Critical Senate Races for Climate Change

People in the hills of North Carolina are coping with historic flooding caused by Hurricane Helene. Western North Carolina is hours away from the coast. On the heels of Helene’s recovery efforts, another monster storm, Milton, has devasted Florida.

We need climate action now, not in 10 years, when it will be too late. That means electing Democrats who are more likely to vote for climate bills.

Democrats have a razor-thin majority in the Senate, with 51 to 49, including three independents who vote with them. There are 34 seats available. According to Ballotpedia, a filibuster can end with a 60 percent majority vote (60 votes). Jessica Taylor, the Senate and governors’ editor for the non-partisan Cook Political Report, told Spectrum News, “The Senate battleground is essentially that Democrats have no room for error.”

Six Critical Senate Races to Watch

If the Senate could keep or capture these six seats, it would bring them closer to the supermajority to pass climate change bills.

Arizona

Ruben Gallego, D

Rubin Gallego represents Arizona’s 3rd District. The House Representative includes a section on his campaign site about the environment, which touts his support for the Inflation Reduction Act and his work to preserve public lands. The only mention of climate change is one sentence: “It’s a fact: the climate is changing, and we need to act.”

Kari Lake, R

Kari Lake ran for governor of Arizona with an endorsement from Trump. Her campaign website proclaims, “If you want to get to President Trump, you are going to have to go through me.” A former television news anchor, Lake supports the unabated use of natural gas and oil. However, her site does not include information about the environment.

The League of Conservation Voters calls Lake a “fringe climate denier.” She told Newsweek that the left “are pushing this ‘extreme heat emergency’ narrative to drive a Marxist takeover of our tax dollars for their Climate Cult agenda.”

Montana

Jon Tester, D (incumbent)

Senator Jon Tester is a blue guy in a red state who earned a lifetime score of 89 percent from LCV. However, when it comes to climate action, Tester is a moderate. In January, Tester joined other Democratic senators in tough races, urging the Biden administration to avoid enacting stricter pollution standards.

Tim Sheehy, R

During a town hall meeting in Yellowstone County, Tim Sheehy minimized climate change, saying humans have had no “appreciable impact” on it. “Climate change is real; it’s been changing for 6 billion years,” he said.

Ohio

Sherrod Brown, D (incumbent)

Senator Sherrod Brown earned a lifetime score of 94 percent from LCV. However, during this campaign cycle, he has played down climate change. Politico reported in August that over the last 18 months, Brown “voted or taken positions contrary to Democrats’ and President Joe Biden’s agenda on matters like electric vehicle sourcing, energy efficiency regulations, greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other major matters.”

Brown is trying to keep his senate seat in a red state. If he keeps his seat, keep an eye on his environmental record. He just might back climate bills.

Bernie Moreno, R

LCV named Senator Brown’s challenger, business owner Bernie Moreno, one of its “dirty dozen” candidates. As Ohio experiences severe drought affecting percent of the state, Moreno has questioned climate change and compared climate activists to “a cult.” He wants to repeal legislation that addresses air and water pollution.

Wisconsin

Tammy Baldwin, D (incumbent)

Last year, Senator Tammy Baldwin received the second annual Climate Change-Maker award from the Climate Action Campaign. CAC awards congressional members for their leadership on climate change.

Eric Hovde, R

Eric Hovde, the multi-millionaire bank executive from California, is bought and paid for by billionaire oil brothers Charles and David Koch’s PAC, Americans For Prosperity. AFP gave Hovde’s campaign $1,768,087. Because he must toe the line with his masters, Hovde said the IRA is a “big, ugly bill.” He compared renewable energy tax credits to “corporate welfare.”

Pennsylvania

Democrat Bob Casey, D (incumbent)

Senator Bob Casey has a lifetime LCV score of 94 percent. “We need to invest in meaningful climate action now, and we can do so while also creating good jobs and providing robust assistance for training and skill development,” he proclaims on his website. That action does not include banning fracking. According to the UN Environmental Program’s 2023 Production Gap report, countries are on track to produce more than twice the fossil fuels in 2030 needed to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Dave McCormick, R

The former CEO of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s biggest hedge funds, bragged on the campaign trail about his wife’s being on the board of ExxonMobil. Although he does not deny climate change on his campaign website, he advocates that leaders “mitigate” it with “adaptation and energy policies that do not impose significant damage…on our economy.” He calls for an “all of the above” energy agenda. That is code for the often repeated GOP mantra of “drill, baby, drill.”

Texas

Colin Allred, D

Colin Allred is the U.S. Representative for Texas’ 32nd District. While he would be a welcome alternative to the incumbent Senator Ted Cruz, Allred advocates for an “all-of-the-above energy strategy.” Does this sound familiar? In April, he told people in Houston during a campaign event, “I want to make sure Texas remains the No. 1 energy state in the country,” Allred said. However, he also champions renewable energy, namely solar and wind power. Allred supported climate action in the past. Once in office, he would likely be more supportive of climate bills.

Ted Cruz, R (incumbent)

Senator Ted Cruz also advocates for an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. A long-time climate change denier, Cruz sent letters to the Administrators of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) protesting their climate information. In his letter to NASA, he criticized the federal agency for its “campaign of youth indoctrination,” calling it “irresponsible.”

It’s clear that the GOP has no interest in facing the reality of climate change. If these six critical Senate races fall (or remain) in their hands, the critical climate leadership that our times demand will be woefully inadequate at the federal level. We don’t have the time to endure the foolishness and willful ignorance of climate deniers.

Gina-Marie Cheeseman
Gina-Marie Cheesemanhttp://www.justmeans.com/users/gina-marie-cheeseman
Gina-Marie Cheeseman, freelance writer/journalist/copyeditor about.me/gmcheeseman Twitter: @gmcheeseman

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