than Covid-19 perhaps but no less devastating. Those constructed walls of division will keep no one safe, and must crumble for us to move forward together.
Now, I stand pretty far to Left on the political spectrum. I am a well educated rabble rouser. When I was younger, I intended to overturn oppressive systems however I could, from the inside or from outside of that system. I’ve come to understand many of those same stances and attitudes as embodiments of the Gospel message, and I’ve come to learn that tables must be overturned inside the temple and outside its walls as well. I’ve also become more practical, and less concerned about a strict interpretation of my own principles as applied to everyone.
I see the chasms growing between virtually every group, and I grieve. For in order to face what is coming, we must bridge and intersect our interests. We must deny the separations being applied to us, sorting us into well-siloed circles.
I am grateful for the Greens, for that core of stalwart advocates who reminds us that all our policies must align with a generative relationship with the Earth. But we are at a crucial crossroads on our journey as a country. We have a stark choice before us this year — save the Republic or risk its collapse.
For those of us who care for Creation, and see the poisonous and toxic effects of the Trump administration on our public lands and resources, there is only one option: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Is their environmental platform perfect? No, of course not. But it’s real, it’s based in science, and I believe in the commitment from Biden and Harris to lead us into a renewable and sustainable future. Kamala investigated Oil & Gas companies as Attorney General in California, Joe rode the train. As Senator and Vice-President, Biden made that kind of travel normative every day while crafting practical legislation or overseeing infrastructure work out of the White House. Senator Harris’s environmental justice commitment runs deep, and she was an early supporter of our emerging Green New Deal.
You can make this choice for Biden and Harris with clear eyes and a light heart, knowing that this is part of our action to protect Creation, acting faithfully as God’s hands and feet in the world. For some of you, it will be your first vote for a Democratic ticket, or even the first time you’ve voted in a long time. That’s okay. These are extraordinary circumstances, and getting all Souls to the Polls can put us back on track to solve the real problems we face as a people.
— Rev. Jessica Abell is an ordained minister of the American Baptist Churches, USA. Jessica has a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning and is active in civic and political spheres. She now runs a small church in Denver and is a founding member of the Spirituality Collective where she writes on a weekly basis and works on cultivating a public voice of faith in the American Conversation.
