Hello. Welcome to the state of emergency. I’m Jake Bittle. Today we shift our focus from the storm-battered Southeast to one of the nation’s hottest battleground states.
With just two weeks left until Election Day, the heated race for president has captured nearly all media attention. Tomorrow on Grist, we’ll have a big package on election stakes on all aspects of climate action. Perhaps the most competitive state is Arizona, a border state with sky-high inflation and a bitter debate over restrictive abortion bans. The state is not only a linchpin in the Electoral College, but also a contested state for the Senate and House of Representatives. There are also extremely important races in the state legislature, with Republicans holding a one-seat majority in both chambers.
Political signs ring out on the streets of Casa Grande, Arizona, ahead of Election Day.
Eliseu Cavalcante / Grist
I visited the Grand Canyon State during an unseasonably hot week in early October, with afternoon temperatures still reaching triple digits. I realized that the frenzy of national politics has diverted attention from perhaps the most important issue for Arizona’s future: water. Due to a millennium drought caused by climate change, the state has lost a huge portion of its water from the vital Colorado River, draining groundwater aquifers not only in large cities like Phoenix but also in rural areas. is decreasing.
Elections this fall will determine how the state responds to the crisis. If Democrats take control of the Legislature, they hope to impose strict rules on water use by farms and developers, easing the state’s water shortages even if it increases costs for the agriculture and real estate industries. are. Republicans will likely opt for more lenient rules or no new rules at all, which many experts believe will result in more wells being opened in suburban areas and rural areas near large farms. There are concerns that it may run out.
Water is an invisible problem until the moment the faucet turns off.
The outcome of the election will depend on just a few battleground states, mostly suburban areas around large cities like Phoenix and Tucson, but even if you visit these areas, you won’t see water on the ballot in November. You may not even know that you are there. That’s partly because the state’s water policy is a complex web of acronyms and institutions, and partly because water is an invisible problem until the moment the water supply is turned off. Wells are already running dry in the state’s ruby countryside, but for the suburban voters who decide control of Congress, this kind of water crisis is still decades away. They will go to the polls to make their voices heard on abortion, education, and the economy, but the votes they cast could have a major impact on the dwindling aquifers beneath their feet.
You can read my full report from Arizona’s scorching swing district here.
Big challenges facing the nation’s smallest state capital
Ben Doyle, a volunteer with the Montpelier Planning and Recovery Committee, shows how high the flood waters have gotten in Montpelier, Vermont.
Zoya Terstein / Grist
In response to questions about plans to address climate change during a debate this summer, Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris did not talk about renewable energy, greenhouse gas emissions or clean energy jobs. , this is an issue that President Joe Biden has talked about a lot. I leaned closer. She talked about housing. climate change, she said“Ask anyone who has been affected what it means to lose your home and have nowhere to go.”
America’s housing crisis is one of the only problems Republicans and Democrats in Congress agree It needs to be fixed, and it needs to be done quickly. This issue dates back to 2008. At the time, the Great Recession caused real estate developers to drastically reduce the number of homes they were building. The sales rate of newly built houses is It’s been delayed since thenthe total will be in the red 3.8 million homes As of 2020, nationwide.
“We thought we were in this climate change paradise, but it turns out that such a place doesn’t exist.”
— Resident who moved to Vermont from California
Now, extreme weather conditions are straining already limited housing options. 2.5 million Americans were evacuatedThis happened temporarily or permanently due to extreme weather last year. This year’s hurricanes may have displaced even more people. So what can the state do about this problem? Last month, I visited the small capital of Vermont to talk with locals about flooding, the most common and costliest threat from climate change in the United States.
last year, 12 inches or more of rain “We thought we were in this climate paradise,” said one resident who moved to Vermont from California. It really doesn’t exist. ”
In Montpelier, city leaders, nonprofits, business organizations and the tourism board are working to address the city’s twin housing and climate crises. The coalition is working with the City Council in a race against time to make Montpelier more resilient for the next climate change collision. “All of our federal, state and local governments must be better prepared to help people weather these difficult climate disasters that we know will continue to grow,” Montpelier City Council said. told me. “We need to do better.” You can read my full text here.
— Zoya Theierstein
what we are reading
North Carolina voting updates: The Guardian explores how Western North Carolina’s candidates, from those running for the smallest local office to presidential hopefuls, are doing in the wake of Hurricane Helen and a disaster that won’t be resolved for months or even years. We are investigating whether the government is struggling to appeal to voters.
read more
Who will help the tribe after a disaster? Our colleague at the Grist Indian Affairs Desk, Taylor Dawn Stagner, explains why Native American tribes are routinely excluded from federal disaster relief and how other tribes are recovering from Hurricane Helen. He spoke about how tribes are stepping into the void to help.read more
Chris Christie says this about the politicization of hurricanes. New York Times opinion columnist Frank Bruni talks to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie about the lessons learned from recovery from Hurricanes Helen and Milton, Superstorm Sandy, and how he hugged former President Barack Obama in 2012 when talked about what scandalized the Republican Party (and still does). Christie said on this day).read more
What are FEMA funds used for? An Arizona Republic fact check quickly spread claims that Federal Emergency Management Agency funds are being used to detain illegal immigrants. FEMA has a shelter and services program that works with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to help states house and organize incoming migrants. But funding for that program and FEMA funding for hurricane relief and recovery come from entirely different pots.read more
What happened to the progressive left? Four years ago, Democratic presidential candidates were announcing multitrillion-dollar climate change plans and other progressive policies. Now, Vice President Kamala Harris, who launched a $10 trillion climate plan while running for the White House in 2019, has no climate platform to speak of. She seems focused on convincing swing voters not to ban fracking. Vox senior political correspondent Andrew Prokop takes a wide-ranging look at why the Democratic Party has moved to the right over the past four years.read more
