Climate fight needs more ‘hawks,’ fewer ‘ducks’

A “climate hawk” is a politician who is outspoken in advocating for policies that will systematically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in contrast with a “climate duck,” who avoids the issue. Gov. Jay Inslee is a good example of a climate hawk.

In 2015, he made climate change policy a centerpiece of his legislative agenda. In 2016, Legislative District 22, which includes Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater, will have an open seat for the state House of Representatives. Could the 22nd send a climate hawk to the Legislature next year?

In Thurston County, like everywhere else, people hold a wide range of views on what causes climate change, how urgent the problem is and specifically what society should do about it. For public opinion research on global warming, the definitive source is the Yale Center for Climate Communications. In its research, the Yale Center divides the country into distinct audience segments they named the “Six Americas:” Alarmed (13 percent of the total population), Concerned (31 percent), Cautious (23 percent), Disengaged (7 percent), Doubtful (13 percent), and Dismissive (13 percent.)

It’s a safe bet that, in Thurston County, we skew toward alarmed and concerned about climate change.

Data from Yale’s 2014 survey sheds some light on the 10th Congressional District, which includes most of Thurston and parts of Mason and Pierce counties. Of South Sound residents, 66 percent believe global warming is happening, compared with 15 percent who don’t believe it is happening. Almost two-thirds of South Sounders support requiring utilities to use renewable energy. Of special interest to those of us who support Initiative 732, 44 percent of 10th District residents say they would support a tax on carbon emissions if the proceeds were rebated to citizens, compared to only 25 percent who oppose the idea.

But wait, if far more people are alarmed and concerned than are doubtful or dismissive, why do we even need climate hawks? Shouldn’t the democratic process work in favor of action on climate change? For an answer, you need look no farther than our next door neighbor, Mason County.

Sen. Tim Sheldon helped Republicans in the state Senate stymie Inslee’s climate agenda. Sheldon also co-sponsored bills such as the deceptively named “Revising definitions in the energy independence act to promote the use of clean energy in the future,” Senate Bill 5089. Although the law sounds as if it would promote clean energy, it would actually enable utilities to get less of their power from renewable sources.

Why does the senator from the 35th District take positions hostile to addressing climate change when so few voters hold such views? I’m guessing it has something to do with the thousands of dollars his 2014 campaign received in donations from investor-owned utilities and oil companies. We need climate hawks to push back against the money that carbon polluters are pouring into the political system.

With so many environmentally minded constituents in the 22nd District, you might think our legislators would be unusually vocal on the topic of climate change. However, that has not been the case, for reasons that apply everywhere in the U.S. Despite widespread support for action on climate change, climate change is not the top issue for most voters.

For Republicans, hostility to climate-friendly policies sends an important signal of ideological purity. For Democrats, global warming is just one more of a grab bag of issues folded into the liberal/Democratic coalition.

The end result is that concern about global warming punches below its weight in electoral politics. Climate Hawks Vote, a political action committee with Bill McKibben and Van Jones as advisory board members, is trying to change that. The organization seeks “to elect climate hawk leaders — those who prioritize and speak on the climate crisis. ... Climate change is the greatest challenge facing ours and future generations, not just another Democratic issue, but too many politicians are afraid to talk about it. ... We don’t tolerate elected officials and candidates taking money from tobacco companies who profit from human suffering and death; we shouldn’t tolerate them taking money from coal, oil, and gas companies whose business plan is to cook the planet.”

Gov. Inslee’s climate policy aspirations have been grounded by the need to govern with a divided Legislature. Will 22nd District voters elect a representative who can soar above the endless coalition-building and deal-making with a powerful message on climate? I wonder who will represent the climate hawks of Thurston County in 2016.

This story was originally published September 13, 2015 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Climate fight needs more ‘hawks,’ fewer ‘ducks’."