
Students from SJSF hoist a wind turbine at the State House at the beginning of the Copenhagen conference.
Cross-posted at It’s Getting Hot In Here.
This morning, as predicted, we awoke to the news that the most liberal state in the nation has elected a tea party Republican to represent it in Congress for the next two years. It’s a stunning turnaround for what was until recently Ted Kennedy’s seat; a seat that for 46 years was a champion for justice and for the least among us. This pattern isn’t new, however: it is the predictable outcome of the Democratic campaign strategy. This strategy parallels the losing strategy of the climate movement, and there’s a lot to learn from Massachusetts as we move forward after Copenhagen.
From the Boston Globe to It’s Getting Hot In Here, the stark difference between the two candidates, Scott Brown and Martha Coakley, on climate change, and an appropriate response have been detailed before. For anyone looking to make a choice in this race on the merits of averting a climate crisis, the choice was clear. But who was looking to make that choice?
It may seem like the obvious, but elections are won by the candidate who gets the most people out of bed, out of the house and to the polls to vote for them. Working on an issue such as climate is not as clear cut as an election, but elections are where the rubber meets the road. If the climate movement hopes to win, we must think as strategically as those who win elections. So what does it take? Victory takes two mutually enforcing pieces; a compelling narrative and a mobilization strategy. (more…)